Clinical experiences of health care workers caring for drug resistant Tuberculosis patients at Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone

Abstract

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem and ranks alongside HIV/AIDS as the top infectious killer worldwide, with 9.6 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths estimated to have occurred in 2014. Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) threatens the global TB control and is a major public health concern in several countries. Botswana has one of the world’s highest burdens of TB per capita with a TB notification rate currently placing Botswana as 10th highest worldwide. The literature reviewed revealed that health care settings lack adequate or effective infection control measures thereby predisposing health care workers (HCWs) to TB infection and that they have poor health seeking behaviour hence poor access to TB/HIV treatment. In Botswana, there is limited data regarding the prevalence nor the incidence of TB amongst HCWs and their experiences in caring for DR-TB patients. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore experiences of HCWs during the provision of care to patients diagnosed with DR-TB at Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone. Methods: The study will utilise a descriptive phenomenological qualitative research design and non-probability purposive sampling will be used. Semi-structured in-depth interviewing will be used to collect data and it will be analysed using Collaizi (1978) phenomenological analytic method. NVivo software will be used to analyse the clusters of themes emerging from the data. Findings: The study findings will assist HCWs to modify infection control practices to minimise the risks in health care settings. It is envisaged that this would ultimately improve their health care.