Nursing and Midwifery at ECU encompasses a range of specialist undergraduate courses in Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery and Nursing Studies.

Along with state-of-the-art health and wellness facilities featuring demonstration wards and simulation suites, students have access to a range of training methods and programs that make our nursing courses unique, including intensive clinical skills workshops and regular health simulations that promote scenario-based learning using human patient simulators.

ECU Nursing student wins the Gertrude Berger Nursing Award

ECU Nursing student Sharon Teale was awarded the prestigious Gertrude Berber Award from the Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA). The award recognises outstanding contributions to professional excellence in nursing practice and is awarded to nurses who demonstrate a commitment to one or more professional organisations, including active participation in a leadership role.

ECU students on clinical practicum in Thailand

In 2012, a group of eight lucky ECU Nursing students, accompanied by Nursing lecturer Amanda Fowler, had the great privilege of visiting Nakhon Si Thammarat in the South of Thailand.

The international practicum placement was implemented to provide students with the chance to observe the different ways healthcare is delivered within a community setting, and experience the culture of the region.

Prior to the trip, the students were required to undertake fundraising activities so that they could give back to the local communities.

ECU Nursing student named Sir Charles Gairdner Graduate Nurse of the Year

ECU Nursing student Amy Fowler won the Sir Charles Gairdner Graduate 2011 Nurse of the Year Award. Amy moved to Perth for her nursing placement after studying at ECU's South West campus in Bunbury. She said that without the help of her tutors, who always provided one-on-one interaction which enhanced her learning experience, she would not be where she was today.

ECU's Outstanding Health and Wellness Facilities

Our purpose‑built Health and Wellness building incorporates health simulation suites and demonstration wards that provide a safe, authentic environment for clinical skills development, all designed to increase the competence and confidence of students.

The demonstration wards contain 52 beds and meet Australian healthcare standards.

Students have the opportunity for experiential hands-on practice to learn nursing and midwifery skills in a variety of simulated healthcare settings.

International Community Placement

Our Nursing program offers students the opportunity to undertake a community placement overseas, where they are able to work in a different healthcare system and experience health from a diverse cultural background. Currently, community placement opportunities available to students exist within Thailand, Laos, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Midwifery Students Gain First-Hand Experience Off-Campus

Every year, Nursing and Midwifery double degree students have the opportunity to attend the Cyril Jackson Health Festival, conducted at Cyril Jackson Senior Campus in Bassendean.

The event provides students with the opportunity to learn about pre‑conceptual health, antenatal care, birthing and postnatal care for both mother and child.

Students have access to cutting edge equipment, including birthing simulators, Newby (simulation newborn baby), empathy bellies (pregnancy bellies) and an abdominal palpation torso for listening to the foetal heartbeat.

Factors distinguishing our Nursing program

Our undergraduate Nursing program is distinctive as it links the following three areas of activity that are directed at complementing and strengthening clinical development for undergraduate nursing students:

• Clinical training innovations including health simulations using actors and full human patient simulators, scenario-based learning, intensive clinical up-skilling, clinical skills workshops and resources such as DVDs for self-directed learning
• Clinical competency assessment relates to the delivery of a competency development framework which means that students are well prepared with the skills and competencies required for the level and context of care in which they find themselves when on 'prac'
• Clinical partnerships and industry collaboration encompassing a unique arrangement whereby the School has strategic alliances with metropolitan and rural hospitals and regions, as well as the private sector, for undergraduate nursing students to undertake their clinical placements in the one setting.
  

A Perfect Circle

Bachelor of Science (Nursing) graduate Sarah Pavlenko is one of the world’s first IVF quintuplets and, in 2011, commenced employment at the very same hospital in which she was delivered!

Sarah works in the neonatal intensive care unit, applying the skills she obtained throughout her Nursing degree to help care for WA's ill and at-risk babies.

Producing Award‑Winning Students and Community Members

Nursing student Jodie Atkinson studied full‑time whilst juggling a part‑time job and caring for her children.

Not only was she amongst the Top 100 Academic Students at ECU in 2009, she also recently won The City of Joondalup Award for Community Service for her outstanding contribution to the local community. What’s more, Jodie has returned to ECU to undertake a Postgraduate Diploma in Midwifery.

The largest, most progressive Nursing Program in Western Australia

Our undergraduate Nursing program is unlike any other in the state of Western Australia. Students have access to state-of-the-art facilities that encourage scenario-based learning, including access to cutting edge simulation suites that can be transformed into a number of settings, from emergency departments, operating theatres, intensive care and hospital wards, to birthing suites, consulting rooms, and hospital in the home.

In addition to our Joondalup Campus facilities, the ECU South West Campus boasts the most sophisticated nursing facilities in regional WA.

Partnership Programs with a Difference

ECU's Partnerships Undergraduate Program (PUP) offers Nursing students the opportunity to undertake all their practical units in the one hospital setting, allowing them access to helpful resources, as well as networking opportunities.

These unique partnership programs are available at a range of healthcare facilities including Joondalup Health Campus, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, St John of God Hospital (Subiaco), Swan Kalamunda Health Service, Osborne Park Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital.

Leading the market in education excellence

Our new Centre of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation and demonstration areas housed in the new Health and Wellness building on the Joondalup Campus provides a safe authentic environment for clinical skills development.

The simulation suites can be configured to different settings such as operating theatres, consulting rooms, wards, birthing suites and intensive care.

Each suite has cutting edge recording and interactive audio-visual facilities and its own set up/debriefing rooms and observation areas.

A partnership with the WA Academy of Performing Arts provides actors to perform the roles for scenarios so students can feel the realistic and practical nature of the situation.

Along with outstanding facilities, ECU Nursing has inspirational staff. Nursing lecturer Helene Metcalfe won the “Nurse Educator of the Year 2009” award at the Nurses and Midwives Board of Western Australia Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards. The judges acknowledged her commitment to teaching and learning, her enthusiasm for nurse education and her approach to supporting and mentoring colleagues.