Becoming different : perspective transformation through post-registration baccalaureate nursing studies

Education has the potential to transform. For nurses employed in complex, constantly changing health care environments, continuing education is essential. Postregistration baccalaureate courses are an important means by which certificate and diploma qualified nurses can upgrade their existing qualifications to degree level. Often nurses who wish to pursue tertiary education are constrained by geography, work and personal commitments. The increasing number of courses offered by international universities provides a mechanism for accessing higher education that would otherwise be unobtainable for nurses. This paper reports on the experience of change that accompanied a post-registration degree course undertaken in off-campus mode by nurses in Malaysian Borneo. As part of a larger study employing grounded theory methodology, these fmdings are discussed in the context of the development of professional identity through perspective transformation.