Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Midwifery (Honours)

The Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Midwifery (Honours) course aims to produce dynamic graduate nurses and midwives who will be leaders in healthcare in the 21st century. The course prepares nurses and midwives with the requisite knowledge and skills to be effective and perceptive communicators, graduating from the course with the capabilities and attributes to have a positive impact on the future of the nursing and midwifery professions, and the quality of peoples' lives. As a graduate you will be recognised for your excellent and innovative practice and leadership in nursing and midwifery. By reflecting contemporary nursing and midwifery knowledge and practice, clinical reasoning skills, research literacy and technology you will identify and effect change in health care.

Midwives play a crucial role in maternity care provision working in partnership with women during pregnancy, birth and in the postnatal period. Completion of this course produces a highly capable practitioner with a broad range of skills who is able to work within the interdisciplinary health team in nursing and midwifery practice settings. The versatility of the nurse and midwife has become increasingly important in Australian and international health services, and the two qualifications will make you highly employable in any practice setting, especially in rural and remote areas where being multi-skilled can save lives.

Monash nursing and midwifery graduates are sought after worldwide because of our teaching quality, which ensures that our graduates possess valuable skills in clinical reasoning, client care, communication, clinical judgment and research literacy developed through extensive clinical experience in a variety of local and international health agencies. These are underpinned and strengthened by our links to world-class medical researchers and major teaching hospitals.

The course will prepare you for increasingly complex health care situations in Australia and internationally. As a nursing graduate you will have acquired the knowledge and skills to be a competent beginning-level registered nurse who can provide leadership and care across the age continuum, and you will have the scope to provide care in multiple settings, including acute care, primary health care and health promotion. You will develop knowledge for the safe practice of clinical skills in a variety of health care facilities and services over the course of your studies, and develop a broad range of knowledge in relevant disciplines, enabling you to critically analyse health care situations, concepts and perspectives.

As a midwifery graduate you will add to the above capabilities the specialist knowledge to provide continuous care to mothers and babies from pregnancy to after birth in any situation, including obstetric emergencies.

You will have plenty of opportunity for clinical experience in diverse settings throughout Victoria and you may also get the opportunity to study and undertake international clinical experiences under our successful student exchange programs. These are voluntary activities, additional to mandated clinical placement hours. Your clinical and professional skills will be further developed through time spent working with students enrolled in other health science courses (i. e. medical imaging, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, paramedic, physiotherapy, social work) enabling you to experience interdisciplinary service delivery and inter-professional education.

Successful completion of the course will lead to eligibility for registration as a registered nurse and a registered midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. The nursing degree creates local, national and international opportunities in a range of health service areas, such as acute hospital care, mental health, rehabilitation, aged care, community-based care and rural and remote services. The midwifery degree creates opportunities in midwifery, including in antenatal, birth and postnatal areas. You could also specialise in neonatal, maternal, child health care or other fields with further study.

Fieldwork

This course requires you to undertake off-campus rural and metropolitan clinical placements. In the clinical setting you will have an opportunity to apply theory to practice under supervision. Attendance is mandatory for the clinical component of each unit. Where your skill or knowledge is found to be inadequate, access to the clinical component of the unit will be denied. You may be withdrawn from a clinical practicum if required skills and knowledge are deemed inadequate, or on other grounds deemed appropriate by the head of school

Clinical expenses

You are responsible for all travel and accommodation expenses during clinical placement. Uniforms and accessories are required for clinical placements and you will be notified regarding purchase arrangements upon commencement.