A development and support programme for black first year nursing students

The changed student culture in the School of Nursing from a traditional white, Afrikaans-speaking to a multicultural student community, led to a variety of problems. Many of these were experienced by students (mainly those in their first year) from historically disadvantaged educational backgrounds. The aim of this study was to establish a developmental and support programme for black first year nursing students. An action and developmental approach was followed and the research was carried out over a period of four years. The programme was developed and evaluated by means of several actions in Phase I (1992-1995) and re-planning took place throughout. The programme was implemented in Phase II and the level of student development was determined. The students experienced a number of problems and their performance as regards development was below average in terms of cultural participation and interpersonal relationships. In spite of the fact that the majority had commenced their studies with an average E matriculation symbol, 84.8% of them passed five or more semester courses at the end of 1996.