Helping former nurses to rapidly update their skills and re-join WA’s hospital workforce is the aim of two key partnerships the University of Notre Dame Australia has forged – one with WA Health and the other with St John of God Health Care.
Notre Dame offers WA’s only re-entry to practice course for nurses (including those who gained their qualifications overseas), which enables them to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Under the partnerships WA Health and St John of God Health Care, each provide clinical placements and reimburse the cost of the tuition fees for students of the course who are offered jobs and become their employees at the end of their study.
National Head of School at Notre Dame’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, Professor Karen Clark-Burg, said there was a variety of reasons why people had drifted away from the profession, including to raise a family.
The three-month intensive re-entry to practice program gives them a chance to rapidly upskill at minimal cost to themselves and in most cases, a secure job upon graduation.
“Like all sectors of the Australian economy at the moment, the health sector is also facing challenges when it comes to workforce shortage,” Professor Clark-Burg said.
“That is why these partnerships have been specifically designed to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for those thinking about returning to nursing to do so as quickly as possible.”
St John of God Health Care Group Director Workforce Carla Bonev said that the global reliance on health care workers while navigating the pandemic had reminded people how critical these workers are to our society.
“Our health care workers have done such a great job of looking after us and we need to be creative when dealing with the current shortage and develop strategies that recognise this and ensure they feel supported in the important work of looking after patients.
“Supporting people financially to re-enter or upskill is a very tangible and meaningful way to do this,” said Carla.
“The partnership is currently run through St John of God Murdoch Hospital but we are expanding to our other WA hospitals.
“Importantly, it helps people who are interested in returning to nursing to find a pathway back.”
On completion of the course, the nurses receive a Graduate Certificate in Contemporary Nursing.
The program is run four times a year. Since the program started in 2018, 210 former nurses have completed the training. Around 150 nurses are expected to complete the course this year.
The Graduate Certificate is separate to Notre Dame’s existing nursing degree program. This year, about 450 highly trained nursing graduates are expected to join the workforce after completing their studies.