South African nurses' accounts for choosing to be termination of pregnancy providers

Abstract

The South African abortion law was liberalised with the introduction of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act (CTOP) (1996). This Act allows nurses and medical doctors a choice as to whether they want to be involved in the provision of termination of pregnancies (TOP). Many state nurses have chosen not to be trained. This qualitative study focused on a small grouping of nurses who did volunteer for this training. Twenty-two nurses were interviewed individually and participated in a focus group that explored how they accounted for choosing to be trained as TOP providers. Their reasons for this choice were framed broadly within a public health discourse, rights' discourse and a sociocultural discourse. A profile of the characteristics of nurses who choose to be trained was compiled. Policy recommendations for the selection and training of TOP providers are suggested with a view to strengthening the implementation of the TOP Act and widening access to TOP services.