University and Health Service Partnership: A Model to Deliver Undergraduate Nurse Education in Rural Australia

A serious shortage of registered nurses at four hospitals in the Moira Shire in northern Victoria resulted in these communities forming the Moira Nurse Education Consortium to address this problem. This group approached the School of Nursing and Health Science at Charles Sturt University to deliver the Bachelor of Nursing (BN) by distance education to 25 enrolled nurses (ENs) currently employed by the participating hospitals.Development of this collaborative partnership is discussed, and findings of an evaluation study are included in the paper. Specifically the experiences of the students and the Director's of Nursing (DONs) of the participating hospitals are explored. The findings indicated that overall the participants were satisfied with the quality of the first year of the course and the functioning of the partnership. Highlights and challenges of the project are presented and directions for the future considered.This successful partnership represents innovative nursing education between rural hospitals and the School of Nursing and Health Science at Charles Sturt University. The emerging model is presented as a way to address the shortage of registered nurses in rural Australia.