DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE GUIDELINES TO ENHANCE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF NURSES CARING FOR PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH TUBERCULOSIS AT PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES IN THE KHOMAS REGION OF NAMIBIA

Dr. Esther Kamenye*, Prof. Scholastika Iipinge and Prof. Agnes Van Dyk

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to describe the conceptual framework upon which the development of guidelines to enhance the communication skills of the nurses was based. The conceptual framework of this study was developed based on the practice oriented theory of [1] that guided with the explanation of the concepts used in the development of the guidelines. The practice oriented theory of Dickoff et al consists of six elements namely: agent, recipient, context, dynamics, procedure and terminus. In this study an agent was a senior registered nurse (a TB coordinator), the recipients were all nurses who are on daily basis caring for the patients diagnosed with tuberculosis, the context was the public health facilities; dynamics were challenges nurses experiencing when communicating with patients diagnosed with tuberculosis; procedure was the steps the researcher followed to come up with the guidelines on communication and terminus was an improved communication skills of the nurses. The development of the conceptual framework which guided with the development of guidelines on communication makes this study an original contribution to the body of knowledge.

Keywords: Development, conceptual framework, enhance, communication skills, nurse.