Notre Dame nursing degree a winner in Government’s focus on health

Notre Dame’s Fremantle School of Nursing has been one of the successful tertiary institutions to be awarded new Commonwealth supported higher education places in the national priority area of nursing. The announcement was made in a media statement released today by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd; the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard and the Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon. “The new places will give more students the opportunity to qualify as registered nurses and will increase the number of nurses available to work in our hospitals. That will benefit patients in the health system significantly and, ultimately, the community.” (Australian Labor Party, 29 September 2008) The extra places are part of the Australian Government’s 2008-09 Budget Health and Hospitals Reform – Health Workforce initiatives. Vice Chancellor, Professor Celia Hammond said she was delighted with the announcement. “Notre Dame has built a reputation for providing quality clinical education to our undergraduate students. The three-year course includes a minimum of 1240 hours across three years of clinical practice in areas ranging from aged care to critical care. This program is comprehensive with its aim to expose students to a wide variety of clinical experiences which we have been able to offer due to our strong relationship with our health care partners, both in the private and public sectors. “An important aspect of this clinical education, which is novel to Western Australia and to most other parts of the country, is the use of mentors who provide one-on-one clinical supervision for our students. “The excellent education and experience our students receive, coupled with the broad educational foundation offered at Notre Dame has seen our graduate nurses being in high demand with employers. We are grateful to the Federal Government for these additional places and look forward to the opportunities they provide for future Notre Dame students.” Media contact: Michelle Ebbs 08 9433 0610, 0408 959 13