Distance nursing education in Micronesia

Distance education courses have been offered by the University of Guam for the past ten years, however there were no programs developed for the students of the region. In 1994, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences began teaching courses over PEACESAT (Pan Pacific Education and Communications Experiment by Satellite) every semester. The first course was written to serve Palau, the Commonwealth of the Marianas, Pohnpei, and the Marshall Islands. These jurisdictions have large community colleges. An overview of this program is given. In 1997 the courses were extended to include Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and the Marshall islands. The organisational structure and training of the site operators and training coordinators is described. Two courses were taught in the first year. The first was 'Nutrition for Health Professionals and the second Leadership/Management for nurses. These are described, evaluated and discussed.