Diploma of Nursing updated to meet Australia’s changing needs

Diploma of Nursing revision process

Michelle Griffin, Nurse Educator and Curriculum Leader for the Diploma of Nursing at the Wakefield Street Campus in Adelaide, explains the process:

‘A national group of experts from industry, academia and government get together and look at our current course and ask, "Right, what's relevant for nursing? What do we need to update? What do we need to include to plan for the future? Has technology changed? Has the way we do things changed?" And they review the whole course. It's about keeping up with what our industry needs, what Nursing needs, what our society needs.’

Our Diploma of Nursing course prepares students for their careers as Enrolled Nurses (EN) in the Australian healthcare environment. The new training package offers some exciting electives and core subjects that are relevant to our society in 2022 and going into the future.

A focus on diversity and inclusivity in our Diploma of Nursing

‘In our new course, we make sure the students learn the most recent practices in Nursing technology. And of course, COVID has meant that we've had to update training on such points as infection control policies and the way we utilise our personal protective equipment and vaccinations,’ Michelle says. ‘However, the big change I've seen in this course is that It's all about inclusivity, which is so important, I think.’

‘With the core units as well as the electives, we've focused much more on cultural awareness, including an awareness of First Nations people and their needs and cultures. We are trying to incorporate our multicultural society into our practice and help our students to relate to and build therapeutic relationships with their patients.’

‘As well as acknowledging our multicultural society, we looked at such things as sexuality and gender preferences when we designed the course. It's so important as nurses, and for our students, to realise that to be trusted and make strong therapeutic relationships with our patients, we need to be nonjudgmental and understanding of all the people we come in contact with, whatever their lifestyle choices, whatever their backgrounds, and whatever of their situation. So our aim is to give our students a greater awareness of diversity.’

New nursing electives in terminology, literacy and numeracy

‘Based on our student cohort and what our industry partners tell us would be really useful, we have included a unit called Medical Terminology. It is basically about teaching the students how to speak “medical”, which is a language in itself.’

‘We’ve also included a unit called Learning Literacy and Numeracy. A lot of our students are international students, and many of them will find this subject useful. Also, as our population in Australia is becoming much more multicultural, there can be language barriers. And even among those who speak English as their first language, we have found that the literacy and numeracy needs can be different for different people. So this elective should be helpful for a wide range of our students.’

What makes the Diploma of Nursing at Torrens stand out?

‘I think the attention we can give to our Nursing students is a distinctive feature,’ Michelle says. ‘We are still small enough that we can look after all the students. We have good educator-to-student numbers, both in the classroom and in the labs. While I have 85 in my cohort, I have three educators who teach in the classroom and have full oversight of these students. We know every student by name, and to a certain degree we can cater to their journey. If they're struggling, we will put them in the right place or assign them to someone who can help them. So we can offer a more personalised approach.’

‘As well, we have strong industry partners in hospitals, in healthcare settings, in aged care facilities. By having good working relationships with all the stakeholders, we can help students to have a seamless transition into the Nursing profession when they complete their course.’

Our program staff are here to support our nursing students

‘Those of us who teach in the Nursing program are passionate about developing the next generations of nurses. It's high stakes for us as well as for the students because these are people who will be looking after us in the future!’ says Michelle. ‘We're all committed to making sure the students are the very best they can be. Some might stumble along the way, but we will support them to get through. And if they're as passionate about being a nurse as we are, then they'll have a great experience here with us.’