Nurses as advocates between western and traditional wealth practices in RSA

Abstract

The RSA, like most African countries, have two health care systems. The most visible one is the Westernised hospital and/or clinic based treatment of diseases. This system was introduced by the colonisers and perpetuated by the current formal education programmes of most health care professionals in the RSA. Traditional African medicine has existed since time immemorial and continues to treat vast numbers of people. Both these health care systems will be briefly discussed. Then the role of nurses in the RSA's health care system(s) will be examined. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.