Relearning how to learn: Enrolled nurse transition to degree at a New Zealand rural satellite campus

The demise of enrolled nurse (EN) training in New Zealand hastened the development of transition to registration/degree programmes for enrolled nurses. A North Island tertiary institution developed a flexible course to enabled ten enrolled nurses working in rural settings, the majority of whom were Māori, to continue working while studying at a small satellite campus. An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative research study utilizing focus group interviews was undertaken to examine the factors that assisted or hindered their transition. Two major categories emerged from comparative analysis of the data. One category entitled 'relearning how to learn', demonstrated the cognitive and behavioural adaptations made and is the focus of this paper. The other category 'barriers and catapults', demonstrated the physical and environmental factors that influenced the students' transition but is outside the scope of this paper. Recent changes in New Zealand nursing education have witnessed the clarification of scopes of nursing practice and the controversial development of a new Certificate in Health Science (Nurse Assistant). Currently enrolled nurses are again facing threats to employment and it is envisaged that many will be seeking to undertake transition to registered nurse in the near future.