University of Melbourne Entry Level MSN Program

Aelith · Oct 20, 2008

Hi,
I am an American who has recently been accepted to the Uni of Melb MSN program. It is for individuals like myself who have a bachelor degree in another field interested in a career in Nursing. Anyhow I am interested if anyone know anything about this program? Either people enrolled or know people enrolled, or know anything about it really? Any infor would be greatly appriciated? Also on another topic does anyone know if it is a difficult process to practice as a nurse in the US with a degree from AU?
Thanks!
Elizabeth

Hello :)

As far as I know, it is for people like you. :)

talaxandra · Oct 21, 2008

One of my former colleagues did it - he found the program challenging (in a good way) and it must be good because he's a fantastic nurse!

ALhtough a couple of people I trained with have worked in the US, I'm not in contact with them and have no idea how easy/difficult it is - sorry.

scarah · Oct 26, 2008

Hi Elizabeth,

I am one week off finishing the 2 year graduate entry nursing Bachelor program at the uni of Melbourne which has been preplaced now by the masters (we are the last year of bachelor, the year below us is masters).

So some of the course structure may be a little different for you guys but here goes with my opinion on the uni and school of nursing.

Overall I would say it's been a good course, in that we seem well prepared compared to some other uni courses. It has some great feature like integrated clinical placements (2 or 3 days per week while you spend the other days at uni in class), which is a HUGE advantage. It means the 20 days placement is not a four week block but spread over 7 weeks, giving you time to learn more theory and consolidate while you're there.

The program is not without its issues... our year level has had issues with quality of marking/consistency of marking, vague assessments and a few students have had individual problems in terms of the the uni taking into account their personal/health situations when they were struggling. But it's hard to make judgements on these cases, as I have have had no issues and have done well for the whole degree.

All our clinical placements have been fantastic, with all at acute hospitals. I've been at major public hospitals including one of the major trauma centres.

Anyway hope that helps

esutton · Oct 26, 2008

Scarah,

Thank you so much for your reply, that is very helpful. I was curious if you could tell me if you have any Americans in your class or even better if you know of any americans in the MSN program below you? I am curious about their experiences with the program and perspectives from them on why they choose the program, future plans with their nursing career etc. Also what are your career plans as a nurse now that you have graduated? I have been told that Uni of Melb is considered very pestigeous compared to other Universities in Melbourne/Australia. Do you feel like this is true for the nursing program? Do you feel like you are better prepared than some other nurses getting BSN degrees from other Universities in AU?

thanks so much for your help!

Elizabeth

allnurses Guide · Oct 26, 2008

The Univ of Melb certainly think they are prestigious :) Hehe. I think Deakin and LaTrobe are the more well-known nursing courses.

I would urge you to be very careful - I didn't realize until checking the uni website that this is a 2 year course which leads to a masters in nursing. I sincerely doubt that would be sufficient for a US BON. Your best bet would be to call up the board you're interested in and ask them straight out. I'm not sure how a 2yr course covers all the nursing and all the masters requirements (since it took me 6 to do mine!).

scarah · Oct 26, 2008

Melbourne Uni is prestigious however I don't think it matters too much in the nursing world, even tho Melb Uni might be prestigious it's only taught nursing since 2003 so the nursing course doesn't carry the same 'prestige' that some of the other courses do - in fact a few other unis may be better regarded in terms of the their course but that's not to say Melb Uni is not a good course. Melbourne Uni thinks a lot more of their 'prestige' than any one else ;-) I would say some of the three year courses such as ACU and Latrobe are the better known ones, but Melbourne Uni compares well. Just don't let them make you believe that Melb Uni is better because it's prestigous, the nursing world is too well grounded in the clinical environment to judge on a name. All the nursing courses here are acredited by the board meaning they all lead to being a registered nurse, so they all cover the same content.

I think we are better prepared than some unis, and everyone has just got jobs for next year and a lot of people have got their first choice which speaks for itself. As with any group of students there are those who shine and those who struggle, so much of what you learn in nursing is up to you. Especially in the clinical setting, you can be proactive and learn loads or just sit back and do no more than you have to... I do think the integrated placement structure is the major advantage of the Melbourne course over others but I think there are some draw backs to other areas. For instance we got very little pharmacology taught to us, our assignments were structured for us toe self-learn a lot of pharmacology but that where some students will have learnt a lot and others not much at all.

I know of two Americans in my year level, unfortunately I know no-one in the masters in the year below as we are at Uni when they are on clinical placement and vice versa. The two in my year are planning to stay in Aus as far as I know, not return to the US and their motivation was a two-year degree which is only offered by a couple of Unis in Melbourne.

I think ghillbert is getting confused by the name of the course, althought it's called a Master of Nursing Science it is an "entry to practice" degree. Those who complete it will be graduate nurses with exactly the same level of qualification as a bachelor student, the name simply achnowledges these students have a previous degree in another discipline. Uni of Syd and a uni in WA are doing a similar thing, Melbourne is doing this to all their courses as they move towards an american structure of uni education with a generalist undergraduate degree then a specialist 'masters' such as Masters of Social work, Master of Nursing Science etc etc.... So don't worry the course does not propose to cover nursing to a masters level as in a speciality area of practice.

I think the title will confuse a lot of people in the industry as up until now, masters has been synomymous with advanced level of clinical practice. However with at least three Unis now offering this entry to practice masters I'm sure this will change. The pay level will be no different to bachelor graduates.

Anyway hope that helps clear things up, my overall thoughts on the Melbourne Uni course are it will suit you well if you are a strong academic performer as Melbourne Uni seems to require a higher standard of academic work than some other unis. It has a good clinical placement structure and uses good hospitals, and generally it'll get you to where you want to go. However the name of the university probably doesn't mean that much within nursing circles in Victoria, it may hold more weight overseas - I'm not sure.

allnurses Guide · Oct 28, 2008

I think ghillbert is getting confused by the name of the course, althought it's called a Master of Nursing Science it is an "entry to practice" degree. Those who complete it will be graduate nurses with exactly the same level of qualification as a bachelor student, the name simply achnowledges these students have a previous degree in another discipline.

Thankyou for your concern; however I am not confused in the slightest. My remark was regarding the requirements for licensure in a US state. The requirement is for a bachelor degree or equivalent, with sufficient clinical and theory hours in each of the required areas. I sincerely doubt that there would be time in a 2 yr course to cover these requirements - particularly one which aims to confer a masters degree.

SydneyStudent · Oct 28, 2008

The US has 2 year Masters entry programs as well. From posts I have found on here they are becoming more common both in the US and Australia.

Much the same way that there is graduate entry into teaching with a masters of teaching on top of a first degree. Its also 2 years instead of the three year bachelor degree.

Thanks

allnurses Guide · Oct 28, 2008

The US has 2 year Masters entry programs as well. From posts I have found on here they are becoming more common both in the US and Australia.
Much the same way that there is graduate entry into teaching with a masters of teaching on top of a first degree. Its also 2 years instead of the three year bachelor degree.
Thanks

If you can tell me a US state that accepts a 2 year, direct entry masters program as acceptable for licensure for foreign trained nurses, I'd love to hear about it.

What you can do in the US to train, and what you can do as a foreigner to gain entry to US licensure are two different things.

I'm already licensed in the US, so I'm only trying to provide info to those attempting to do the same. If you want to ignore it, I don't mind at all. Best of luck to you.

lion1nwinter · Dec 30, 2009

esutton, I am an American looking into the Melbourne Entry program and I was wondering what you decided. Did you find out about corresponding licensure in the U.S? From what I've read, you would need to sit for the NCLEX before anyone would approve you. My goal is get a MSN for CNS or NP. Thanks!!

allnurses Guide · Jan 6, 2010

MSN for CNS or NP in Australia? I would be very careful with that if I were you - NP in Australia does not equal NP in the US. If you plan to work as NP/CNS in the US, you'd be much better served doing your MSN in the US.