NEWS
8TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Proudly hosted by
Tshwane University of Technology
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA
More detail to be announced in March 2008.
INTERNATIONAL ARENA
The chapter is proud to announce the installation of Professor Hester Klopper as a Director-at-Large of Sigma Theta Tau International.
Hester is the first nurse from Africa to be awarded such a prestigious position. She will serve on the Board from 2008-2011.
Hester shared the joyous occasion with colleagues from various African countries at the 39th biennial conference of STTI held in Maryland, Baltimore.
CONGRATULATIONS HESTER. THE CHAPTER IS VERY HONOURED TO RECOGNIZE YOU AS PART OF OUR LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE. GOOD LUCK WITH THE IMPORTANT TASK THAT LIES BEFORE YOU!!!
The chapter also celebrated with Professor Leana Uys. Leana was awarded the Mary Tolle Wright award for excellence in Leadership. This award – part of the Founders award offers homage to the six founding nurses of the society. The award recognizes extraordinary excellence.
CONGRATULATIONS LEANA!!
The Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter also received recognition at the 39th biennial conference from the president, Dr Carol Picard. Professor Hester Klopper (secretariat-treasurer) and Dr Naomi Seboni (President) received the Dorothy Ford Buschmann Award on behalf of the chapter.
to top
LOCAL ARENA
The 7th Annual Conference of the Africa Honour Society of Nursing and Midwives, which focused on DELIVERING EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING AND MIDWIFERY CARE IN AFRICA, was held in Lilongwe, Malawi on the 30th July 2nd August 2007. The conference, which was opened by the Malawian Minister of Health on Monday, 30th July 2007, was attended by nurses and midwives from six countries. During the conference, delegates drafted the Malawi Declaration on the Development for Nursing and Midwifery in Africa. The declaration was addressed to African governments, organizations and institutions, and calls on a range of strategies to be implemented to retain nurses and midwives in Africa, and develop them into a work force that can serve communities with competence and care. The key note speaker on the last day was Dr. May Wykle, a former president of STTI, who is one of the most eminent African-American nurse leaders in the United States of America today.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
General
The annual general meeting (AGM) was held on 01 August 2007 where the presidential report and financial report for 2007 was presented and accepted. The election of new board members also took place at this meeting and the results of the election were as follows:
New elected board members:
PRESIDENT ELECT: Prof. Judith Bruce
Judith.Bruce@wits.ac.za
VICE PRESIDENT: Prof. Sebi Lekalakala-Mokgele
Sebi.Lekalakala-Mokgele@nwu.ac.za
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (SWAZILAND): Dr. Thuli Mngadi
thuli@realnet.co.sz
PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR-RESOURCES: Prof. Oluyinka Adejumo
adejumoo@ukzn.ac.za
Board members serving until the next AGM
PRESIDENT: Dr. Naomi Seboni
seboninm@mopipi.ub.bw
SECRETARY-TREASURER: Prof Hester Klopper (2005-2010)
Hester.Klopper@nwu.ac.za
PORTFOLIO DIRECTOR RESEARCH: Prof. Minrie Greeff
Minrie.Greeff@nwu.ac.za
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (SOUTH AFRICA): Prof. Christa van der Walt
Christa.vanderWalt@nwu.ac.za
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (TANZANIA): Dr. Thecla Kohi
tkohi@muchs.ac.tz
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (MALAWI): Dr. Address Malata
kcnbt@malawi.net
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (KENYA): Mrs. Isabella Mbai
imodia2002@yahoo.com
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (BOTSWANA): Dr. Tsidi Sabone
sabonemb@mopipi.ub.bw
COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (GHANA): Mrs. Mary Opare
mopare@hotmail.com
New Committee Members:
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION COMMITTEE: Dr. Phaladze
phaladze@mopipi.ub.bw
LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION COMMITTEE: Dr. Adele Tjale
adele.tjale@wits.ac.za
RESEARCH COMMITTEE: Dr. Ansie Minnaar
ansie.minnaar@wits.ac.za
Research Committee
- The committee activated various collaborative projects for the chapter, namely:
- The Use of ARV and Quality of Life: An African Study (Prof Greeff and Dr Wright)
- Promotion of Psychiatric Nursing in Africa (Dr van Rhyn and Dr Pienaar)
- Conserving Resources and Developing the History of Nursing within Southern Africa (Mrs Cassimjee)
- Standardisation of Nursing Diagnosis (Prof van Wyk)
- An abstract reviewing instrument, for research submissions, was developed for the Malawi conference. To guide new researchers and presenters, detailed instructions regarding the contents of the abstract as well as the scoring system were made available and the abstracts were evaluated anonymously by the research committee. The abstracts received were of a high standard and complied with the guidelines provided.
- Various relevant documents identifying research priorities were evaluated and the following research focuses for the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter was proposed:
- HIV/AIDS
- Malaria
- Mental Health
- Leadership in research
- Palliation
- Culture-congruent care
- Service delivery (Quality)
- Maternal and Child Health
- The committee reviewed the grant criteria of a number of institutes and compared it to the current criteria of Sigma Theta Tau. The committee kept the content of the current criteria as formulated by Sigma Theta Tau, but added criteria as they deemed appropriate, with a draft document being available to members for comment and suggestions
- The Alpha Eta Chapter UCSF donated a research fund of $2,000 for a research project and members were encouraged to apply. The Tau Lambda-at-large Chapter Research Committee will evaluate the proposals internally and acceptable proposals will be forwarded to the Alpha Eta Chapter for final selection. The committee and the successful applicant will then be notified.
- The Research Committee plans to determine the needs of the members of the Tau Lambda-At-Large relating to the development of scholarships that include the conducting of research and the publication of scientific papers in peer reviewed nursing journals. The members of the Chapter represent the whole spectrum from experienced researchers and academics in nursing science to the less experienced and even novice researchers. A database of the capacity of academics in the Chapter will provide information to enable the Committee to plan research support and mentoring.
- Five articles were received for the Presidential award for the best article in 2007 and the prize was awarded to Dr. Petra Brysiewicz (UKZN) at the Gala Dinner.
- The research committee proposed the following activities for 2008:
- To develop a research support and mentoring program
- To plan workshops in research development at conferences e.g. abstract preparation, proposal development, scientific writing and intellectual property
- To develop a database for Africa on research and researchers
- To develop guidelines for the evaluation of the best presentation at conferences
- To develop a policy document on research for the chapter
- To form closer links with Sigma Theta Tau International
Publications Committee
A new self-nominated committee was selected and comprised of the following members:
Resource Committee
A new self-nominated committee was selected and comprised of the following members:
Leadership Succession Committee
- The committee aimed to focus more on leadership development in their various fields of involvement with specific promotion of the image of STTI. The following activities demonstrates their involvement:
- Attending and presenting at leadership summits and conferences
- Membership in the International Advisory Board of Reflections on Nursing Leadership from January 2007 to December 2009
- Membership in the International Research Committee of ICN (International Council for Nurses) committee for 2007-2009
- An editorial on global leadership challenges of nurses in South Africa was written and published in the Journal: Reflections on Nursing Leadership of the Honour Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.
- The committee initiated with the approval of the Board of Directors to provide a leadership development workshop at every years’ conference from 2008.
- Needs assessment forms were distributed to all members at the annual general meeting for feedback.
Venue for the Next Annual Meeting
The dates were set from Monday, 28 July 2008 to 31 July 2008. The venue was voted on by members present at the Annual General Meeting and the venue Eldoret, Kenya was supported.
We hope to see you all at the next conference!
to top
ANNUAL NEWSLETTER
Dear Tau Lambda-at-Large Members
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2008. The Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter concluded with a high note in 2007, and it is my privilege to share these highlights with you.
On
the 2nd – 7th November 2007, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) held their 39th Biennial STTI Convention, Vision to Action: Global Health through Collaboration, in Baltimore, Maryland USA. We were not only fortunate to have twelve members of the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter attend the convention, but privileged to have many of these members present the following research studies:
- Prof. L. Uys presented an oral presentation titled: Lessons learned from the Honor Society Community Pilots.
- Prof. F.M. Mulaudzi presented an oral presentation titled: Creation of “Dirt” theory: A grounded theory approach.
- Prof. N. van Wyk presented an oral presentation titled: Training nurses in integrative nursing to meet the needs of the people in Africa.
- Dr. N. Seboni presented two oral presentations titled: A model of healthy teenage sexuality and The influence of socio-cultural factors on adolescents sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Dr. L. Middleton presented an oral presentation titled: Communities without borders: An international writing collaborative.
- Prof. L. Uys, Prof. H. Klopper, and Prof. N. van Wyk presented a symposium titled: A community of practice to develop post-graduate nursing education.
- Prof. L. Uys and Dr. P. Dlamini presented a symposium titled: HIV/AIDS stigma in Africa.
- Dr. E. Seloilwe and Dr. N. Seboni presented a symposium titled: Nurse educators in Botswana and their response to HIV/AIDS.
- Mrs. R. Pretorius presented a poster titled: The establishment of centres of excellence in clinical practice in South African Hospitals”
Furthermore, we were also successful in receiving both an award for our Chapter as a whole and for an individual member of our Chapter, Prof. Leana Uys (Special Co-opted member of the Tau Lambda-at-Large Board of Diretors). The Secretariat-Treasurer of the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter, Prof. Hester Klopper also made history at the convention, by being elected as the first person in Africa to serve as Director-at-Large on the Sigma Theta Tau International Board of Directors.
On Sunday, the 4th November 2007, Prof. Leana Uys was awarded one of the Founders Awards, namely theMary Tolle Wright Award for Excellence in Leadership, by the President of Sigma Theta Tau International, Dr. Carol Picard. The Founders Awards celebrate their 30th anniversary and are the highest honours bestowed by Sigma Theta Tau International. They recognize outstanding activities that advance the honor society’s purposes. The awards symbolize the qualities of personal leadership that motivated our founders and pay tribute to their vision. The awards recognize excellence in high professional standards, education, chapter programming, creativity, nursing practice, research and leadership. Each biennium, Founders Awards are presented to six outstanding nurses and one chapter in recognition of the society’s founders – six nursing students and the director of nursing at Indiana University.
On that same day, Dr. Carol Picard bestowed the on the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapterin recognition of its unique model that involves multiple schools of nursing at African Universities known as sub-chapters in multiple countries, which is governed by a Board of Directors based in different countries. The Presidential Award is bestowed by the international president of Sigma Theta Tau International to recognize exceptional contributions to nursing. In 1997, in celebration of Sigma Theta Tau’s 75th Anniversary, the award was named to recognize the pioneer leadership of the honor society’s first president, Dorothy Ford Buschmann (Alpha), Indiana University.
On Wednesday, the 7th November 2007, the House of Delegatesmet to elect members of the board of directors and other standing committees, vote on the approval of petitioning honor societies for chapter chartering and vote on proposed bylaws amendments. It was on this day, that Prof. Hester Klopper was elected to serve as Director-at-Large on the Sigma Theta Tau International Board of Directors, being the first person in Africa to serve in this position. The Sigma Theta Tau Board of Directors consists of 11 voting members and the Chief Executive Officer. The 11 elected members are the voting members: President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Regional Chapter Coordinating Committee Chair and five At-Large Directors.
Should you be interested in more information about the 39th Biennial STTI Convention, Vision to Action: Global Health through Collaboration, in Baltimore, Maryland USA, please visit the following website address: http://www.nursingsociety.org/STTIEvents/BiennialConvention/Pages/ConventionHighlights.aspx
I trust that you share in the pride of our Chapter’s considerable achievements and that we can look forward to working together in this coming year to achieve even greater heights.
Kind Regards
Prof. Hester Klopper
Secretariat-Treasurer of the Tau Lambda-at-Large Chapter
to top
