Bachelor of Nursing thought distant/online learning??!!

Hi Amy,

Distance learning is excellent but I have my doubts how effective this would be. I know CDU has distance learning and is a tested method. However the current PROBLEM, if one may call it, is that many Universities including the likes of ACU are having difficulty placing their students on clinical pracs. Everyone knows that if you can't gain clinical placement, you cannot qualify.

Doing a full time job will at best allow you to do your nursing degree as a part time. Distance learning means you will lack several impetus...group study to motivate and discuss. Not to say you can't do it but it can be pretty demanding. Wishing you all the best

Hi Amy,

I'm studying nursing externally through CDU.  I'm in Melbourne.  So far it's pretty good.  I've met others in Melbourne studying through CDU as well and they've been able to get placement here.  Another uni which offers nursing externally is CQU.  They have a fairly good reputation for distance as well. 

Hi Summerly,

Thanks for the reply, it's good to hear that you've been able to get placements here.

Will definitely have a browse through the CDU and CQU website.

Are you working whilst completing this course? Are you commited to part-time or full-time study?

For the first 4 months of the degree I'll be working full time and possibly completing the course full-time (out of work hours).

Just wondering if your're balancing your degree with other commitments?

Amy.

Hi Amy,

I attend CQU nursing via distance. I have no complaints about the course delivery or content.

If you need any information feel free to ask.

regards,

Dave

Hello Amy,

I am in the first year at Uni SA distance ed and live in Melbourne.   I haven't had much experience yet but I have found that it is very time consuming and you have to keep your focus.   I've never found it so enjoyable to find some housework to do...   The line between home and school can sometimes get blurred.

Anyway we are moving along with a very high workload.   In the beginning my head was just spinning but I am starting to gauge how much I need to commit to each course.

The placements with Uni SA are 2, 4 and 8 weeks respectively.   The students are advised that they are not to count on placements in their own States.  It is just fortunate if you get to work your placement at home.

I was talking to another student from Victoria who is in her 3rd year and she had been confirmed for her placement in Victoria and then two weeks ago they changed it to commence in SA.

Jess is also on this forum (see JW86? I think is her logon) Jess might be able to shed some m ore light on the placement situation with Uni SA.

The most difficult part about distance ed so far I would say is that you can't get immediate answers to questions.   You have to post and wait.   Sometimes with no response.   Then you can email.   Then you can phone.   By then you've forgotten you asked the question in the first place and have moved on.

Another thing is you just apply through OUA then you become a student of Uni SA.   So they dictate all the criterion of the study not OUA.

Hope this helps a bit.

:-)

Hi Amy,

Sorry for the late reply.  have struck a couple of times that I couldn't log in for some reason.  In response to your questions:

Are you completing the course in full-time study mode or part-time?  I started off full time and have elected to complete the 2nd half of the year part time.   I just found that straight off the cuff for me that full time was a bit too much.   (I  do like my life!)   I haven't studied for years and I found that my reading and studying skills needed to catch up to the pace.

How many hours of textbook/online study do put aside a week? Are you working also?

At the full time study load I was putting in about 35hrs per week total.   Now I have dropped to 3/4 work load and I have found that I could still put in that amount of study but I can opt to wind it back and join the real world.   I have suffered some eye strain and as I said I find housework very much more enjoyable at the moment and have to focus to prevent and avoidance of study.

Reason I ask, for the first 4 months of the course (next year) I will be working full-time and just trying too see if I could juggle full-time study also as I really don't want to complete the course over 5-6 years.  

I understand what you mean.   You can opt back and forward between full time and part time study.   But need to plan ahead so you know what your study period is going to have in it.   You could also pick up some subjects over summer if you opted for part time and this would help reduce the total length of the degree.

I wonder if there's an option to start on a part-time basis then move to full-time study midyear hrmmmm... 

Yes this is an option.   You choose which subjects to enrol in for each study period.

What have they got you studying at this point .  . A&P?

We are studying:

Global and National health

Anatomy and physiology (Human health)

Being a health professional.

2nd half of year:

Mental health and

Population health

Human body

Hi Amy,

Glad I could help. If you have had a study history then I think you will be able to pick it up quickly and move through it.   I think part time work is a good option if you can take it.   I really take my hat off to people who work full time and study full time. They mustn't sleep!

Yes I must admit I was overwhelmed to begin with and had the occasion of descending into tears and then realised that a glass of wine did wonders - just medicinal - or is that self medicating???  :-? Ha! Good luck with your studies.

I had heard that UniSA lack on the placement side of things, but 14 weeks really is hardly anything. Especially in comparison to other unis such as CDU (17 weeks), CSU (26 weeks) or UNE (32 weeks).

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would throw my 2c worth in. I am also studying externally through UNISA but am based in Adelaide. Shellz is right, you are expected to come to Adelaide for ALL clinical workshops, this year we had 3, the first one was 2 days and the other two were 3 days long, if you do not attend you do not pass the course.

The university are very strict with placement, and to be honest, they are not the greatest at organising them! In saying this though, they claim that it is not up to them to find places for students, it is up to the clinical placement board who arrange placements for ALL SA nursing students at all SA university's. To be honest, I think there are far too many students enrolled in the program, we had a placement this year (apparently UNISA did not have placement in first year prior to 2012), we were due to start placement in June but by May, we still had not heard anything at all about where we were going. Turns out, they only had about 10 venues available for over 200 students, so they sent exemption forms to all students in the hope that most students would be eligible for exemption if they already worked in a health related industry. This cut the numbers down considerably but the placement still got cut short from two weeks to one week :-?

We have also just recently been informed that all UNISA students must do atleast one rural placement, clearly they do not have enough metropolitan venues for all students to attend (I believe there are about 500 students enrolled in first year alone)! As far as placements are concerned there is (meant to be) 2 weeks in first year, 2 x 4 week blocks in second year and 2 x 8 week blocks in third year - so 26 weeks all up. There is every chance that you will be expected to come to SA for placement too at your own expense, the uni won't care if you work, have kids or don't drive, you're expected to do the placement they give you or miss out.

Sorry to make it sound so harsh, there are good aspects to it too but it's certainly not as perfect as you would think. Also, if you do apply through OUA, you will still be studying the exact same course that UNISA offers, infact, OUA have nothing at all to do with the program, they just get you in (from what I heard they had 50 places to hand out last year and UNISA had the other 450).

Anyway, I hope this answers some of your questions and gives you something to think about, particularly the uni that you decide to apply to :-)