Identification of self-care deficiencies requiring mentorship of newly qualified professional nurses employed in community healthcare services in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Newly qualified professional nurses (NQPNs) allocated to community health care services do not always have access to other personnel for mentorship. Self-care could imply that when NQPNs achieve personal and professional maturity they should be competent and independent practitioners. Self-care deficiencies exist when NQPNs lack self-care and have an increase in self-care demands. The aim of the study was to determine the self-care deficiencies that require mentorship of NQPNs employed in community health care services of Limpopo Province. A quantitative research approach was used. The target population consisted of 150 newly qualified professional nurses and 40 professional nurses employed in similar settings as the NQPNs and served as mentors. Due to limited number of NQPNs and mentors all the 150 NQPNs and 40 mentors participated in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 18. The NQPNs appeared to be competent in most aspects of self-care in the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. However, they were perceived to be incompetent in performing critical skills such as managing emergencies, research aspects and organisational management. The study recommends the development of mentorship model for NQPNs.Keywords: Newly qualified professional nurse, community health care services, mentor, mentorship, self-care deficiencies