Abstract
M.Cur.
Nursing education and training plays an important role in the production of well-trained
and properly groomed nurses. The goal of the Nursing Strategy for South Africa is to
improve the quality of nurse educators. In the college under study, newly qualified nurse
educators are faced with the challenge of teaching large classes of about 350 students
without the knowledge and skills to facilitate learning.
The purpose of the study is to explore and describe the experience of newly qualified
nurse educators as facilitators of learning, and to describe recommendations to assist
them in developing knowledge and skills of facilitation at a Gauteng nursing college. A
qualitative, phenomenological, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design
was used to provide in-depth descriptions of newly qualified nurse educators’ experiences
regarding facilitation of learning in a Gauteng nursing college. A purposive sampling
method was used to obtain in-depth information about the experiences of being newly
qualified nurse educators at a nursing college through individual semi-structured
interviews. An open-coding, qualitative data analysis method was used. Trustworthiness
was accomplished using credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.
Ethical considerations were adhered to. Four themes and sub-themes emerged from the
results as follows: (1)inadequate knowledge and skills of facilitation with sub-theme being
fear and uncertainty as a new lecturer; (2) ineffective management support with the subthemes
of inadequate support during orientation and mentoring, inadequate material
resources versus large number of learners, and inadequate quality assurance systems;
(3) increased number of learners in class and sub-themes of increased workload,
learners’ misbehaviour in class and teaching across all levels; and (4)attitudinal and
emotional experiences with the sub-theme of psychological and emotional distress due
to harassment and bullying. Recommendations, limitations and a conclusion was made.