ORIENTATION TO HIGHER-EDUCATION - THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS

A new 'starter' course for qualified nurses entering higher education is discussed in this article, The background and aims of this course, which enables traditionally trained nurses to enter a pathway of profe ssional and academic development, are presented, Learning outcomes of the course, identified through a formal evaluation procedure, were cat egorized into product and process components. Course teachers anticipa ted that the product outcomes would be evaluated most highly but the p articipants reported that the process outcomes were more important to them, They believed these process outcomes would empower them not only to undertake further academic studies but also to take a greater part in clinical decision-making. The results of this evaluation demonstra te that for many nurses, who seek to launch themselves into higher edu cation, a 'bridging' programme is necessary to support this transition .