THE NURSING STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

Hierdie navorsing is ’n omvattende studie in die hedendaagse verplecgonderwys met die klem op die onafhanklike benadering tot leer. Unisa word uitgeken as een van die eerste universiteite in die wêreld om teletuisie in tersiêre onderrig in te stel. Dit is ook die heel eerste universiteit om afstandsonderrig in te stel as nabasiese voortgesette onderrig vir geregLstreerde verpleegkundiges op die skaal van die kursusse wat tans deur die universiteit aangebied word. Verpleegkundiges het vir haie jare met sukses deur Unisa gestudeer, maar het nêrens in Suid-Afrika die geleentheid gehad om hulle professionele studies deur teletuisie in hulle eie dissipline voort te sit nie. Hierdie studie is ontwerp om vas te stel of Unisa se vertroue in die onderneming geregverdig is. ’n Diepgaande ontleding van verpleegkundiges as studente in hierdie nie-tradisionele leersituasie is ondemeem. Aangesien hulle hoof'saaklik werkende studente in ’n essensiële diens is, is hulle werkgewers se probleme, asook die baat wat die betrokke dienste by hulle studies vind, onder die soeklig geplaas. Daar is bevind dat ten spyte van sekere belangrike probleme, die instelling van verpleegstudies deur UNISA ten voile gereg­ verdig is. Dit word bewys deur die toenemende studentetal, die bevestigte voordele wat aan alle gemeenskappe asook die beroep as ’n gebied toegekom word, en die erkenning van die Westerse wêreld vir hierdie tipe onderrig vir verpleegkundiges. Verder is bewys dat die meerderheid van huidige verpleegleiers grontendeels hulle akademiese opleiding deur Unisa ontvang. Die beroep is aan hierdie leiers en aan Unisa dank verskuldig vir hulle bydrae tot die voorbereiding van verpleegadministrateurs, -opvoedkundiges en -navorsers in alle kulturele groepe om die ontwikkelende gesondheidsdienste te beman.


INTRODUCTION
This research project, undertaken in the D epartm ent of Nursing Sci ence at Unisa betw een 1978 and 1981, focuses on nursing educa tion in general and in particular on nurses as postregistration students furthering their education through the medium of teletuition in the nonresidential academ ic setting of fered by Unisa.

ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR NURSES
University education for nurses first becam e a reality in South Africa in 1937 when postregistration diploma courses for qualified nurses were in troduced by the universities of Cape Town and the W itwatersrand.F urther opportunities for academic studies progressed slowly until 1956, when the long-awaited accep tance of nurses into university for a basic baccalaureated degree in nursing was achieved.In 1966 the University of Pretoria pioneered the establishm ent of the first Chair of Nursing in South Africa with a nurse as Professor and H ead of the D epartm ent.By 1981, 14 univer sities had established D epartm ents of Nursing, through which a variety of Bachelor, postregistration and postgraduate degrees leading to M asters and D octoral studies, as well as nongraduate diplom as, were being offered in such fields as clini cal nursing, nursing adm inistration, nursing education and community health nursing science.

JUSTIFICATION FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF NURSING COURSES AT UNISA
Despite the progress achieved through these courses, a solution had yet to be found to m eet the needs of all com m unities for an ade quate and effective nursing service and to overcom e the lack of post registration nursing education.This became especially urgent in the light of the new H ealth Act (Act No. 63 of 1977) which proposed a com prehensive health service for all sections of the com m unity, and a reorganisation of health facilities in a network of central, regional and peripheral services which would bring the nurse into the forefront at these levels.1 Their com prehensive preparation to enable them to func tion with optim um efficiency as planners, policy m akers, research ers, effective practitioners and lead ers dem anded that those nurses from the upper echelons of all cul tural groups be afforded the o ppor tunity of academic education.How ever, the problem s of the full-time working wom an, those with fami lies, the geographical siting of the universities, limited facilities for the different races and the necessity for em ployers to release large num bers of staff for extended studies, mili tated against the fulfilment of these ideals through the channels of resi dential university education.2 Many of the nursing educators of the day -them selves holding de grees in the A rts and Social Sci ences from Unisa -were enthusi astic advocates of self-directed in dependent study, in favour of tele tuition.Thus negotiations which led to the establishm ent of the present D epartm ent of Nursing Science at Unisa were com m enced between the South African Nursing Associa tion and the University in 1972 and successfully com pleted in 1975.3

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
To look critically at, and construct profiles of, nursing students at U nisa in a n o n traditional teaching and learning situation, nam ely tele tuition.
To highlight th e problem s, re wards and opinions of the learners and their em ployers while gathering inform ation for fu tu re planning.
To review the stu d en ts' part con tributions to th e health services, their levels of achievem ent and the projected benefits of th eir learning in providing an im proved service.
To evaluate South A frica's con cept of continuing education for nurses as offered traditionally and to exam ine the unique concept of teletuition for nurses in the light of contem porary developm ents.

METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY
In expoloring these and o th er issues, a descriptive survey was undertaken with som e com parisons being drawn betw een categories of respondents and different culture groups.Two m ajo r target popula tions w ere identified, nam ely the students -96 % of those in nursing studies w ere in full-tim e em ploy m ent -and th eir em ployers.
The research was planned so as to include four distinct categories of students, as follows: These last two categories were traced through personal contact or by placem ent of advertisem ents in strategic publications.In each of these categories, 106 questionnaires were despatched, with a 77 % return.The second target grouprepresentative o f the em ploying authorities -was draw n from the senior ranks of nurses in the state and provincial departm ents of the R epublic, nursing officers of selfgoverning and neighbouring indepen dent states, nursing educators and adm inistrators in charge of nursing colleges and hospitals, and nursing representatives of regional and local authorities in the health ser vices.All these persons w ere likely to have large num bers of nurses working under their jurisdiction while pursuing U nisa studies.

RESEARCH TECHNIQUES
These included questioning respon dents, colleagues and others by m eans of m ailed apparatus or through face-to-face form al inter views and inform al discussion; sta tistical analysis o f data; review of records, reports and o th er litera ture.W ith respondents widely dis persed throughout the R epublic, S o u t h e r n A f r i c a a n d a b o a r d , mailed questionnaires w ere used to gather data from the student popu lation -num bering 1 044.The p er centage return in different catego ries ranged from 66,2 % to 79,2 % , with a m ean of 72,4 %.The opinions of em ploying authorities w ere obtained through interviews -five through m ailed schedules and the rem aining 35 through faceto-face structured interview s and in form al spontaneous discussions.This volum e of predom inantly nonquantifiable data was processed manu ally by the researcher to ensure an onymity.

CONTENT OF THE DATA
In examining such issues as the feas ibility of introducing academ ic courses for postregistration nursing students through U nisa's m ethods, the individual and collective re wards which may accrue to students and their em ployers and the p ro jected long-term benefits for the nursing profession, an in-depth study was undertaken into the stu dents' needs, their m otivation for academ ic study, the courses which they selected, their educational, s o c i a l a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l b a c k grounds, their failures, problem s and rew ards, and the contribution of em ploying authorities and o th er professional bodies involved in this venture.

PROCESSING OF DATA
D ata from the students' question naires were processed using two program m ed packages -Statistical Package for the Social Sciences4 and Biomedical C om puter P ro gram m es (P S eries).5 Contingency tables were constructed for discreet groups of respondents, and twogroups and three-groups com pari sons w ere set up betw een Blacks and W hites, and B lack, A frikaans and English respondents, respec tively.It was anticipated th at the findings would show up differences in geographical distribution, social and professional background, atti tudes and opinions and o th er vari ables betw een the three cultural groups so that certain trends could be identified and profiles con s t r u c t e d .( I n a ll c a t e g o r i e s , C oloured and A siatic students were so few (17 in total) th at they were not included in the com puter analy sis, but the data were processed and analysed m anually.)Differences w ere m ost evident in the large group of undergraduates num bering 516 respondents; with the level of significance set at one per cent, m eaningful differences b e tween groups w ere observed in re spect of 65 % of the 48 variables com puted.In the rem aining three categories of students very little sta tistical significance was evident owing to the small total num ber of postgraduates and owing to the dis parity in num bers and/or hom o geneity betw een cultural groups.
Part One provides the purpose of the study, the assumptions underlying the project and the liter ature supporting these assumptions.It also includes the m ethod of the study.The discussion in Part Two em braces a review of the education system in South Africa and its effect on nursing education, the need for the recognition of nursing educa tion at university level and an over view of basic nursing education le a d in g fro m p o s tre g is tra tio n courses to the introduction of nurs ing at the residential universities.
Part T hree is concerned with the nature of Unisa -its m ethods, its students, its personnel -and the developm ents leading to the imple m entation of nursing courses at Unisa.It also includes the growth and developm ent of the student body and the D epartm ent itself, the contribution made by the various authorities which have relevan ce to Unisa courses, a short re sumé of the independent learning approaches in other countries, and a graphic presentation of the pro gression in the rate of preparation of nursing educators, adm inis tr a to r s an d co m m u n ity h e a lth n u rse s th ro u g h th e re s id e n tia l courses and, over the past three years, through Unisa.This section is concluded with an analysis of the problem s and opinions of the em ploying authorities and the precep tors and their contribution to the im plem entation of the courses in the practical field.Part Four is de voted to a searching analysis of the various categories of nursing stu dents who are currently engaged in studies in nursing or other disci plines or who have com pleted aca demic study through Unisa and elsewhere in the past.From this latter group a cadre of nurse leaders has em erged; these nurses prepared them selves through independent study before nursing education was introduced to the universities, and are now ranked am ong the ac knowledged leaders of the profes sion.Part Five, the final section, is concerned with the appraisal of the research; it illustrates that the ob jectives have been met and that the assum ptions and hypothetical basis

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The nature of the data m eant that no clearly defined hypothesis could be form ulated, but the hypothetical basis of the research rested on an attem pt to justify the introduction of nursing degrees/diplom as at Unisa and to evaluate w hether they are adequately fulfilling a need in the nursing profession.The conclu sions indicate that the objectives were m et and that the asum ptions and hypothetical basis of the study were supported by the findings.
Due to the volume of valuable in form ation acquired from the data, it is not possible to present all the findings and conclusions from each section of the report.Accordingly, a selection of the main findings are highlighted below.
On the question of the suitability of teletuition as a valid m ethod of continuing education for nurses, it was shown that nurses -in particu lar those with previous academic experience -can attain a high degree of success although indepen dent learning poses many problem s for a considerable num ber of stu dents.Inability to m aster the study m ethods and course content was consistenly evident in a proportion ately larger num ber of Black stu dents, as shown by their com m ents, their higher failure rate and the sta tistical analysis which revealed a greater concentration of significant factors ham pering their progress.
The conclusion was drawn that U nisa's m ethod is a valid and viable proposition for a varying propor tion of nurses of all groups.
A second question to be ad dressed -w hether Unisa courses were adequately fulfilling a needwas answered by the students them selves; the greater m ajority agreed that their personal needs were being met in nursing and non-nursing program m es, while the consen sus from the em ploying authorities was that the profession must benefit from the knowledge and skills of the graduates in time.
The figures depicting the increase in the registration of additional qua lifications indicate further that the deficit is being m ade up since the establishm ent of the Unisa courses.
In providing opportunities for all race groups to further their educa tion at university level, the Unisa courses have most certainly met an urgent need in the case of Black nurses, who historically have not had the same opportunities offered to Whites.
University nursing education has been placed within reach of all reg istered nurses who otherw ise could not have enjoyed the privilege.
The discussions on the education system and the overview of nursing education revealed that the lack of facilities, in the form of sufficient schools, adequately trained teach ers and suitable subject choices in the curricula for girls adversely af fected the thorough preparation of nurses for university level.
Not until after the 1970s, when 12 years of schooling could be effec tively introduced as a requirem ent for admission to registered nursing training, could sufficient potential graduates be prepared at the uni versities where facilities were avail able.
The fact that the colleges of nurs ing do not carry the same status educationally in law as the technikons and the colleges of education, further precluded the im plem enta tions of the " College idea" advo cated by the Van Wyk de Vries Commission.
From the findings of Part T hree it appears that Unisa is m aking a sing ular contribution in the preparation of enlightened and academically educated nursing leaders to man the health services and to staff the nurs ing departm ents of the emerging Black universities and others.
Many factors in the analysis of the undergraduate students led to the conclusion that the working stu dent com pleted her studies under very difficult circumstances.
While over 70 % of all under graduates were in full-time em ploy m ent, had family responsibilities and a theoretical and practical study com m itm ent, the Black undergrad uate students had a heavier dom estic com m itm ent.
O f th e t o t a l u n d e r g r a d u a t e group, 85 % om itted to m ake use of the advice available from official in an effort to com plete their studies in the shortest possible tim e, many stu dents undertook far too heavy study loads to the d e tri m ent of th eir w ork, their fam ilies, their studies and th eir own health.
O f the Black student group 78 % versus 3,5 % o f W hite stu d en ts re peated betw een one and three courses at som e tim e, while the overall failure rate of the Black stu dents was consistently higher than that of W hite stu dents over the three years un d er consideration.
It is concluded from the above that these students eith er underesti m ate the com plexity and depth of the study m aterial o r overrate their own ability to cope adequately with the dem ands of w ork, fam ily and studies.
O f the total u n d erg rad u ate and postgraduate stu d en ts 90 % indi cated their in ten tio n to continue their studies to advanced postgrad uate level th rough Unisa.
In the p o stgraduate group, the 19 respondents already held 24 de grees before registering for postgra duate studies at U nisa, w hereas of the 81 respondents from the early graduates, 41 had been aw arded a total of 51 subsequent degrees in addition to th eir first degree ac quired through U nisa -19 at M as te r's level and four at D octoral level, while 66 % o f these respon dents had com pleted one, two or th r e e p o s tr e g is tr a tio n c o u rse s before registering th eir first degree.
In these groups of highly ed u cated nurses th eir belief in the con cept of lifelong learning is clearly evident as is th e widely felt need for a b roader spectrum of knowledge and the realisation th at they m ust keep abreast of developm ents in nursing.
O f the 79 respondents who had been currently studying for non nursing degrees, 72 % were E ng lish-speaking, 69 % being the wives of professionals.O f these, 47 % were not w orking and 20 % were em ployed in non-nursing posts.In the total group of respondents, 75 % w ere reading for a degree in Arts.
From th e com m ents of the E n g lish group it appears that they were seeking m ental stim ulation in a non-challenging role as housewives, while the Black and A frikaans stu dents w ere nearly all em ployed in nursing posts and undertaking their studies with a view to finding other em ploym ent or broadening their academ ic background.
Finally, although there do not seem to be any program m es in nurs ing com parable with those offered by U nisa, the need for independent learning in nursing education has been recognised and is being met through a variety of self-instruction a l p r o g r a m m e s , o f f -c a m p u s courses and even teletuition in other countries, while international nursing leaders from m any parts of the world have shown a keen inte rest in U nisa's concept of continu ing education for nurses.

DESCRIPTIVE PROFILES OF RESPONDENTS
As the main body of the rep o rt fo cuses on the undergraduate stu dents working in the service areas or in educational institutions, the profiles of these students and the leaders of the profession -m any of whom are representative of stu dents' em ploying authorities -are presented below.
A lthough it is by no m eans in tended to reduce any individualsunique and different from all others -to an " average" , certain sim ilari ties and differences do becom e ap parent in groups of persons.This applies to students too.These characteristics enable observers to build up a word picture, an image or a descriptive profile of them .

The Black undergraduate student
The Black undergraduate student reading for the B .A .C u r. degree in nursing at U nisa is a registered nurse from the T ransvaal, betw een 31 and 40 years of age, em ployed full time in the curative services of a provincial hospital as a senior sister o r sister.She cam e into the profes sion with a m atriculation exem ption which she has probably converted into a university entrance m atricu lation through private study, has given 15 to 19 years of service to nursing, has the basic qualifications of general nursing and midwifery and at least two postregistration q u a l i f i c a t i o n s in e i t h e r W a rd A dm inistration and Clinical T each ing, Nursing E ducation, C om m unity H ealth, Nursing A dm inis tration or a diplom a in the clinical field.
H er social status is determ ined by the occupation of h er father and her husband, both of whom hold pos itions in jobs falling under the cat egory of one with high social pres tige.H er m other is eith er a house wife and hom e-m aker o r is (or has been) a teacher.If she herself has held a job outside the field of nurs ing it was likely to have been in the teaching profession.
H er husband is regarded as the main breadw inner but she contri butes m ore than 50 % tow ards household expenses.In the hom e she cares for 2-3 dependent children and has other dependants living with her in her hom e.She does, how ever, have dom estic help.She travels less than five kilom etres to work daily, has to m ake use of public transport which, although less expensive than private tran s port, takes considerably longer.Transport costs her betw een R10-20 per m onth.She estim ates the cost of study m aterial and books alone at m ore than R200 annually and h er p ro jected estim ate of the total costs of acquiring her degree will be b e tween R1 000 and R1 500.She does not receive a bursary, has no o th er source of financial assistance and re ceives no assistance from her em ployer in the form of finance, tran s port or extra tim e off for study.In her final year of study she reg istered for two nursing subjects (both at the level of m ajor subjects) and one additional subject.
She is an active m em ber of her church group, takes a lively interest in com m unity activities and sport and has several hobbies pertaining to the A rts. H er citizenship p o ten tial is high, but she has too little tim e to attend church activities and, as a m other of schoolgoing children and as a nurse, plays little p art in youth activities, civil defence or welfare work.
In her hom e, facilities with regard to privacy and silence are limited.She lives m ore than ten kilom etres from the nearest suitable library but m akes use of the South African Nursing Association library and publications section, libraries o f p ro v in c ia l n u rsin g c o lle g e s, public libraries and university libra ries.H er reasons for em barking on these studies were given as seeking job satisfaction, through improving her knowledge and skills.
Before commencing her studies, she did not seek advice from any of ficial sources, but relied on infor mation supplied by fellow students and peers, from whom, in her opinion, she received satisfactory advice on both nursing and non nursing subjects.She finds both groups of subjects equally difficult, although they com plem ent each o ther and she has had to repeat more than one subject.O rientation visits, group discussions and the practical com ponent of the nursing courses were all rated as being of much benefit and the respondents feel that their studies could ulti mately prove to be of benefit to their employing authorities, their colleagues, their patients or clients.D e sp ite th e d iffic u ltie s w ith which she has had to contend, she has every intention of pursuing further studies through Unisa in the line of postgraduate nursing de grees.Should clinical courses be in troduced she would be very inte rested in this line of study.As far as her future is concerned, she has no intention of changing her job but states em phatically that she will en deavour to perfect her job and is seeking prom otion in the field she is in at present.

The White undergraduate student
The profile of the W hite respon dents is based on the characteristics displayed by the A frikaans students who outnum bered the English by 91.Any specific differences in the English group will be sum m arised separately.
This student, like her Black col league, lives and works in the Transvaal.She too is between 31 and 40 years of age, m arried and em ployed as a sister or senior sister in the provincial hospital services.She left school with a m atriculation exem ption and has been nursing for 15-19 years, during which time she has acquired general nursing, m id wifery, registration as a tutor and she may well have been a graduate from a basic or postregistration nursing degree.
H er father was an independent farm er, her m other a hom em aker or professional wom an, and she herself has m arried a professional man who is the main breadw inner in the family although she contrib utes m ore than 50 % to the family expenses.Although she has depen dent children, she has no other d e pendants to be cared for in her hom e, but she does employ dom estic help.Using private transport, she travels five to fifteen kilometres to and from her place of work daily.A lth o u g h p riv a te tr a n s p o r t is quicker, it is m ore expensive and she estim ates her travelling costs at m ore than R20 m onthly.She does not receive a bursary, nor any fi nancial help from other sources nor assistance from her em ployer in the form of extra study time or trans port.She estim ates that her study m aterial and books cost her more than R200 annually and expects her degree to cost her between R1 000 -R1 500.
In her final study year, she reg istered for two m ajor subjects and one additional subject but can only devote six to ten hours a week to studying.In addition, she attends church services regularly, is a m em ber of two or m ore community organisations and has many hobbies which are of a dom estic nature.She has two to four hours a week to devote to all these activities.Like her Black counterpart, she takes little part in youth activities, civil defence or welfare organisations, although her citizenship potential is high.Facilities for study in her hom e are quite adequate, but ob taining study m aterial from libraries is a problem .She lives m ore than ten kilom etres from any suitable li brary, but m akes good use of all available facilities and particularly those provided by the South Afri can Nursing Association.
Although she was aware of offi cial sources from which she could have obtained inform ation prior to commencing her studies she, like other students, obtained most of her inform ation from fellow stu dents and found it satisfactory.She states that both nursing and non nursing subjects are difficult, but she has not had to repeat any sub jects.She has found the contact with lecturers in both nursing and non-nursing subjects adequate and of great help and has benefited greatly from orientation, group visits and from the practical part of her studies.
In her opinion she feels that her studies will be of benefit to her col leagues, her employing authorities and her patients.She prefers U nisa's m ethods to others and in tends continuing to postgraduate level and she would be interested in pursuing a clinical course should it be offered.She intends staying in the field in which she is em ployed, and is hoping for prom otion.A c cording to her com m ents, she found the studies a challenge and enjoyed the challenge.

The White English-speaking respondents
The profile of this student does not differ very much from that of her A frik a a n s -s p e a k in g c o lle a g u e , except that she is older, her age group being between 41 and 50 years.She entered the profession with m atriculation, qualified as a general nurse and midwife but not through a basic nursing degree, was m ore likely to have acquired an ad ditional qualification in the clinical field than in Nursing Adm inis tration or Nursing Education, and also to have travelled abroad and com pleted a study course in the U nited Kingdom.
W h e re a s h e r A frik a a n s c o l league's father was an independent farm er and her husband a profess ional man, this student's father was a professional and she had m arried a man whose occupation is classi fied as adm inistrative, clerical or civil servant.H er m other, like her collegue's, is a housewife or p ro fessional person.in h er final year, was registered only for h er two nursing m ajors, having com pleted all her additional subjects.She has not had to rep eat any subjects, does intend to study fu rth er, but is m ore likely to pursue h er studies in a dis cipline o th er than nursing.She does not find U N IS A 's m ethods p refer able to others she has experienced, did not benefit as m uch from orien tation as her colleagues, but found the group discussions and practica beneficial.In h er com m ents she is much m ore outsp o k en than her col leagues and m ore critical of aspects of the courses th at did not satisfy her.

PROFILES OF THE NURSE LEADERS The Black nurse leader
This nurse has risen through the ranks from w ard sister to tu to r or m atron to occupy a senior position as a nurse adm in istrato r in the cura tive services, the college environ m ent or at head office level.
R esident in th e T ransvaal or N atal, she atten d ed school in a rural area where she show ed leadership potential at an early age.She may have had to convert h er scholastic status through private study to enable her to e n te r university.She en tered nursing betw een 17 and 20 years of age and has given 16 to 20 years of service to nursing.D uring that time she m arried and in her thirties she registered at U nisa for either a B .A .o r a degree in Social W ork, while she was in full-time em ploym ent.She found U nisa's m ethod difficult an d at some stage she had to re p eat a year or write a supplem entary exam ination.She had very little tim e for recreation, could only spare six to ten hours a week for study and always had to use her vacation.In h er hom e she had betw een th ree and five persons to care for and as a leader in the com m unity she was actively in volved in church affairs and welfare organisations w hen she had time.
H er husband, w ho was a profess ional m an (a teach er) was able to assist her with h er studies, and she herself was an active m em ber of her professional association.H er inte rest in th e line o f hobbies centred on hom ecrafts, gardening and out door sport.
Professionally, she was well q u a lified, with general nursing and midwifery as a background.She had acquired both a D iplom a in Nursing A dm inistration and E duca tion, a non-nursing degree and re cently she had com pleted a nursing degree through U nisa, confirming her belief that the nursing courses are a suitable form of continuing education for nurses although she does not believe all nurses should have a university education at basic level.
She was grateful for the o p p o rtu nity of studying through U nisa and believes that it is an excellent m ethod of self-developm ent.

The White nurse leader
The leader am ong the W hite nurses, irrespective o f w hether she comes from an A frikaans or an English hom e, has com e from the Transvaal, is unm arried, is now over 40 years of age, qualified as a general nurse and midwife through a diplom a program m e and has given betw een 26 and 43 years of active service to the nursing profes sion.If she cam e from an A frikaans hom e she would have received her schooling in a rural area and it is likely that her father was an inde pendent farm er and her m other a hom em aker.H er English-speaking colleague whose parents w ere both professionals or in business was a product of the cities.She left school with a university entrance m atricu lation having shown am ple evidence of leadership potential in various activities at school.She had entered nursing by the tim e she was 19 years of age and before she registered for her U nisa studies she had equipped herself with one, two o r three post registration qualifications -the m ajority of both th e A frikaans and English-speaking persons acquiring a tu to r's qualification, with a D iplom a in Nursing A dm inistration or a clinical course as th e second choice of the A frikaans and English nurses respectively.
Occupying eith er a teaching post or being directly involved in a clini cal o r adm inistrative post in which she realised the need for a broader background know ledge, she m ade C U R A T IO N IS use of the opportunities offered by U N ISA to acquire a degree while having in many cases, an exacting, dem anding full-time job.Taking four to six years, she qualified through a B achelor of A rts.A t this stage she was in the age group 30-39 years, the move to place nursing in the universities was under way, and as one of her colleagues com m ented, it was realised that a tutor needed to be a graduate.N ew re cruits had opportunities to acquire a degree . . .one had to undertake further study to remain on top.She found study through U nisa difficult, and, on account of the nature of her job, had to put in extra hours over and above the 40-48 hour w eek she had too little tim e to study and con sequently she had to use h er vaca tion for study.A lthough the acqui sition of a degree was not essential for the post she held at the tim e, she was convinced that it enabled her to cope m ore effectively with h er job.H er opinion was positively in favour of U nisa's courses for nurses although she m ay have had some reservations about practica and clinical courses.Subsequent to ac quiring her first U nisa degree she continued her academ ic studies either through U nisa or o th er uni versities and now has two o r m ore degrees, one of which is likely to be in nursing, and she m ay well be reg istered for nursing studies of a post graduate nature at present.In her professional career, she had m oved step by step into the upper echelons of the profession while she had been studying; she appears to be com m itted to the concept o f life long learning.A t the sam e tim e, she had not neglected h er com m unity involvem ent nor h er p ro fe ssio n a l c o m m itm e n ts , h a v in g m aintained active m em bership for periods ranging from 10 to 36 years presenting a very good picture of citizenship.Professionally, her ac tivities are wide ranging both adm inistratively and educationally.She is constantly involved in plan ning, policy and decisionm aking, has m any advisory and educational functions, travels abroad as p art of her professional enrichm ent, is often the m ain speaker at profess ional gatherings on local and national level, m aintains affiliation Continued on p. 37 o u rs', M asters and D octoral studies with t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f N ursing Science.C ategory 03 (N81) -A group of nurses who had com p

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RM A T OF THE REPO R T of the study have been supported by the findings.