Vol 1 - Support Services Ufs Ac Za - University of the Free State

and the broader community by means ofscholarly research, mentorship, partnership andcontinuing education programmes.• The publication and dissemination of researchoutcomes in various forms, for example articles,reports, event pre sen tations and discussions.The School of Nursing embarked on a numberof endeavours, one of which is a research projectthat has as its aim to improve children’s access toantiretroviral therapy in the public sector in theFree State. This project is supported by a Master’sand a Doctoral student and is conducted in collaborationwith the Free State Department of Health.It is fund ed by the National Research Foundationand the University and falls within the recently established Fo cus Area of Health, Health Care andPeople’s Well-being in Transforming Societies,with in the Stra tegic Academic Cluster Trans for mationin Highly Diverse Societies.A pilot study on the prevention of teenagepregnancy was completed in 2005. In 2007, theFree State Department of Education implementedthe Doll Parenting project for Grade 6 learners in 80schools in all five districts in the Free State. Thetargeted schools are the feeder schools of thesecondary schools with the highest teenagepregnancy rates. The Department of Education willmonitor the pregnancy rate of learners to determinethe long-term effect of the project.The School is also involved with a collaborativestudy with five South African universities and theUniversity of London in the United Kingdom, aimedat improving evidence-informed decision-making inthe absence of definitive evidence. This strategy ispromoted throughout the country in participatingnursing education institutions through training ofstaff and enrolled postgraduate students.The School of Nursing developed learningmaterial for a South African Qualifications Authorityaccredited certificate in Emergency Care andTechnology. Learning material was developed permodule, after which a validation team consisting ofthe principals of the Further Education and Trainingcolleges offering the course critiqued the developedmaterial. This unique process of developing learningma terial ensured that all stakeholders partici patedin the process and that they agreed on the contentand the sequence of offering learning material.Internationalisation is an ongoing process. TheSchool has been successfully involved with theUniversity of Moi in Kenya, where experts inmidwifery and HIV and Aids accompanied Master‘sstudents and offered lectures. Under the auspicesof Sigma Theta Tau, the School enrolled 18postgraduate stu dents from the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo. Successful negotiationswith the Changchun Advanced Medical Institute inChina resulted in a formalised agreement involvingexchange of and collaborative development ofexchange (students and academic staff members),train ing and research programme.Currently 24 of the 37 postgraduate students inthe School of Nursing are persons of colour, ofwhich 12 are foreigners. Ten stu dents completedtheir postgraduate stu dies over the past two years.93