El dominio de las máquinas

Since all the participants were working adults, they also had other responsibilities, for example family commitments (which included immediate and extended family members) and workplace commitments. These commitments came to the fore in the following ways; P6: ‘It is about time, time was a factor, I had to arrange my time to be with my children, especially the one that struggles at school’, P7: ‘It is just the time, because I am in a permanent post, work full-time and did not get study leave, it was very difficult’ and ‘… my work, the division where I work is extremely physical, it makes you tired, tired, tired and just the fact that you must go (study) after work …’, P1: ‘… being called at any time back to work and also to make time management for the family’ and P8: ‘… I actually worked for more than three months …I worked night shift for about half the year and it was difficult to study and to work night shift’ and ‘… I work in Trauma and the Emergency Unit … and it is very busy there’.

P5 felt that she was newly appointed and still had to develop in her position. She was also 24-hours on call except holidays, which meant she could not work according to a study programme, since she was expected to give training wherever and whenever it was needed. This she voiced in the following manner: ‘… the fact that my work was new to me and I was still developing in this position’ and ‘… what happens for example is that like today or last week they phoned me and said that they needed training in Vredendal. If they maybe need it because it is about ventilation, then I must leave everything and go because it could save a life …’. In essence she felt her work was more important because it brings financial security or as she states: ‘the studies does not provide me with bread and butter. It is a nice to have at this stage …’. Although P1 was not on call 24-hours a day, in a similar fashion she could not plan a study programme because her off duties will change suddenly, for example she will be scheduled to work day duty the one day and then immediately the following day be requested to work night duty: ‘The most difficult adjustment … was switching of day and night duty, suddenly you work on day and then (management staff) said we need you for night duty, can you

pull through? So the adjustment of my day and night shift really affected me. You know … the body needs to adjust to one working plan’.

The impact these commitments had on the participant’s studies, was influenced by the support the participants received from either their families or workplace. I think the reason P5 continued despite major challenges faced at work was the fact that she had a good support system through her friends and employer, reflected as follows: ‘they gave me study leave before the exams’ and ‘… they (employer) supported me fully’. Whereas P1 seemed to have experienced a severe lack of support especially from her employers as is further expounded upon in the paragraph below. P3 again even though her studies were not directly related to her employment had the support from her employers in that beforehand she could arrange for leave to write tests and exams although she could not get study leave.

For some students (P1, P3 and P8) both work and family played a role whereas for others (P5, P6 and P7) just one of the two was a factor. For two students (P2 and P4) it played no role at all. P1 was one of the students where both aspects came to the fore very strongly, for example: ‘We have a great shortage of staff so we have been to management …’, ‘If it is a shortage … the CPN (chief professional nurse) changes our off duties to cover up the ward’ and ‘… when I wrote a letter I didn’t get the leave (study leave) or I wrote for a day off and I didn’t get the day off’. Then on the home front: ‘Lots of chores at home to be done …’, ‘… there is much expectations at home … when you come from KwaZulu you get a lot of visitors at home …’ and ‘… it was like a holiday resort in my place, ten to fifteen come one time … then you cannot tell family members anything that will hurt them, you’ve got to accommodate them and you have to respect their culture …’. This student seemed to have a strong sense of responsibility and was torn between workplace and family commitments on the one hand and commitment to her studies on the other. With P3 both aspects too came into play, but to a lesser extent, for instance: ‘I am married and have a life outside swotting and still work also’ and ‘… there isn’t time for so many assignments if you work full- time’.

P4 is one of the students where family and workplace commitments were attended before she embarked on her studies: ‘Had to have enough time to study … sort out problems with family before starting’. While P8 also informed her family about time she will have to spend on her studies instead of with them, her 16-year old daughter felt that she was spending too much time with her studies, which she voiced as follows: ‘… but Mummy you are so busy with your books and it seems like you also (do) not care about us’. P8 felt that her daughters deteriorating emotional state was more important than her studies and she would rather stop the course than to break up her family: ‘… I decided I would rather stop the course because she was my eldest daughter, I had to find out what was bothering her and get her to see a psychologist … I would rather leave the course and hold onto my family’. This student again was torn between her studies and her commitment towards her daughter’s well-being.

4.4.2 Theme 2: Inadequate knowledge of programme (uncertainty