Hester Julie

Cracking the nut of service-learning in nursing at a higher educational institution

Background The readiness of academics to engage in the service-learning (SL) institutionalisation process is not accentuated in research on SL institutionalisation in South Africa. The argument has been advanced that SL scholarship and willingness of key stakeholders are crucial for SL institutionalisation at the academic programme level. Aim The research focus of the study being reported here was on readiness of respondents to embed SL in the curricula of the nursing programme. Method This study used a quantitative, exploratory and descriptive design. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a stratified sample comprising 34 respondents. The data were analysed for descriptive statistics using SPSS 19. Results The demographic profile of the respondents indicated that 31 (66%) were between 31 and 50 years old; 36 (75.16%) had a minimum of 10 years’ nursing experience; 19 (39.6%) had a masters degree, two (4.2%) had a doctorate; and 29 (60.4%) had been employed by the school for a maximum of five years. The results indicated that the nurse educators were in need of SL capacity-building because 9 (18.8%) had limited or no knowledge of SL and 24 (50%) confused SL with other forms of community engagement activities. However, only 15 (33%) of the clinical supervisors and 13 (27%) of the lecturers indicated a willingness to participate in such a programme. Conclusion The school was not ready to embed SL in the academic programme because of a lack of SL scholarship and willingness to remediate the identified theory–practice gaps.

The development of an implementation framework for service learning during the undergraduate nursing programme in the Western Cape Province

Background Service-learning (SL) is a contested field of knowledge and issues of sustainability and scholarship have been raised about it. The South African Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) has provided policy documents to guide higher education institutions (HEIs) in the facilitation of SL institutionalisation in their academic programmes. An implementation framework was therefore needed to institutionalise the necessary epistemological shifts advocated in the national SL policy guidelines. Objectives This article is based on the findings of a doctoral thesis that aimed at developing an SL implementation framework for the School of Nursing (SoN) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Method Mixed methods were used during the first four phases of the design and development intervention research model developed by Rothman and Thomas. Results The SL implementation framework that was developed during Phase 3 specified the intervention elements to address the gaps that had been identified by the core findings of Phases 1 and 2. Four intervention elements were specified for the SL implementation framework. The first intervention element focused on the assessment of readiness for SL institutionalisation. The development of SL capacity and SL scholarship was regarded as the pivotal intervention element for three of the elements: the development of a contextual SL definition, an SL pedagogical model, and a monitoring and evaluation system for SL institutionalisation. Conclusion The SL implementation framework satisfies the goals of SL institutionalisation, namely to develop a common language and a set of principles to guide practice, and to ensure the allocation of resources in order to facilitate the SL teaching methodology. The contextualised SL definition that was formulated for the SoN contributes to the SL operationalisation discourse at the HEI.

THE MEANING OF SELF-LEADERSHIP FOR NURSING ACADEMICS OF A RESEARCH PROGRAMME IN THE CONTEXT OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION IN THE WESTERN CAPE

Background: A self-leadership development programme was created in 2012 for ten nursing academics with the aim of empowering them to embark upon research projects, write for subject matter publications, and develop as leaders at a school of nursing in the Western Cape.Objectives: This study aimed at exploring and describing the experiences of nurse leaders with regard to the meaning of self-leadership during a leadership development programme offered by a lead researcher at a school of nursing.Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, narrative, and contextual study was conducted with a sample of eight participants who were lecturers in an undergraduate nursing programme. The researcher collected the data by means of individual narratives. An open coding method of data analysis was followed to transpose collected data into meaningful data.Results: The participants were between the ages of 28 and 57 years. Two main themes emerged from the data analysis, namely leadership attributes and responsibilities towards the group. Nursing academics were motivated to use their self-influence to direct themselves to achieve optimum performance in the programme. Broadly speaking, the meaning attached to self-leadership was closely linked to concepts of shared leadership, reflective leadership, and collaborative leadership that were concepts leading to group leadership according to the leadership framework of Jooste (2011).Conclusion: Self-leadership is regarded as an essential component of leadership and an integral aspect of the nursing academic’s role.Keywords: Higher education, leadership programme, nursing academics, self-leadership.

Intimate partner violence amongst undergraduate nursing students

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is reported to be rife among the student population at tertiary institutions and the general population. Yet the abuse is under diagnosed by nurses in health care settings. Research indicates that nurses’ personal experiences of this type of abuse play a role in the management of survivors. Hence, this study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with IPV among the undergraduate nursing student population at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by the stratified random sample. The reported life time prevalence of IPV included psychological, physical, financial and sexual abuse. IPV was significantly associated with the educational status of the respondent’s mother, financial support and witnessing of abuse during childhood. A support structure is thus needed to prepare the undergraduate student nurses emotionally before commencing with their training in the management of survivors of IPV.

Cracking the nut of service-learning in nursing

CONTEXT AND SETTING Higher education institutions (HEI’s) worldwide are being held more accountable for both the effectiveness and relevance of their educational programmes and are being challenged to “reinsert the public good into higher education”. These reasons have contributed to the development of the service-learning movement globally. In South Africa service-learning became entrenched in HEI policy documents in less than a decade ago. Although there are national policy guidelines for community engagement and service-learning as a particular type of community engagement, the implementation of service-learning has occurred sporadically as HEIs struggling with the many changes at all societal levels. PURPOSE Whilst the school of nursing at University of the Western Cape is cognizant of this national policy imperative as stipulated in the guidelines of the Higher Education Quality Committee, how these statements will be operationalised within the undergraduate nursing programme has not been addressed. The question that therefore needs to be asked is what teaching staff perceive to be the enablers and challenges for institutionalising service-learning in the programme by exploring the perceptions of those involved in teaching on the programme. WHAT WAS DONE An exploratory, descriptive, contextual design was used. Participants who included academics (n= 18) and clinical supervisors (n= 18) employed at the school of nursing, completed a self- administered, structured questionnaire, adapted from Furco’s self-assessment rubric for the institutionalization of service-learning in Higher Education.. RESULTS OF RESULTS AND IMPACT The preliminary results reported here are part of a wider investigation into the implementation of service-learning in selected modules in the undergraduate nursing programme. The findings reveal that the school of nursing has to engage in critical mass building activities because none of the respondents were aware of the Higher Education Quality Committee’s assessment criteria for service-learning. Approximately 9% indicated awareness that the institution has an official definition of service-learning that is used consistently to operationalize most aspects of service-learning on campus. However, the majority (91%) reported on the absence of a campus-wide definition of service-learning; the inconsistent use of service-learning to describe a variety of experiential and service activities, or that they were unsure. Respondents indicated that institutional and departmental for and involvement in service-learning for academics, students and community participation was minimal. Although three respondents attended training sessions, all indicated that they would either like to receive information about the national service-learning policy guidelines, or attend training sessions on service-learning. CONCLUSION It can thus be concluded that the academics and clinical supervisors are willing to participate in activities to overcome the challenges identified. It is therefore recommended that a tailor-made training programme be designed to address the needs of the school of nursing in order to institutionalize service-learning in the undergraduate nursing programme