A profile of the registered nurse tutor in the RSA.

In tro d u c tio n It is ju s t o v er six a n d a h a lf d ecad es ago tiia t th e f irs t q u ah fied s is te r tu to r (now d esig n a ted n u rse tu to r ) w as a p p o in te d in th is c o u n try . S o u th A fr ic a ’s f irs t siste r tu to r , a single y o u n g fem ale , w as recru ited fro m E n g lan d an d held th e d is tin c tio n o f b e ing a g o ld m ed a lis t o f th e N ig h tin g a le S ch o o l o f S t. T h o m a s H o sp ita l L o n d o n an d a q u a lified s is te r tu to r f ro m K in g ’s C ollege, U n iv ersity o f L o n d o n . (S earle . 1964). S h e w as th u s q u a lita tiv e ly well p re p a re d in b o th n u rs in g an d teach in g . T h e s ta n d a rd o f h e r tu to r ’s q u a lif ica tio n w as on a p a r w ith th a t o f o th e r te a c h e r’s « lifica tio n s in th e c o u n try a t th a t tim e ;l) an d she w as an e x p erien ced n u rse . S h e w as well su ited to th e resp o n sib ilitie s a llo c a ted to he r, nam ely to ta k e c h arg e o f th e p ro b a tio n e r nu rses o f th e new ly estab lish ed P re lim in a ry T ra in in g S ch o o l fo r nu rses o f th e Jo h a n n e sb u rg H o sp ita l a n d to give lec tu res an d d e m o n s tra tio n s on n u rs in g m atte rs . A lm o st a q u a r te r o f a c en tu ry la te r in 1945, w hen th e f irs t C ollege o f N u rs in g w as e stab lish ed in th is c o u n try a n d ju s t b e fo re th e S o u th A frica n N u rs in g C o u n c il (S A N C ) reso lved to in s titu te an a d d itio n a l reg is te r fo r s is te r tu to rs , th e n u m b e r o f q u a lified p ra c tis in g s iste r tu to rs in th e c o u n try h a d risen to tw en ty -n in e . (S earle 1964a; 189). W ith such sm all n u m b ers c o m m o n c h a ra c te ris tic s o f tu to rs co u ld still be id en tified a n d re co rd e d , an d in fo rm a tio n in c lu d in g th e p e rso n a l and e d u c a tio n a l b a c k g ro u n d o n m an y o f these e arly p io n ee rs c an be fo u n d in the J ^ a t u r e (H a rr is o n 1979; S ea rle 1964). ^ Í F r o m th e lite ra tu re th e fo llo w in g pro file em erges. T h ese early p io n ee r tu to r s w ere all ex p erien ced nu rses, w h o w ere h igh ly th o u g h t o f in th e p ro fessio n . T h ey w ere m o tiv a te d tea ch e rs w h o h a d u n d e rg o n e th e ir tu to r tra in in g a t c o n sid e ra b le fin an c ia l sacrifice . T h ey w ere a ll fem ales m o stly in th e ir la te tw en ties o r early th ir tie s a n d u n m a rr ie d a n d th e m a jo rity used th e ir te a ch in g e x p erien ce as a s te p p in g s to n e to h ig h er p o s ts in n u rs in g ad m in is tra tio n . B efore th ey g o t th e re ho w ev er, th ey h ad all re n d ere d sig n ifican t serv ices to n u rs in g e d u ca tio n . In 1983, w h en p re p a ra tio n s w ere well ah ead fo r th e t ra n s it io n o f th e n u rs in g e d u c a tio n system o f th is c o u n try in to a u n iv ers ity -lin k ed se c o n d a ry e d u ca tio n system , th e n u m b e r o f q u a lif ied n u rse tu to rs w hose n am es w ere e n te red in to th e S A N C a d d itio n a l reg is te r fo r tu to rs , w as 1502 (S A N C 28.7.83). W ith such large n u m b ers id en tif ic a tio n o f c o m m o n c h a ra c te ris tic s o f tu to rs w as o f c o u rse no lo n g er p o ss ib le . W hile in fo rm a tio n su ch as n am es a n d ad d resses , g e n d e r and p o p u la tio n o r lan g u ag e g ro u p o f all p e rso n s reg is te red as tu to rs c o u ld be Abstract The purpose o f this study was to explore and describe selected demographical, biographical, educational and professional background characteristics o f the registered nurse tutors in the RSA and to construct a profile o f the characteristics. Such a profile could provide a baseline fo r future studies and evaluation concerning registered nurse tutors. Data were collected from a random proportional stratified sample o f 233 registered nurse tutors from a total o f 1312 registered tutors whose names appeared on the SAN C register. A questionnaire developed by the researcher and based on and adopted from a questionnaire from the Research Triangle Institute USA on the registered nurse in the USA, was used fo r data collection. The data were analysed and from the findings a profile o f the registered nurse tutor in the RSA was constructed.