Bachelor of Nursing in Sydney (UTS, UWS or ACU?)

bassandtea · Apr 13, 2008

wow that's a lot of written works!! sounds scary...=S

i bet u have to put in a great amount of effort to keep up with good grade eh~

I find that I do have to put in a lot of work, although there are others in my classes that don't need to put in as much work and there are some subjects that I find easier than others. A lot of that comes down to how you learn as an individual.

-Does matter how good ur marks are? like is there a specific average that u have to maintain in order to stay in the falcuty? Or do u just have to pass the courese?

You just need to pass - as they used to say at one of the universities I previously studied at "A P is a degree". That said I would prefer to get more than a pass, as I would like to go on and do a Masters and PHD at some point in the future or become a NP, as I believe that NPs are very under utilised - especially in remote and rural settings where nurses are often the only health/medical practitioner in the area.

-Do you feel that there are strong practical focus to your courses?

Are there clinical placements?

We do clinical placements from semester 2 in the first year and every semester from then until completion of the program. Semester one involves a clinical lab class where we spend time in the lab - which is set up as a hospital - learning basic nursing skills and practising on other students and on dummies. During my study group we also spend additional time working on practical skills - at the moment anybody who sits still for long enough is getting their blood pressure taken in preparation for the vital signs practical exam.

bethem · Apr 13, 2008

You just need to pass - as they used to say at one of the universities I previously studied at "A P is a degree". That said I would prefer to get more than a pass, as I would like to go on and do a Masters and PHD at some point in the future or become a NP, as I believe that NPs are very under utilised - especially in remote and rural settings where nurses are often the only health/medical practitioner in the area.

Mwahahah, did you go to Newcastle? They were considering making that the official motto of the uni bar there.

allnurses Guide · Apr 13, 2008

Windazz, judging by your writing, some english classes would not go astray.. in addition, I'm not sure how you could imagine that english and physics are unrelated to nursing...????? At least 50% of nursing work is related to communication, charting, getting your message across clearly and concisely, and doing verbal education.

In addition, research is essential to nursing. You NEED to be able to critically read research in order to follow best practice. I am a practical kind of nurse, not a theory-driven one, but nursing will get to the point (particularly in north america) relatively soon where any kind of leadership position requires a masters degree, which involves advanced biosciences and research.

If you're already worried about passing and failing, and what grades you'll get, you might be better off taking some time to work on your study skills before entering a program... it's an expensive experiment to fail, particularly if you're in a foreign country.

Couple of other things to consider:

1. As a foreign student, you would be subject to "international student" fees - which generally means a lot of thousands per year in tuition, as well as books and living costs.

2. Depending on which canadian province you plan to practise nursing in, most (I believe) require the 4 year BSN degree in order to license you as an RN. You'd also have to sit the CRNE so would need to possible take extra courses to be eligible for licensure.

nyapa, RN · Apr 17, 2008

Windazz, judging by your writing, some english classes would not go astray.. in addition, I'm not sure how you could imagine that english and physics are unrelated to nursing...????? At least 50% of nursing work is related to communication, charting, getting your message across clearly and concisely, and doing verbal education.

Ouch, ghillbert. I suspect Windazz is using 'computer talk', as you would for SMS messages between mobile phones. That doesn't automatically reflect on language.

Windazz, for you to work in Australia I think you have to sit some sort of test. IELTS? But coming from Canada it should be a breeze for you. As for learning to write and communicate, universities usually offer pre-entry courses for all potential students, no matter what their background, in order to prepare them for study. These are often a mandatory requirement.

As for research, I only had to do it in my training. Yes, you do look up information to find out the latest techniques, information etc, as a form of self directed learning, but true research projects are not part of nursing. Only if you wish to work in that field. Heck, I'm more worried that I provide efficient, appropriate, compassionate, wholistic, and high quality care for my patients! And that is often very hard to do in the time allowed...

allnurses Guide · Apr 17, 2008

Ouch, ghillbert. I suspect Windazz is using 'computer talk', as you would for SMS messages between mobile phones. That doesn't automatically reflect on language

"Ouch"?

I was just commenting on the language as written. I think it's pretty fair to mention that you need good written and verbal communication skills in nursing. If you can't express yourself clearly on a web forum, you may need to take further college-level english classes. I don't think that's unreasonable.

nyapa, RN · Apr 18, 2008

Ouch, yes. Because it would be terrible to turn someone off nursing, simply because of the shortened version of writing they use. Some forums only use this type of expression. Guess it is a bit like computerised 'shorthand'.

windazz · Apr 18, 2008

thx pal~

I have decided to move to Sydney this comming Sept.

I'll take a look at those three universities myself and then decide which one to go into~

Also, I haven't had time to go ask the Canadian Nursing Board yet, but i'll let u know as soon as i find out~

=D

elmar22 · Apr 18, 2008

Windazz, judging by your writing, some english classes would not go astray.. in addition, I'm not sure how you could imagine that english and physics are unrelated to nursing...????? At least 50% of nursing work is related to communication, charting, getting your message across clearly and concisely, and doing verbal education.

Mate, may I know what percentage of Physics have you applied in your Nursing career?...and judging by your so much emphasis on good English communication I believe that you would be better off teaching English than as a Nurse....

talaxandra · Apr 22, 2008

nyapa: research really isn't so bad when you get to pick what you want to research and are excited by it - although that way doens't always lead to funding!

elmar22: does that mean you think a strong grasp of good English (like ghillbert) is incompatable with, or an an attribute to, nursing? I certainly wouldn't want to look like I was judging the quality of nurse a member was based on their posts - it could lead to people making judgemenet about me.

Windazz: all Australian nursing degrees are equally recognised - once a nurse is qualified the university they graduated from doesn't make much difference. With all the other caveats in place (eg check transferrability of qualification to home), if you decide to study in Sydney pick your institute on how well the course, the placements and the locality meet your need. And welcome!

bassandtea · Apr 22, 2008

Windazz: all Australian nursing degrees are equally recognised - once a nurse is qualified the university they graduated from doesn't make much difference. With all the other caveats in place (eg check transferrability of qualification to home), if you decide to study in Sydney pick your institute on how well the course, the placements and the locality meet your need. And welcome!

That's probably one of the things I left out in my experience of ACU and why I applied to ACU in Brisbane. When I decided to go back to university to study nursing I had taken into account my past studies and that I had done better and felt more supported in a smaller university. When applying my preferred universities were the ones that had smaller intakes and smaller campuses, as my personal experience was that it was a better learning environment for me.

minifish · Apr 23, 2008

Windazz: Cool your coming to Sydney. I presently work in one of the bigger Sydney hospitals and have had students from Sydney uni & western Sydney uni, both courses from what i gathered are run fairly similar. Although we had recently had some really new students as in only been 6 weeks into their training and they were put on an observational week in ICU eek!!

How exciting new country and new career, good luck and hope this helps?

Ps you'll love Sydney, I moved here form Scotland 3 yeas ago and neve want to leave ha ha.

Jill

trevor dobson · Mar 24, 2009

dear windazz,

I am also Canadian and want to do the same thing as you, I have already been accepted at ACU Sydney but would also like to come back to Canada to work after my degree. did you decide to go to Australia for your education? I have spent many many hours researching on whether or not I can bring my qualifications back to Canada or not without too much hassle but have not been able to get a straight answer. I would like to know if you found out any more information.

cheers,

Trevor