Using AARNet to broaden the scope of nursing education

In 1994 the School of Nursing, Northern Territory University and the Faculty of Health Science, University of Central Queensland entered into a small pilot project to expand the horizons of undergraduate nursing students through the planned use of AAARNet connections. Both NTU and UCQ are relatively small and isollated universities with new basic nursing programs which are attempting to prepare future professionals who will need a broader understanding of how the principles and facts which they are learning fit into broader health care needs.The objectives of this program are to provide opportunities for peer education, comparative study and socialisation via the AARNet. A secondary set of objectives is to upgrade the computer skills of the students in preparation for their functioning in a modern health informatics environment and to provide eventual access to additional health resources through the internet. The paper will report on the initial experiences with this project.