EXPERIENCES OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS MANAGING SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS IN THE EMERGENCY UNIT PART 2: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND LITERATURE CONTROL

The study of the experiences of health care providers managing sexual assault victims in an emergency unit was conducted according to the research methodology discussed in Part 1 of this article. In this part, the results are discussed and the literature control is conducted. Data from the transcripts of interviews held with health care providers who managed sexual assault cases in the emergency unit of the selected hospital in the Nkangala district in the Mpumalanga Province were analysed in accordance with Tesch’s method of data analysis, as discussed by Clark and Cresswell, cited by Lehana and Rhyn (2003:29). Distinct themes, categories and subcategories were established from the transcripts. The themes were thoroughly investigated in order to discover their important features as well as the manner in which the data should be organised and interpreted. A literature control was conducted as a further measure to enhance the trustworthiness of the fi ndings of the study. RESulTS AND lITERATuRE CONTROl Five main categories were identifi ed and 13 subcategories developed in this study. Data obtained from the interview transcripts and fi eld notes were grouped according to the relevant subcategories under the identifi ed categories. See Table 1 on the framework of the data analysis. Emotions Under the category emotions, the following two subcategories were established: emotions related to the participants and emotions related to the sexual assault survivors. Emotions related to the participants In the subcategory regarding participants’ emotions, the following themes were discovered: empathy, emotional trauma, anger, fear and judgmentalism. Participants experienced the power of identifying with the victims of sexual assault when managing them in the emergency