Article Sidebar
Published:
Sep 20, 2022Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publication rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Main Article Content
The neonatal transfer process through the lens of neonatologists at public hospitals in South Africa
Abstract
Background: Neonatal care is provided by various levels of healthcare facilities in South Africa. Intensive care for neonates is only provided at the higher levels, hence the need for transfers from lower-level to higher-level facilities (e.g. primary hospitals to tertiary hospitals) or across levels of facilities, particularly when life-threatening situations arise (e.g. cardiac deterioration, respiratory deterioration and desaturation).
Aim: The aim of the study was to explore neonatologists’ views regarding the neonatal transfer process and to describe the preparedness of advanced life support (ALS) paramedics to undertake such transfers.
Setting: The setting consisted of neonatologists from three provinces i.e. KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western cape.
Method: A qualitative descriptive design was utilised in this study. Semistructured interviews were conducted on the public health hospitals in three provinces (N = 9; n = 3) with neonatologists (N = 7; n = 7) who were involved in the transfers of critically ill neonates. The process of thematic analysis was used.
Results: The themes that emerged in this study were: an awareness of local contextual realities related to neonatal transfers, challenges evident within the context of neonatal transfers, decision-making around the transfer of ill neonates, ALS paramedic preparedness for transfers and good clinical governance
Conclusion: The study found that there was a need to be aware of local contextual realities confronting neonatal transfers, a need for greater preparedness for paramedics to undertake these transfers, a need for a sound referral processes and a need for coordinated transfer effort between paramedics, hospital staff and transport team members for the successful transfer of critically ill neonates.
Contribution: The findings highlight the challenges confronting the neonatal transfer process in South Africa through the lens of neonatologist at public hospitals. Hence, the study reinforces the preparedness and coordination of the transfer process, along with more efficient communication between paramedics, hospital staff and the transfer team.
