Learning from Experience: An Evaluation of an External Nursing Course in Regional Australia

The delivery of pre-registration Bachelor of Nursing courses in Australia has primarily been through the traditional on-campus mode. The development and implementation of an external course mode necessitates pedagogical reflection on a number of delivery, design, implementation, and consequently evaluation, processes. This paper discusses one aspect of the course evaluation process of a pre-registration nursing course offered by the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition at James Cook University in regional Australia. Course feedback was obtained from 26 respondents through an exit survey which used both quantitative and qualitative questions. While the majority of students were satisfied with the content of subjects, written course material, the use of email and Web-based delivery of subjects, a number of respondents were less satisfied with access to staff and experienced difficulties with the financial costs of the course. Generally, however, respondents indicated they had gained a number of personal, academic and professional benefits through completing the course. (Contains 6 figures.)