2022 in Review

The year 2022 was marked by 'returning to relatively normal', and we are thankful for being able to communicate more freely again, and being closer to one another. In the Presence team, research continued successfully, we continued the short learning programme and received positive feedback from participants and there is a spark of new projects. All positive events that we are glad to share with you.

A valuable contribution to our understanding of how to facilitate presence

A hearty congratulations to Dr Kathleen Froneman. She graduated during November 2022. In her study, she developed a model for nurse educators to facilitate presence in nursing students, by applying reflective practices. Nurse educators who are interested in instilling presence through the way that they offer education and training will find this model to be a wonderful guide. Kathleen wrote three scientific articles based on her study, two of which you can already read in top research journals at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nop2.1535 and https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-022-01095-7.

Dr Kathleen Froneman on her graduation day

What other research are we busy with?

The Presence research team is continuing with interesting studies, through which we gain a deeper understanding of presence. Marcel Mather recently completed his study on the correlation between burnout, the practice environment and presence. Keep an eye out for more news about this study - we hope to share more soon!

Dr Precious Chukwuere completed data collection to find out more how the DREAM guidelines can be used to facilitate presence. We are excited to share the findings as soon as it is available!

Rudo Ramalisa's study to develop a model to cultivate attentiveness through mindfulness resulted in the development of an immensely valuable model. Be on the lookout for more details on this study - we hope to share more news on this study later this year.

Beauty Mkhaliphi is progressing very well with data collection, to learn more about how clinical accompanists can embrace a presence approach when supporting nursing students, and Christelle Oukouomi Noutchie is preparing for data collection to learn more how nurses can benefit from online training on presence. Lilly Kalimashe is continuing with her study on relational leadership in primary health care, hoping to obtain ethical approval and permission from the relevant authorities within the next few months.

A short learning programme that makes a difference

We are proud to report that we are continuing with the short learning programme on relational care and leadership. We received positive feedback. Nurses of all categories are invited to enroll for this valuable online training opportunity.

Spreading Presence news on radio

We are happy to report that we are continuing to make regular contributions on the Lig op Lug radio programme, on the community radio station, Maluti FM. The feedback we receive is that Deernisvolle teenwoordigheid (Caring presence) is becoming a well-known term in conversations in the Maluti area and wider. To find out more, visit the Lig op Lug Facebook page or YouTube channel.

Putting presence into practice

As a team, we realised the importance of practicing presence. We therefore made an intentional effort to follow the presence approach in a new community project at a psychiatric mental health hospital. Over a period of about three months we visited the hospital once a week, for clinical accompaniment of nursing students.

In a team of three lecturers involved in the clinical accompaniment, we reflected regularly, and agreed upon one ward where we thought there was an already existing openness towards improving healthcare and a receptivity towards us.

We made an appointment with he ward manager, he was positive about the possibility of our involvement there, and he identified the needs for our involvement as assistance in designing a weight plotting chart, and in-service training. We offered involvement in a stimulation programme to the patients living with intellectual disability (communication, fine and gross motor skills, activities of daily living), as well as debriefing to the staff.

We then continued with visits to him and the nursing staff, to hear their needs, offer help and to express our intention. The ward manager continued to be open, he appreciated our help with the weight plotting chart, and he offered a room in the ward to us to use for the stimulation programme. This was a tremendous gesture of goodwill.

We have been visiting the ward for the past few months to offer the stimulation programme, following the lead of the nursing staff working at the ward. We are getting to know the nursing staff, as well as the patients. We are experiencing much joy in interacting with the patients, who are adult women living with severe to moderate intellectual disability. We enjoy colouring, singing, teaching them some activities of daily living and spending time there. The word has spread and we were invited by the Activity unit to see the work they are doing and to discuss how we can support one another.

Spreading the word on presence

Please continue to support our social media initiative, to help spread the word on presence.

You will enjoy visiting our Caring presence YouTube channel, where we chat with experts in presence, and our Facebook page where we share news. Also visit our Instagram page.

To contact us, send us an email at presence4goodcare@gmail.com