advertorial
CLINICAL NURSING
SPECIALISATIONS AT ACU
If you choose the Graduate Certificate
of Clinical Nursing at ACU, you’ll
focus on one clinical specialisation to
develop your skills in providing holistic
care and health promotion.
You will need to be employed in
your chosen area of specialty with one
of our partner health facilities, where
you’ll complete two units of study
(specialty practice units).
Areas of specialisation include:
Clinical nursing.
A passionate calling.
Fiona Faulkner
Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing
Australian Catholic University
“I
always wanted to go into nursing.
My grandma had dementia, and I
loved going to visit and look after
her in the nursing home. My grandpa was
unwell too, and I was always interested in
what was going on with him. My mum isn’t
a nurse, she’s a teacher, but she’s a very
caring person, and I’ve probably got that
from her.
I love my patients and seeing where they
come from in life. I’m a people person. I
love knowing that I can make a difference,
make their day better, and do something
for someone else.
I’d seen a couple of people from my
ward at Royal Melbourne Hospital do
ACU’s postgraduate course. It looked
interesting, it looked supportive, and it was
very relevant to the area I was working in.
With all that I’ve learnt, I know I’m giving
patients the best care possible. I love the
fact that every day I wake up and look
forward to going to work, and that I’m
going to do something that I might not
have ever done before.
I asked my partner the other day what
he would do if he could choose any job in
the world, and he said he’d do something
totally different. Then he said, ‘I don’t even
need to ask you – I know you’d do nursing.’
At the moment I’m back in my old role
as a clinical nurse specialist at the Royal
Melbourne Hospital, on a surgical ward.
But for nine months of the year I work as
an undergraduate educator, with students
who come and do clinical placemen ts on
the wards, from ACU and other universities.
In my role as a clinical nurse specialist,
part of the job is buddying up with the
graduate nurses and undergrad students,
and I’ve found that I enjoy teaching them.” ■
Learn more about studying nursing at
ACU. Visit acu.edu.au
• Acute stroke
care
• Aged care
• Anaesthetics
• Cardiac care
• Cardiothoracics
• Cardiothoracics
and heart/
lung transport
nursing
• Child and
adolescent
health
• Emergency
• Intensive care
• Interventional
cardiology
• Medical
• Neonatal care
• Neuroscience
• Oncology
• Orthopaedics
• Palliative care
• Perioperative
• Plastics/
orthopaedics
• Plastics
reconstruction
• Renal
• Surgical
We also have fully online specialties
for students not employed in one
of our partner health facilities. You’ll
still need to be working in your
chosen specialty, or able to negotiate
supernumerary clinical practice in
your chosen specialty.
Online areas of specialisation
include:
• Aged care
• Child and
adolescent
health
• Palliative care
• Perioperative
• Cardiac care
• Oncology
• Renal
• Medical
• Surgical
• Emergency
The graduate diploma focuses on
the development of knowledge and
skills in ethics, leadership, and quality
and safety in health care. Interpretation
of health research is also featured.
In the masters program, you can
choose to pursue either a project
or research stream. The project
stream consists of a combination
of projects and electives, while the
research stream consists of a research
dissertation.
For more information, acu.edu.au/
courses/nursing_and_midwifery
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