1. MRS E.Z.GUMEDE(UKZN) MRS N. C. SHANGASE(UKZN)

2.  To share information about the Decentralised programmes and to highlight challenges faced by academic coordinators in this programme.

3.  Programmes that are held away from the university  Cater for working students who are unable to attend residence universities like full time students  Concentrate mainly in the rural areas  There is a facilitator on site  Regulated by SANC

4.  Students are independent learners who are studying on their own, supported by reading material.  Consultation with the lecturer is by email, telephone or video conferencing  UNISA is the only distance institution in South Africa

5.  South Africa is faced with shortage of nurses  Highly skilled nurses have left the country seeking greener pastures  The numbers are far less than what the country needs to meet with the changes in the disease profile  In 1990, the SANC allowed private organizations to train nurses in their communities to meet the demand  The current rate of nurse production (training) is still not meeting the demand  This was also done to increase the number of highly skilled nurses.

6.  Nursing Management  Bridging Programme  Community Nursing  Mental Health  Primary Care  Midwifery  All these programmes are 120 credits modules  They can be stand alone modules or be part of BNAP-Bachelor of Nursing ( Advanced Practice)

7.  Durban  Pietermaritzburg  Eshowe  Empangeni  East London  Port Shepstone  Ulundi  Newcastle  East London  Queenstown  Mbazwana  Middleburg  Cape town  Umtata  Kokstad

10.  Academic coordinator  Programme manager and facilitator on site  Admin Officer per programme  Central control and monitoring by UKZN  Support form Open Learning-UKZN

11.  Nursing Management : 360  Bridging Programme : 210  Community Nursing : 330  Mental Health : 87  Primary Care : 265  Midwifery : 55 For the past ten years the programme has produced more that 1000 nurses annually

12.  Case base method  Critical thinkers  Prior preparation  Small group discussion

13.  University system  Infrastructure  Type of students  Teaching method

14.  Semester modules ( Feb -November )  Year course vs 18 month course  Registration dates  Issuing exam results  SANC prescriptions ◦ number of hours to be covered ◦ shortage of accredited clinical sites ◦ Number of learners per site

15.  Top down approach style of management  University policies and procedures that are rigid and not accommodative of decentralized students  Access to remote deep rural areas,sometimes the road and the car used are not well congruent  Part time staff having problems with the employer mainly after 2010 with RWOPS policies

16.  Mature ( 28-60 years )  Out of academia  Technologically challenged  Many responsibilities ◦ mother ◦ wife ◦ employee ◦ extended families

17.  Competition with other colleges  Postal delays  No computers  Venues  Rural areas- difficult to reach

18.  The coordinators have gained experience in managing decentralized programs  Learned how to do quality control of the academic program(QPU)  Communication skills improved  Problem solving skills  Critical thinking  Budgeting and financial management of the program  Development of case studies

19.  Able to train and develop individuals in their places of work, no need to resign and move to cities to attend tertiary institutions  Managed to meet the self actualization needs of our professionals by offering them the opportunity to study further at a minimal cost  Education knows no boundaries, yes, indeed this has been our motto, until end of 2010,where the university decided to stop offering our courses in other provinces like E/C and concentrate within KZN

20.  Buy in from local communities  Partnership with local libraries & schools  Training of facilitators and preceptors according to UKZN policies  If possible offer our facilitators some university benefits so as to retain them in the system  Set up offices in sites which are well equipped with computers and books  Introduce computer literacy to all so as to facilitate on line registration and e-learning

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