Challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resource-poor intensive care settings in the Limpopo province of South Africa.

BACKGROUND:  Providing optimal care to critically ill patients poses challenges in resource-poor settings because of the lack of equipment, inadequately trained personnel and limited infrastructure.

OBJECTIVES:  This study explored challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resource-poor intensive care units.

METHOD:  A qualitative, explorative, descriptive design was used. The population comprised nurses and doctors working in an intensive care unit of one hospital in the Limpopo province of South Africa. A purposive sample was selected and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using Tesch's method. Ethical considerations were adhered to.

RESULTS:  Participants experienced challenges related to provision of suboptimal patient care, the challenge of non-adherence to protocols and/or instructions and the challenge of practising beyond the scope of practice.

CONCLUSION:  Lack of resources resulted in providing suboptimal intensive patient care. Patients were prone to infections and their safety might be compromised.