Dr Kathleen Froneman is passionate about presence, and about nursing education. She recognised that nurse educators are in an ideal position to nurture a love for presence in nursing students. She embarked on doctoral studies to develop a model as a guide for nurse educators to facilitate presence in the students, particularly in the context of large classes.
She discovered that this can be done through reflective practices as a teaching-learning strategy.
What does this mean?
The model serves as a guide, through which the nurse educator and nursing student is prepared and where nurse educators facilitate guided reflection, leading to facilitated presence and transformational learning, resulting in present and reflective nurse practitioners, professional practice development, and ultimately to quality nursing care. Reflective practices entails an authentic reflective encounter between the nurse educator and student.
The practice model for nurse educators to facilitate presence in large class group settings through reflective practices
In a fictional example of an ideal case of the application of the model, Kathleen describes guided reflection as follows: “This means that she (the nurse educator) accompanies nursing students in the cognitive art of reflection, guiding them in critically thinking about practicing psychiatric nursing with presence. Amorè therefore uses time during each class to guide nursing students in critically reflecting on their own positive and negative experiences while learning about psychiatric nursing and/or while providing psychiatric nursing care, discussing their thoughts, feelings and knowledge and practicing self-inquiry and self-awareness. This approach leads to new perspectives and understanding of themselves and of psychiatric patients as fellow human beings, and to improved practice as a psychiatric nurse. By using this approach throughout the semester, Amorè contributes to deep, constructive and meaningful learning to produce a complete change in how nursing students view themselves, psychiatric patients, psychiatric conditions and how to practice psychiatric nursing in a present way. This guidance in transformational learning leads to independent thought, critical reflection, healthy questioning of own views and decisions, new meanings and a change in nursing students’ frame of reference.” (Froneman, 2022).
The significance of this model is that nurse educators are assisted to empower nursing students to grow into safe, caring and reflective nurse practitioners who are present with their patients.
Nurse educators are encouraged to make this model part of curriculums of undergraduate, postgraduate and continuous professional development programmes to not only deepen the body of knowledge of nursing but also to increase nurses' awareness of presence. Such awareness transforms the way they feel, think, care and act in practice.
This will help nurses to embrace the caring ethos of the nursing profession.
Kathleen has published three articles on her research, available at BMC nursing (May 2023) (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37237367/), Nursing Open (Dec 2022) (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nop2.1535) and BMC Nursing (Nov 2022) (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36384513/) and she continues to spread awareness of this important topic.
To contact Kathleen and to learn more, you are welcome to send her an email at presence4goodcare@gmail.com