Navigating Professional and Personal Knowing Through Reflective Storytelling Amidst Covid-19

The paper offers space for dialogue illustrating reflection as lived, exploring both my personal and professional experiences of grief and loss surrounding the death of my Dad from Covid −19. In my role as a nurse educator, I share understandings of reflection in facilitating learning and person centered practices with students. I illustrate my approach with two stories generating a narrative giving testimony to those who have died and highlighting the ensuing grief for those who have cared for older people during the pandemic. The first reflective story has been shared with students and snapshots of student responses during virtual sessions are incorporated. The second story shifts to a more personal focus reflecting personal knowing. Insights emerge bringing forth personal and professional knowing, about the art and science of holistic nursing. I explore the challenges in separating ourselves from personal knowledge and experience in reflective writing. I invite readers to take time to pause amidst a global healthcare pandemic to consider the potential of reflection to support nurses in recovering from suffering experienced during a pandemic.

An Exploration of the Preparation of New Zealand Nurse Educators for their Role in Teaching Postgraduate Clinical Nursing Courses

<p>Little is known about the preparation of New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinically focused postgraduate programmes. This research gives an insight into their world and the preparation they had in order to fulfil their roles. A review of the literature on nurse educator preparation revealed a dichotomy of preparation nationally and internationally. This study was carried out to inform the New Zealand nursing profession on the preparedness of its educators teaching clinical nursing postgraduate programmes. It was my assumption that nurse educator preparation lacked strategic direction and was not nationally uniform. The research expected to answer how and to what extent New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinical nursing postgraduate courses at NQF Level 8 are prepared and supported for their teaching role. This research used an exploratory descriptive survey methodology and was underpinned by a conceptual framework. The conceptual framework, referred to as the critical elements of nurse educator preparation (CENEP), contained four key concepts, support, educational preparation, personal attitudes and experience. These concepts informed the design and construct of a questionnaire to determine the level of preparation of New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes. A total of 89 postal questionnaires were administered resulting in a response rate of 46% (N=41), however, four questionnaires were excluded leaving a sample size of 37. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 12) was used to analyse the data, and descriptive statistics along with non-parametric testing was undertaken. There were three open-ended questions included in the questionnaire and these were analysed thematically. Results of this research reveal a culture where nurse educator preparation lacks uniformity and consistency. Individually, New Zealand nurse educators were found to be highly qualified for their positions and motivated and enthusiastic about their roles. However, 40% of respondents did not hold a teaching qualification. Results from this research revealed a pattern of clinical training for postgraduate nurses that was immersed in the world of the academic institution. This research study is limited and cannot be generalised to the entire population of nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes. However, some valuable insights have been gained into a previously unexplored area, and recommendations have been made for the future direction of preparation for nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes in New Zealand.</p>

An Exploration of the Preparation of New Zealand Nurse Educators for their Role in Teaching Postgraduate Clinical Nursing Courses

<p>Little is known about the preparation of New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinically focused postgraduate programmes. This research gives an insight into their world and the preparation they had in order to fulfil their roles. A review of the literature on nurse educator preparation revealed a dichotomy of preparation nationally and internationally. This study was carried out to inform the New Zealand nursing profession on the preparedness of its educators teaching clinical nursing postgraduate programmes. It was my assumption that nurse educator preparation lacked strategic direction and was not nationally uniform. The research expected to answer how and to what extent New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinical nursing postgraduate courses at NQF Level 8 are prepared and supported for their teaching role. This research used an exploratory descriptive survey methodology and was underpinned by a conceptual framework. The conceptual framework, referred to as the critical elements of nurse educator preparation (CENEP), contained four key concepts, support, educational preparation, personal attitudes and experience. These concepts informed the design and construct of a questionnaire to determine the level of preparation of New Zealand nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes. A total of 89 postal questionnaires were administered resulting in a response rate of 46% (N=41), however, four questionnaires were excluded leaving a sample size of 37. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 12) was used to analyse the data, and descriptive statistics along with non-parametric testing was undertaken. There were three open-ended questions included in the questionnaire and these were analysed thematically. Results of this research reveal a culture where nurse educator preparation lacks uniformity and consistency. Individually, New Zealand nurse educators were found to be highly qualified for their positions and motivated and enthusiastic about their roles. However, 40% of respondents did not hold a teaching qualification. Results from this research revealed a pattern of clinical training for postgraduate nurses that was immersed in the world of the academic institution. This research study is limited and cannot be generalised to the entire population of nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes. However, some valuable insights have been gained into a previously unexplored area, and recommendations have been made for the future direction of preparation for nurse educators teaching clinical postgraduate programmes in New Zealand.</p>

Pacific Women's Stories of Becoming a Nurse in New Zealand: a Radical Hermeneutic Reconstruction of Marginality

<p>This thesis examines Pacific women’s experiences of becoming a nurse and their first year of practice post Registration, within the New Zealand context. The participant’s stories of being students and beginning practitioners are inter-woven with my own reflections as a nurse and nurse educator who also claims a Pacific cultural heritage. To create the space in which our stories can be laid down, the thesis includes a description of the migration and settlement of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This description shows how Pacific people have been systematically stigmatised and locked into marginalised positions by mainstream dominant culture. The thesis deconstructs taken-for-granted and self perpetuating conceptualisations of marginality that currently underpins most theoretical explanations and proposes a reconstructed map of marginality. This deconstructed/reconstructed map of marginality is used as a template through which the experiences of the participants are filtered and interpreted. Radical Hermeneutics provides a philosophical underpinning for this project that has as one of its objectives the desire to resist reducing complexity to simplistic explanation and superficial solutions. The thesis challenges Nursing to examine its role in reproducing the hegemonic power of dominant culture by applying unexamined cultural normative values that create binary boundaries between ‘them’ and ‘us’. At the same time the thesis challenges Pacific people to move past hegemonically induced states of alienation and learn how to walk in multiple worlds with confidence and power.</p>

Pacific Women's Stories of Becoming a Nurse in New Zealand: a Radical Hermeneutic Reconstruction of Marginality

<p>This thesis examines Pacific women’s experiences of becoming a nurse and their first year of practice post Registration, within the New Zealand context. The participant’s stories of being students and beginning practitioners are inter-woven with my own reflections as a nurse and nurse educator who also claims a Pacific cultural heritage. To create the space in which our stories can be laid down, the thesis includes a description of the migration and settlement of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This description shows how Pacific people have been systematically stigmatised and locked into marginalised positions by mainstream dominant culture. The thesis deconstructs taken-for-granted and self perpetuating conceptualisations of marginality that currently underpins most theoretical explanations and proposes a reconstructed map of marginality. This deconstructed/reconstructed map of marginality is used as a template through which the experiences of the participants are filtered and interpreted. Radical Hermeneutics provides a philosophical underpinning for this project that has as one of its objectives the desire to resist reducing complexity to simplistic explanation and superficial solutions. The thesis challenges Nursing to examine its role in reproducing the hegemonic power of dominant culture by applying unexamined cultural normative values that create binary boundaries between ‘them’ and ‘us’. At the same time the thesis challenges Pacific people to move past hegemonically induced states of alienation and learn how to walk in multiple worlds with confidence and power.</p>