Continuing education for the registered nurse in the gold mining industry

The need for a specific continuing education programme for registered nurses working in the mine medical stations of the gold mining industry, was identified at a meeting of senior medical station superintendents of the Freegold Mines, a subsidiary of the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa. The fact that no such programme existed was identified as the main problem, and this served as the motivation for this study. The researcher conducted a situational analysis at the mine medical stations of the Freegold mines in Welkom, and the Gold Fields of South Africa Limited mines in Carletonville. This was done to determine the exact learning needs of the registered nurses in the mine medical stations; the types of services offered at the medical stations; and the needs of the health care consumers (mine workers), based on the monthly reports of the conditions that treatment was provided for. Problems encountered in the health care services in the mine medical stations were identified, and the exact learning needs of the registered nurses were established. Based on these findings, a curriculum for continuing education was developed.