Professor Margaret Williams is currently a Research Associate at the NMU Department of Nursing Science and a Contract Lecturer at the NMU Department of Emergency Medical Care (EMC). She has over three decades of experience in health sciences education, including 11 years at a nursing college and 19 years at university level. Her academic and research work is grounded in a primary health care (PHC) and public health orientation, reflecting the South African health system in which PHC clinics constitute the first point of care.

 

Her scholarly expertise lies in maternal and child health, with a sustained focus on the prevention of malnutrition in children under five, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, particularly medication adherence, PMTCT, and ensuring continuity of care for children within resource-constrained settings. A central thread across her work is the education and support of mothers, including maternal knowledge of child developmental milestones and strengthening mother–childcare at PHC level.

 

From 2019 to 2022, Professor Williams was the recipient of a National Research Foundation (NRF)–funded research project examining TB treatment adherence, including comparative analyses of models of care in South Korea and South Africa. This work generated empirically grounded insights into adherence behaviours across contrasting health systems and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication. She has also contributed to a UNICEF-supported project, working collaboratively with national government stakeholders to strengthen breastfeeding practices as a key strategy for the prevention of malnutrition in children under five, reinforcing the policy and practice relevance of her research.

 

Professor Williams has played a significant role in curriculum development within health sciences. At Nelson Mandela University, she was involved in the development and revision of the undergraduate nursing curriculum, contributing to the alignment of PHC principles, maternal and child health, and public health competencies within the programme. She also contributed to the development of a new postgraduate PHC curriculum at the University of the Western Cape, supporting the strengthening of advanced PHC training in the South African context.

 

Her teaching career spans general nursing education at college level, as well as sociology, psychology, and research development within health sciences programmes. At Nelson Mandela University, she has taught PHC across undergraduate nursing programmes and contributed to postgraduate teaching following curriculum revision. In her current role in Emergency Medical Care, her teaching focus is on research methodology, where she guides students through the development of research proposals and supports their progression as emerging health researchers.

 

Professor Williams is a recognised specialist in qualitative research methodologies, with expertise in independent qualitative data analysis, thematic analysis, and methodological rigour. She currently supervises three master’s students and one PhD candidate at the University of the Western Cape and is actively involved in postgraduate supervision, research capacity development, and mentorship.