Evaluating the prescribing and management practices of clozapine at a public sector psychiatric hospital
- Authors: Mukoko, Vimbisai Millicent
- Date: 2020-04
- Subjects: Clozapine , Schizophrenia -- Chemotherapy , Schizophrenia -- South Africa -- Treatment
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , M.Pharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123266 , vital:35422
- Description: Approximately one percent (1%) of the South African population suffers from schizophrenia. Clozapine has proven to be more effective than conventional antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia, particularly in alleviating positive symptoms. Clozapine is primarily indicated for treatment-resistant schizophrenia due to its severe adverse effect profile. The prescribing guidelines recommend a trial of at least two different antipsychotic drugs before the initiation of clozapine. At least one should be a non-clozapine second generation antipsychotic. Compared to other atypical antipsychotics, clozapine poses the greatest risk of causing a haematological event, such as neutropenia and agranulocytosis. Agranulocytosis (estimated prevalence of 1.3%) is a life-threatening adverse effect. Common adverse effects include weight gain and metabolic syndrome, hypersalivation and constipation. These can also predispose the patient to co-morbid diseases which further complicate their current diagnosis. Haematological and metabolic monitoring is paramount throughout the duration of clozapine therapy. International (NICE guidelines, Clozapine REMS, and Maudsley prescribing guidelines) and national (South African STGs, SASOP treatment guidelines and the SAMF) guidelines recommend these monitoring patterns to assist with the prevention and management of the adverse effects of clozapine.
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- Date Issued: 2020-04
The use of computer-based management information systems as a recruitment tool an assessment of the attitudes of recruitment agents in a selected area of the Western Cape on 10 February 2004
- Authors: Victor, Louana
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Employment agencies -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Evaluation , Employee selection -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Data processing , Management information systems -- South Africa -- Western Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10997 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/342 , Employment agencies -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Evaluation , Employee selection -- South Africa -- Western Cape -- Data processing , Management information systems -- South Africa -- Western Cape
- Description: Recruitment and selection has become a specialised industry and is competing in a global market. To remain competitive, recruitment agents have to stay ahead of their competitors, by providing an excellent service to customers and applicants, and by keeping up with technological developments in their field. The current investigation focuses on an assessment of the attitudes of recruitment agents in a selected area of the Western Cape Province to the use of computer-based management information systems as a recruitment tool. A questionnaire was distributed amongst recruitment agents in the identified area. It focused on recruiter biographical information, the services they offer, the methods and processes they use in recruitment, the knowledge and skills they need in their field, and their knowledge and attitude towards electronic-recruitment. The literature indicated a move towards using technology in the field of recruitment, and this was consistent with the findings of the study. Although the respondents were familiar with developments in technology used for recruitment, only a small number were familiar with the major business information systems, namely, SAP R/3, Oracle and PeopleSoft. Information specifically related to recruitment agents in South Africa was limited, but the study provided some insight into this field. It was found that recruitment agents disagree on what a good advertisement, as well as a good résumé, should contain, and this is problematic as these are two of the most important things that recruitment agents work with every day. The literature provided no indication of the qualifications needed by a recruitment agent, and resulting from this, a second finding of the study indicated that, according to the respondents, the qualifications needed by a recruitment agent are varied. It was found that qualifications of the sample group varied from only a school-leaving certificate to post-graduate degrees. A significant trend identified that only 24.2 per cent of recruitment agents are involved in research related to recruitment, and write articles related to their field. This contributes to the fact that so little information is available about South African recruitment agents. The study indicated that recruitment agents hold a positive attitude towards computer-based information systems, although they are accepted with caution because of various logistical problems in the South African market. The study also provided useful information to start a process of drawing up a profile of the South African recruitment agency business.
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- Date Issued: 2004
A survey of South African English verse printed in Cape periodicals and newspapers from 1824-1851
- Authors: Hammond, Carol Anne
- Date: 1972
- Subjects: Mass media and literature -- 19th century , South African poetry (English) -- History and criticism -- 19th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2301 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012146 , Mass media and literature -- 19th century , South African poetry (English) -- History and criticism -- 19th century
- Description: An interest in colonial literature is relatively new in the study of English. English-speaking South Africans especially, cut off as they are, a minority group in a new republic, have begun to re-assess their identity through a study of their existing literature. When asked what South African verse there was beside his own, Kipling remarked, "As to South African verse, it's a case of there's Pringle, and there's Pringle, and after that one must hunt the local papers." This thesis is the result of such a hunt - the hunt being limited to the years 1824 to 1851 - and on occasion, the writer has been tempted to conclude rather unfairly, "And there is only Pringle." It cannot be claimed that every poem ever printed during the period under review has been collected and examined, for the reason that many volumes of old newspapers are no longer available. Nevertheless, it has been possible to make a representative selection, which could provide the raw material for several theses to come. A detailed study of critical criteria prevalent at the Cape during this period, or public taste and the influence especially of the lesser British poets are some of the topics which might repay study. Intro., p. 1.
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- Date Issued: 1972