Bachelor of Science (Nursing)

Course notes

Important course notes

• Clinical or professional work placement requirement

  Students are required to successfully complete 840 hours of clinical practice as part of the course. Placements are undertaken with a range of clinical partners as full-time clinical placements.
  
  Students enrolled in entry-to-practice programs will be required to travel to professional experience placements in a variety of health services within the region of the campus they are enrolled and may be required to travel to other regions of Western Australia. Students enrolled in Bunbury Campus will be required to travel to Perth for some clinical placements. Students are responsible for any travel and accommodation related costs. Professional experience placements require rostered shifts covering the 24-hour period, inclusive of weekends and public holidays. Students are expected not to undertake paid employment during a period of full-time professional experience placement, as it is a requirement that students have a sufficient length of breaks between shifts.

  Attendance requirements

  Students will undertake clinical practicum during the hours laid down by their host clinical agency. These full-time clinical blocks may occur at times outside the identified semester weeks.
  
  Additionally, pre-identified clinical practicum periods may change with minimal notice to students due to circumstances outside the control of the School.

  Clearances and/or Risk Management Protocols Required

  To be eligible to undertake clinical practice and fulfil their duty of care, students are required to complete clinical practice orientation, risk management training and obtain various screening, vaccination and clearances, as appropriate on commencement of the course and in subsequent semesters. These clinical placement requirements include, but are not restricted to:
  International students on temporary visas may be required to provide a Certificate of International Police Clearance where possible
  WA Police National Police Certificate
  WA Health Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check
  Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification Manual Handling Certification
  Evidence of immunisation status aligned with the Australia Immunisation HandbookTuberculosis screening
  MRSA clearance if worked in, or been admitted to, a health facility outside of Western Australia in the 12 months;
  WA Working with Children Check
  Confidentiality agreement
  Due to the practical nature of the nursing and midwifery professions, there are inherent requirements applicable to this course that may impact upon the success of some potential students. Applicants and students with a disability or other issue likely to impact on their ability to perform in practice are encouraged to contact the Director, Undergraduate Nursing Studies to discuss the support and inherent requirements of this course
  
  More information can be found at https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/nursing-and-midwifery/nursing-and-midwifery-clinical-placements

  Professional practice rules

  Registered nurse standards for practice. Students will be expected to comply with the conduct requirements of their clinical placement.

• Registration

  Students will need to graduate to be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is required to practice in the profession.

  Graduates are entitled to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to practice as a registered nurse.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Access, evaluate and synthesise relevant information from multiple sources using digital technologies to inform nursing practice.
2. Anticipate and identify potential challenges and develop appropriate nursing strategies/solutions.
3. Apply broad health knowledge to a range of theoretical and practical nursing situations.
4. Critically analyse, interpret and conceptualise complex nursing practice.
5. Demonstrate a global outlook with respect for cultural diversity, including Indigenous cultural competence.
6. Demonstrate autonomy, accountability and judgement for own learning and professional nursing practice in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia standards for practice.
7. Demonstrate the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice required by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia for registration.
8. Independently communicate nursing knowledge, concepts and values clearly and coherently.
9. Work collaboratively within the nursing team and with other health care professionals to ethically and effectively respond to diverse health care challenges.

Quick guide to uni-speak

• • ATAR

    ATAR is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate university courses in Australia. The ATAR is a percentile score which denotes a student's ranking relative to their state-wide peers upon completion of their secondary education.

  • CRICOS code

    CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. A CRICOS code is allocated to education institutions (like ECU) who are approved to recruit, enrol and deliver education to overseas students. Courses with a CRICOS code are available to international students who meet the entry requirements.

  • Majors

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  • Minors

    Minors include between 4 and 6 study units in a specific discipline. Not all courses require you to complete a minor. Your minor subject doesn't appear on your printed degree (parchment), but is part of your academic transcript.

  • Full-time

    If you're enrolled in 3 or more units in a semester this is considered full-time study. To complete most 3-year degrees studying full-time you'll need to complete 4 units per semester, i.e. 24 units over 3 years.

  • Part-time

    If a course is available to study part-time you can generally expect it to take twice as long to complete as it would in full-time mode. Part-time students are enrolled in 1 or 2 units maximum per semester.

    Note: International students who hold a student visa can only choose the full-time study option for our courses. This is to ensure the course is completed within the duration of the student visa.

• • Semester 1

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  • Semester 2

    A lot of our courses start in Semester 2 each year, usually in the last week of July. We call this mid-year. There's a week of Orientation beforehand to help you get used to uni life.

  • Credit Points

    We use a points system to make it easier for you to understand your study progress. Most Bachelors degree study units are allocated 15 credit points. If you're studying a 3-year full-time degree you'll need to successfully complete 360 credit points - that's 24 units x 15 points per unit.

  • Core Units

    These are compulsory units you have to successfully complete as part of your course.

  • Recommended Electives

    An elective is a unit you choose to study that counts towards your course requirements, but isn't compulsory. For some courses we recommend elective units. In some situations, a course coordinator may approve an elective unit as a replacement for a compulsory one.