CHALLENGES OF TEACHING GRADUATE PSYCHIATRIC-MENTAL HEALTH NURSING WITH DISTANCE EDUCATION TECHNOLOGIES

As student demographics change and distance educational technology con tinues to evolve, faculty teaching advanced psychiatric-mental health nursing are attempting to meet the needs of students at distant sites through telecommunications. Graduate education in psychiatric-mental h ealth nursing at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing has use d distance education technology since 1994, The use of technology, suc h as interactive television, audio and audio/video telephone conferenc ing, facsimile, and electronic mail to teach has been exciting and cha llenging. This article discusses challenges related to connectedness, confidentiality, and communication; describes approaches to address th ese challenges; and identifies student, faculty, and environmental att ributes that help make teaching with this technology successful, Copyr ight (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.