Teaching at a Distance: An Experiment in Post Basic Nursing Education
Professor Nancy Kinross, RGON, Dip.N, BA Cant, MSc Calif, Berkley, PhD, Professor and Head of Department of Nursing Studies, Massey University
Irena Madjar, RGON, MA Massey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Nursing Studies, Massey University
Reference: Kinross, N., Madjar, I. (1986). Teaching at a Distance: An Experiment in Post Basic Nursing Education. Nursing Praxis in New Zealand, 1(4), 3-8.
Abstract:
Introduction
New Zealand is a sparsely populated country situated at the “bottom of the world”. The life expectancy of the multicultural population is relatively high, mortality rates are low and communicable diseases are controlled (Hyslop et al., 1983). The health and morbidity profile of the country is similar to that of most developed countries of the Western world. Yet it has some unique characteristics. Although the population of 3,175,737 (1981 census) is still predominantly European, this is rapidly changing. Higher Maori and Polynesian birth rates and migration from the Pacific Islands has increased the non-European sector of the population from 8.2 percent in 1961 to 14.4 percent in 1981. Hyslop, Dowland and Hickling (1983) state that while the total population increased by 20.7 percent during these twenty years, the non-European population increased by 110.0 percent. In addition, there have been successive migrations of settlers of European and Asian descent in this century.