Bachelor of Nursing

The Bachelor of Nursing (BN) is offered On Campus and Online either Full-time or Part-time.

Units are offered in all three trimesters allowing students to complete the course in two calendar years if they wish.

Both On Campus and Online students participate in structured and timetabled learning activities.

Course Aims

The aims of this course are to prepare students to meet the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), 2016).

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: demonstrate a well-developed understanding of health from individual, family, community, population and global perspectives; apply knowledge and skills to provide culturally appropriate, quality, safe, thoughtful, creative, responsible and evidence-based nursing in a variety of healthcare settings; respect the rights of individuals to make choices regarding their own health and the care they receive; advocate for vulnerable people who are unable to make or implement choices for themselves by virtue of their condition; value and incorporate health promotion and health education within nursing practice; practice within legal and ethical parameters and demonstrate accountability for their own practice; enact clinical leadership and act as a change agent within the healthcare system in order to improve outcomes for individuals and communities; and embrace the use of technology both in nursing practice and continuing professional development in order to maintain and extend their nursing knowledge and skills through experiential and self-directed learning.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Students progressively develop a sound knowledge of the discipline of nursing in preparation for their roles as professional nurses through participation in online and face-to-face learning activities and clinical practice. Knowledge of the discipline will be assessed through written assignments, online tests, examinations, assessment of clinical skills in the clinical laboratory. Students will engage in learning activities in which global perspectives of nursing practice will be discussed and debated. They will be expected to show their understanding of the global nature of nursing in written assessments and demonstrate this understanding on assessed clinical placements. Communication Skills Students will be taught and practise relevant oral, written and non-verbal communication skills in all the units of this course. Assessment of communication skills will occur through written assignments and through assessment of clinical competence in practice. Problem Solving Students are taught problem-solving skills as they engage with issues of clinical governance and practise development in online, face-to-face and clinical practice activities. Their ability to solve problems is assessed across all assessment tasks in the course. Information Literacy Information literacy is practised and assessed through the assignment tasks attached to each unit of the course. Students are taught research skills and how to access and assess information from a variety of online and paper-based information sources. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Students learn about and develop the capacity to make ethically sound, morally just and socially responsible decisions in all the nursing units of this course. They apply this knowledge specifically to patient advocacy, safety and quality issues. They are assessed on this knowledge across all assessment tasks and apply it in practice while on assessed clinical placements. Lifelong Learning Students are required to set ongoing learning objectives at each stage of the course and as they prepare to transition to practice and to progressively refine their plan for continuing professional development in their nursing career. These approaches to lifelong learning will be assessed in the student's professional portfolios and in practice on clinical placements. Independence and Collaboration Students are taught theories of team dynamics and teamwork as they relate to a range of health care settings in all nursing units of this course. They participate as members of a health care team where they will develop and refine their skills, understanding and ability to work effectively, both independently and as part of a health care team during their assessed clinical placements.