Problems encountered by BA Cur graduates and recommendations for enhancing learner support

Abstract

Distance education is becoming ever more important in providing continuing post basic, and especially postgraduate, education to practising professional persons, including nurses. As more and more institutions in the Republic of South Africa offer distance education courses to nurses, it is essential to take note of the positive and negative experiences of successful graduates of these programmes, in order to enhance the learning opportunities, and the success rate of nurses pursuing such distance education courses. A brief historical overview is provided about the University of South Africa (Unisa) and about the Department of Advanced Nursing Sciences at this distance education university. This background information should assist the reader in contextualising the research findings. Questionnaires were posted to all Unisa’s 1998 BA Cur graduates. The research report focuses on the 1998 BA Cur (nursing) graduates’ biographic data, their experiences of pursuing distance education post basic nursing courses, their positive and negative perceptions of these experiences and their recommendations for enhancing other students’ success.