With the increased enrolment numbers in Nursing Colleges and Universities, learners can feel disconnected from their tutors. The gap can feel so big. In the Children’s Nursing Educators Forum meeting held on 21st August 2024, the focus was on how to help build a linkage and narrow the gap between learners and tutors. 

Dr Kathleen Froneman from North West University, South Africa talked about the importance of facilitating presence in a learning environment. This requires the nurse educator to be a role model portraying the presence behaviours like: being accessible, honest, a good listener, open minded and always professional. With this, it increases the nurse’s awareness of presence, which transform the way a nurse thinks and acts towards the care given to the patient. A nurse has to be physically, psychologically and emotionally present with the patient. 

This helps improve patient positive outcome, increases patient satisfaction and improves patient care.  In the same vein, the nurse educator must be present at all times in the student’s life, thus improving student performance, increasing self-esteem and making a student feel valued.

A number of participants expressed joy and happiness from what they learnt at the Forum, and said they would what was discussed into practice in their home Colleges, Universities and Hospitals.

Written by Julia Kalito, School of Paediatrics & Child Health, Arthur Davison Hospital, Ndola, Zambia