The status of students undertaking the basic nursing course

This is a report on a study that was conducted on the controversy about the student status of students undergoing preparation for becoming professional nurses in South Africa, where there was divergence in the opinion of respondents as to whether the current student status is or is not supernumerary.

Abstract

This is a report on a study that was conducted on the controversy about the student status of students undergoing preparation for becoming professional nurses. One view says there is, the other view says there is no supernumerary status in South African institutions for nurses' education. A survey was conducted on a purposive sample of 34 ex-student nurses who had recently completed their basic nursing course. An interview guide was used, which yielded qualitative data. In pursuit of verification and triangulation a questionnaire was sent to a sample of 160 professional nurses in randomly selected nurse education institutions in the four provinces of South Africa. Analysis of findings showed that due to different interpretations of the concept--supernumerary--there was divergence in the opinion of respondents as to whether the current student status is or is not supernumerary.