To protect the rights of the participants the researcher adhered to the four ethical principles referred to by Dhai and McQuoid-Mason (2011:14-15). The proposal was submitted for approval to the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Ethics Committee and Higher Degrees Committee.
Principle of respect and autonomy
According to Dhai and McQuoid-Mason (2011:14) respect for autonomy of an individual is an autonomous choice and decision making by participants. It is the basis of informed consent and respecting confidentiality during the study process. In this study the researcher adhered to this principle by obtaining informed consent from participants and also consent to use an audio recorder (Annexure E, F).
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Consent is the prospective subject’s agreement to participate in a study as a subject, which the subject reaches after assimilating essential information (Grove, Burns & Gray, 2013:176).
Principle of non-maleficence
The principle of non-maleficence is defined as the principle of avoiding harm or doing as little harm as possible (Dhai & McQuoid-Mason, 2011:14). For this study the researcher respected and secured the wellbeing of participants by refraining from any means of physical, emotional, spiritual or social discomfort and harm to participants, ensured that they had the right not to answer questions if they felt uncomfortable in answering. They were also allowed to withdraw from participating in the study without any repercussions.
Principle of beneficence
Beneficence means doing good for others and promoting others’ interest and well-being (Dhai & McQuoid-Mason, 2011:14). This principle required the researcher to act in the best interest of the participants and to aim at promoting their wellbeing. In this study the principle was achieved by making the researcher’s telephone number available to participants so that they could contact the researcher if they needed more information relating to the research project. Participants had the right to withdraw from the study without any repercussions if they wished to do so.
Dhai and McQuoid-Mason (2011:15) states that the researcher must inform the participants about all risks and benefits that may occur as a result of the study (Annexure A). There were no risks associated with the study for professional nurses, and operational managers who participated in this study, participants stand to benefit from the recommendations developed to facilitate the implementation of staff development programmes in a public hospital in Gauteng.
Right to privacy
Grove et al. (2013:169) refers to the right to privacy as an individual’s right to determine the time, extent, and general circumstances under which personal information will be shared with or withheld from others. In this study, participant’s information or records will be kept in a secure, locked cupboard for two years and be accessible to the researcher’s supervisors and co-supervisors only. Records will be destroyed two years after publication of the study.
30 Right to anonymity and confidentiality
The research participant has the right to anonymity and the right to assume that the data collected will be kept confidential (Grove et al., 2013:171). In this study, anonymity was ensured by using code names, that does not link the participant’s identities to their names.
The researcher respected the participant’s privacy and confidentiality was maintained during data collection.
Principle of justice
According to Dhai and McQuoid-Mason (2011:15) the principle of justice in health care refers mainly to distributive justice and the fair treatment of participants. In this study participants were all fairly treated. They had the right to share their perceptions without unforeseen risks or discomfort and a right to withdraw from participating at any stage during the research if they wished to do so without penalty or repercussion.
2.7 CONCLUSION
This chapter addressed the research design and methodology followed for conducting this study. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness, credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability were described. Ethical considerations were also discussed in relation to autonomy, anonymity, privacy, informed consent, beneficence and justice, as well as quality of the research. Following the above research design and the methodology, the perceptions of professional nurses regarding the implementation of staff development programmes, were explored and described. In Chapter Three, the research findings of the perceptions of professional nurses regarding the implementation of staff development programmes in a public hospital in Gauteng will be described with the integration of relevant literature which will form the foundation for development of recommendations to facilitate the implementation of staff development programmes in the public hospital in Gauteng where the research was conducted.
31 CHAPTER 3
DESCRIPTION OF FINDINGS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The methodology that was used for this study was described in Chapter Two. The research design, population and sampling method including the criteria of inclusions, method of data collection, data analysis and trustworthiness were presented.
This Chapter focuses on the description of the findings concerning the perceptions of professional nurses regarding the implementation of staff development programmes (SDP) in a public hospital in Gauteng. The sample consisted of (4) four focus groups consisting of (8 – 10) participants in each group. The focus group interviews continued until data saturation was reached where no new information or no repetitive themes emerged with the fourth focus group. The following research questions guided the discussion
What are your perceptions regarding the implementation of staff development programmes in this hospital?
What can be done to facilitate the implementation of staff development programmes in this hospital?
The data was analysed using Tesch’s descriptive method of data analysis as described in Creswell (2009:186). The researcher and the independent coder had a meeting where consensus was reached regarding the themes and the subthemes that emerged. Key terms related to staff development were discussed to provide clarity for the reader.
According to Jooste (2013:249) and Muller et al. (2011:254), staff development (SD) refers to a well-planned purposeful comprehensive system of continuing professional growth activities carried out over a period of time to achieve specific institutional goals and objectives. It includes induction training general orientation programmes, in-service training programmes (SDPs) self-directed learning and organisational development which are relevant to health care personnel so that staff can function effectively and optimally.