Nurses' experiences of being team leaders for community health workers in the care of tuberculosis patients : A minor field study in South Africa

Abstract: South Africa is a country with a high mortality rate because of tuberculosis and increasing cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis makes it a global health problem. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable but without proper treatment many of the infected have no chance of survival. Nurses has an essential role as team leaders for the community health workers in the tuberculosis care. The aim of this study is to investigate nurses' experiences of being team leaders for the community health workers in the care of tuberculosis patients. This study is based on semi-structured interviews with seven nurses working as team leaders in the tuberculosis care in different suburbs in Western Cape, South Africa. The nurses experienced that their leadership gets affected by many obstacles in their daily work. A nurse team leadership have a major effect on the quality of care and the community health workers have an essential role by reaching out to the patients in the communities. To develop the cooperation between the nurses and the community health workers, more resources are needed. Therefore a good cooperation is the key to compete against tuberculosis. This study was sponsored by the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency as a Minor Field Study