ABSTRACT
Introduction While South Africa may be the most economically developed country in Africa, ranked approximately 25th in the world by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP-purchasing power parity) of more than US $490 billion (2008 estimate),1 some of its provinces are as underdeveloped as its poorer neighbors. This creates unique challenges, and the country experiences a range of problems that directly and indirectly affect the organization and delivery of health services, including nursing care and the use of informatics and technologies to support healthcare.2
