Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease which is caused by a relatively large, non-motile, rod-shaped pathogen called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa. Despite the fact that TB is a curable illness, the tragedy is that TB remains the biggest killer in the world as a single pathogen. The aim of this study was to determine the experiences of nurses caring for TB patients at a regional hospital in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive designs were used. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. The personal experiences of six nurses with more than five years' experience caring for TB patients at a regional hospital were explored, and it was guided by data saturation. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. Trustworthiness was ensured and ethical considerations were observed in this study. The research findings revealed six major themes from the raw data: challenges of the working environment, problems impacting on the quality of nursing care, fear, anxiety, stress and risk of contracting infection, nurses' perceptions towards patients, support structure available in the hospital, and support needs for the nurses. Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the challenges experienced by nurses caring for communicable diseases through provision of a positive practice work environment.

Despite the implementation of global plans to end tuberculosis (TB), this disease remains a major cause of ill-health and is the second leading cause of death. In 2019, globally, an estimated 10.0 million people fell ill and about 1.4 million died of TB. During the same year, South Africa was among the eight countries with the highest tuberculosis burden, contributing to two-thirds of the world’s total. Due to the high burden of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, TB in South Africa is a major public health problem. Limpopo is amongst the provinces that are hardest hit by TB and HIV in South Africa. Therefore, using a quantitative descriptive design, this study assessed the knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions of TB and TB treatment amongst TB patients in the Limpopo Province. A systematic random sampling method was used to sample 207 TB patients who agreed in writing to be part of the study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, however, about 3.9% of participants who could not read were assisted by the main researcher and health professional. About 33% of the participants with primary education were also assisted to clarify any questions that were not clear to them. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences® version 26.0. Validity and reliability of the instrument was ensured, and ethical considerations were observed in this study. The research findings revealed that about 93.25% respondents only came to know they had TB after diagnosis. About 75% indicated that they had visited faith healers and only 2% acknowledged that they had visited traditional healers after diagnosis. A total of 76% of the respondents stated that they strongly believed in their culture and religion. These findings highlight the need for health education efforts to strengthen accurate information to improve TB knowledge and correct misconceptions about TB among patients within the community.

Background: Substance use are associated with high discontinuation of tuberculosis treatment which is a barrier to tuberculosis control. Treatment discontinuation significantly increase the risk of poor treatment outcomes in both drug-susceptible and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients. This study aimed to explore the impact of substance use on tuberculosis treatment adherence among tuberculosis patients in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Method: The study employed exploratory qualitative research design. Purposive sampling method was used to sample eight TB focal person and eight facility operational managers who were working in eight community health center within three selected districts in Limpopo province. Data were collected through key informant in-depth interviews and were analysed using Colaizzi's method. Results: The study results show four individual major themes that emerged from data analysis: (1) Patients forget to take treatment, (2) Patients miss follow up visit and DOT support appointments (3) Patients refuse social support (4) Patients refuse to attend health education and counselling. Conclusion: The study highlighted serious impact of substance abuse on TB treatment adherence among TB patients. There is a need to integrate treatment for alcoholism and illicit drug users into primary health care to identify specific group of patients suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction on time, as a component of comprehensive TB treatment strategy.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease, which is caused by a relatively large, non-motile, rod-shaped pathogen called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa. Despite the fact that TB is a curable illness, the tragedy is that TB remains the biggest killer in the world as a single pathogen. The purpose of this study was to describe the support needs of nurses caring for TB patients at Tshilidzini Hospital in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Qualitative, exploratory and descriptive designs were used. Purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. The personal support needs of six nurses caring for TB patients at Tshilidzini Hospital were explored, and it was guided by data saturation. Data was collected through in-depth individual interviews, field notes were taken and data audio-recorded. Data was analysed using Colaizzi's method of data analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured and ethical considerations were observed. The research findings revealed two major themes from the raw data: support structure available in the hospital and support needs for the nurses. The findings of this study revealed that nurses are in need of special support from the management. Therefore there is an urgent need to address this problem by the Department of Health, Hospital Executive Managers and Nursing Service Manager.