Overview

Career Outcomes

The Bachelor of Nursing is intended to cater for those individuals who wish to pursue a career in nursing. The program is a prescribed program for students seeking registration with the Nurses Board of South Australia. The program aims to prepare nurses to be beginning collaborative practitioners, knowledge workers, critical thinkers, planners, coordinators and evaluators of nursing care.

The Bachelor of Nursing also contains pathways for Registered and Enrolled Nurses who have completed pre-registration/enrolment nursing qualifications at the certificate and diploma levels and wish to upgrade to a Bachelors degree. Similarly, a pathway for Bachelor of Midwifery graduates is also included.

Professional Recognition

Graduates are eligible to apply for registration with the Nurses Board of South Australia.

Currently a mutual recognition agreement exists between all Australian regulatory authorities.

Eligibility

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for entry, applicants are required to have:

Completed the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE); and

• completed 200 credits of subjects;
• achieved a grade of C* or better in the Personal Learning Plan, 20 credits of literacy, 10 credits of numeracy and the Research Project at Stage 2;
• achieved a grade C- or better in an additional 60 credits at Stage 2;
• obtained a competitive ATAR.

*For Stage 2 subjects a grade of C- or better is required.

Alternatively, applicants may qualify for entry if they have:

• completed the equivalent secondary education qualifications as required for university entry under SACE and fulfilled any pre-requisite requirements;
• completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma, obtaining a minimum score of 24 points and fulfilled any prerequisite requirements
• completed or partly completed a recognised higher education program at a recognised higher education institution and fulfilled any prerequisite requirements
• completed at least four Open Universities Australia (OUA) undergraduate university level units at the appropriate level and fulfilled any prerequisite requirements
• completed an award from TAFE or from another registered training organisation at AQF Diploma or above and fulfilled any prerequisite requirements
• qualified for Special Entry and fulfilled any prerequisite requirements
• completed the Health Science stream University Foundation Studies program
• enrolled nurse with a current practising certificate.

Police Check

To comply with the requirements of the University and placement venues, all students in the Division of Health Sciences who, as part of their program, undertake activities where interaction with patients/ the public is required, such as in field or clinical placements/visits and in University clinics and gyms, must demonstrate that they have an Australian police check which will be current for the duration of that activity. While the University's requirement is for a check once every three years, some venues may require a more recent check.

Police checks can take several weeks or up to 3 months to finalise. Students must ensure that they provide the police check to the Clinical Placement Unit (CPU) by the time requested in the CPU notice to students about the placement. Students will not be permitted to attend placement if the police check has not been provided to the CPU in the required time frame and there are no exceptions to this rule.  

From 2012, in order to make you eligible for placement, the University will accept the National Criminal History Record Check  (NCHRC) conducted by the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI, previously known as the Department for Families and Communities)   Commencing students and students renewing their police check are encouraged to do so through  the NCHRC conducted by DCSI.

Interstate students and interstate placements
Students completing a placement in a state other than South Australia will require a National Police Certificate. As well as providing the CPU with the NPC, students also need to provide a Consent and Authority to Release form . Interstate students may send a certified copy of the NPC with the completed consent form - CPU address is on the consent form.

Additional requirements of aged care organisations as a result of Department of Health and Ageing compliance standards
People who have lived in a country other than Australia for any period of time after the age of 16 must provide a statutory declaration stating they were not convicted of murder or sexual assault, and not convicted of and imprisoned for any other form of assault during their time living overseas. Any such criminal record would exclude the person from working within, or being placed within, an aged care service if they have unsupervised access to care recipients. In addition to the statutory declaration (which a Justice of the Peace can assist with) the person must also have a police check to cover the time (after age 16) that they have lived in Australia.

Senior First Aid Certificate and Annual CPR Update

A Senior First Aid Certificate and an Annual CPR Update are prerequisites for some courses. Students will be expected to have successfully completed a recognised Senior First Aid program before they will be permitted to commence these courses.

How to Apply

Applications open on Saturday 17th November and close Monday 7th January 2013.

On-campus Workshops

Students are required to attend compulsory on-campus intensive workshops/seminars for these courses. Where possible, compulsory on-campus workshops/seminars for courses scheduled in the same study period will be timetabled to minimise the duration that a student is required to be on campus. Further information is available on the School of Nursing and Midwifery website (http://www.unisa.edu.au/nur/).

Workload expectations

Workload within the program equates to approximately 10 hours per week of study for each 4.5 unit course throughout the study period, and a 9.0 unit course will require 20 hours per week.  The distance delivery mode is not less of a commitment than on-campus programs but does provide some greater flexibility in your independent weekly timetabling of study.  Applicants intending to study full-time are strongly advised to reduce work or other commitments to undertake the program.  For some students assistance with child care may need to be arranged to allow time to study.  Part-time study, particularly for first level courses, is recommended if other commitments cannot be easily reduced or if students have not recently or previously undertaken a professional tertiary program.

Special Requirements

A Senior First Aid certificate is required in the first 6 months of the program before students undertake clinical placements. Some clinical placements require a current driver’s licence and special vaccinations. As nursing places physical and psychological demands on the individual, applicants may need to meet the health requirements of the agencies in which they undertake clinical placements

Practicum Placements

The School of Nursing and Midwifery provides a range of study opportunities via innovative programs that offer diversity and can be accessed throughout the world via flexible delivery methods. You can study full-time, part-time, internally, externally or in mixed-mode. Our programs are flexible and you can change your mode of study throughout the program. Academic staff within the School are experienced and skilled in teaching and supporting students. Students are required to complete skills laboratory work on-campus while clinical placements will take place in health care and community settings. Clinical placements will be negotiated in state capitals and regional centres dependent on availability. Due to limited placement availability and/or a request from a placement venue that a student be assessed directly by a University staff member, some interstate and non-metropolitan students may be requested to attend a placement in metropolitan Adelaide.

Award Requirements

Students must meet the following requirements to receive the Bachelor of Nursing:

• Complete the correct pre/co-requisites for each course.
• Students must complete clinical practice of a 4 week block in Stage 2 and two 8 week blocks in Stage 3.
• Students need to complete designated skills laboratory workshops for specific courses.
• Students must complete the required clinical placement satisfactorily before they can progress through the degree.
• The degree can be taken as a full-time (three years) or part-time (six years) program.
• Clinical requirements are integral to this program. Due to limited placement availability and/or a request from a placement venue that a student be assessed directly by a University staff member, some interstate and non-metropolitan students may be requested to attend a placement in metropolitan Adelaide

Recognition of Prior Learning / Credit

Students seeking credit for previous study or work experience may access the Credit Assessor in the first instance: https://my.unisa.edu.au/public/creditassessor/

Applications for credit need to be submitted to Campus Central. Further information is available from the UniSA website: http://w3.unisa.edu.au/nur/student_essentials/rpl.asp

Registering in this Course

Student registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is required in order to study this course. Students who do not meet registration criteria and are refused registration by the Board, or who have their registration rescinded during the course, will be unable to continue in the course. Applicants please note that the registration process will commence following initial enrolment and information will be provided by the University in your offer letter.

Course Structure