© 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Nursing Inquiry 2004; 11(2): 108 – 116 Feature Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. Why 4 years when 3 will do? Enhanced knowledge for rural nursing practice Amanda Kenny, Leah Carter, Sonia Martin and Sari Williams LaTrobe University Bendigo, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia Accepted for publication 23 July 2003 KENNY A, CARTER L, MARTIN S and WILLIAMS S. Nursing Inquiry 2004; 11: 108– 116 Why 4 years when 3 will do? Enhanced knowledge for rural nursing practice In Australia, debates over the appropriate length of undergraduate nursing programs have a long history. Submissions from both universities and industry to key government reports have consistently argued that the current minimum entry level of practice, a three-year program, is too short to enable students to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for the contemporary nursing role. Despite these submissions, the established entry level for nursing practice in Australia remains a three-year under- graduate bachelor degree. However, there is a small group of high-achieving students who will begin practice at the end of a four-year program. Little is known about these programs, or the students who are currently enrolled in them. Designed as a collaborative endeavour, based on co-operative inquiry, the study discussed in this article aimed to provide an insight into aspects of a four-year undergraduate nursing program. Potentially, the broader theoretical and clinical preparation that is possible in a four-year program provides students with enhanced learning opportunities that will enable them to graduate with more confidence and greater ability. In this study a four-year program provided an opportunity for a regional university to prepare students for the demanding realities of a complex area of practice, rural nursing. Key words: four-year degree, nursing education, rural nursing. With the completion of the transfer of nursing education in Australia to the tertiary sector in 1993, the three-year under- graduate bachelor degree became the standard qualification for beginning nursing practice. A decade later, the majority of beginning practitioners in Australia continue to graduate from three-year programs. However, increasingly, there are other models of under- graduate nursing education being developed. Many univer- sities now offer double degree programs, where a degree in nursing is combined with another degree. Graduate entry options and conversion programs that recognize the prior learning of both mental health nurses and Division Two, or enrolled nurses are evident. In many universities students have the opportunity to complete an honours program at the end of their undergraduate studies. There are some universities that offer a four-year undergraduate program and there is a very small group of students whose entry level will be at the end of a four-year degree. For many years the nursing profession has debated the appropriate length of undergraduate nursing programs. There have been suggestions that four-year programs potentially offer greater opportunity for the knowledge and skills necessary for contemporary nursing practice. However, surprisingly, there is no published literature in Australia that considers current four-year programs or the students that are enrolled in them. This article aims to provide an insight into a four-year undergraduate program currently being offered by a rural campus of LaTrobe University in Bendigo, Victoria. It is argued that the enhanced knowledge and skills that the students enrolled in this four-year program acquire will prepare them more adequately than a three-year program to face the challenges of a demanding area of practice, rural nursing. Correspondence: Amanda Kenny, LaTrobe University Bendigo, PO Box 199, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. E-mail: <a.kenny@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au>