Discovering presence as part of nurse educators' role modelling at a public Nursing college in the North West province
Abstract
Background: Nursing students learn the science and art of nursing, including presence, from classroom content, using skills in practice, repeated interactions with patients, or by watching an experienced nurse interact with a patient. Nursing education must be open to nursing students and to the intricacies of nursing practice to provide the best education so that nursing students can construct the art and science of nursing practice. Nursing students must be educated to be sound practitioners in the “being” of nursing practice. If nurse educators model presence to nursing students, there will be an improvement in the quality of care to patients when nursing students are placed during their clinical training and once they go to work when they have completed their nursing programme. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to explore and describe nurse educators’ modelling of presence to nursing students at a public nursing college in the North West province. Method: The study followed a qualitative ethnographic research design with three data collection methods, namely shadowing, informal reflective conversations and field notes. Purposive sampling was done among a target population of nurse educators at a public nursing college of the North West province. Sample size was determined by data saturation. Data saturation was reached after shadowing four participants, each over a period of two days, and at least two informal reflective conversations with each participant. The informal reflective conversations were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed. Data collected through shadowing were captured in the form of field notes on a daily basis. Ethnographic data analysis was conducted, involving the research supervisors as co-coders together with an independent co-coder to validate the accuracy of the findings. Trustworthiness was ensured by credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability, and the study adhered to the relevant ethics principles. Results: Five themes emerged from the data, each with five to seven sub-themes. The five themes are: (1) dedication and innovation in a difficult setting; (2) professional educator–student relationships; (3) teaching–learning strategies; (4) shared values modelled by nurse educators; and (5) principles derived from the presence that was modelled. Conclusion: Participants at the public nursing college modelled presence to some extent to nursing students despite facing various challenges in their work every day. They succeeded in modelling presence by being dedicated and innovative in the difficult nursing education setting of the public nursing college, maintaining a professional educator–student relationship, using specific teaching–learning strategies based on shared values, and allowing themselves to be guided by principles that resemble presence. The following relationships between the themes, sub-themes and above-mentioned conclusions emerged: nurse educators’ model “being professional‟, ‘’being facilitating, nurturing, caring and compassionate, encouraging and motivating‟, and ‘’being purposeful in their nursing education approach. Recommendations are made for nursing education, policy development and future research on measures to strengthen the modelling of presence by nurse educators at public nursing colleges.
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- Health Sciences [2060]