A conceptual model for nurse educators to facilitate presence in large class settings through reflective practices: A theory synthesis

Background: Nurse educators are required to facilitate presence by implementing creative, innovative and reflective ways in interacting with and involving nursing students more directly in the teaching-learning process. Managing large class groups of nursing students and the nurse educators’ daily workload demands, including teaching, clinical supervision and research priorities could hinder facilitating presence through reflective practices. Methods: : Walker and Avant’s strategy of theory and statement synthesis was followed. Theory synthesis included three iterative steps: identifying, defining and classifying main and related concepts, defining relational statements, and organising the main and related concepts, relational statements and conceptual framework into an integrated and efficient representation. Conclusion statements were formulated through statement synthesis. Results: : A model to facilitate presence in large class settings through reflective practices was developed as a theoretical framework to guide nurse educators in their teaching-learning practices. Six conclusion statements for “presence and reflective practices in nursing education” emerged. Conclusions: : This model addresses the gap in the literature and contributes substantially to deepen the body of knowledge in the nursing education domain of the South African context as well as the nursing education domain internationally, to serve as a model for guiding nurse educators in their teaching-learning practices.