Study Nursing and Midwifery

Nursing and midwifery are both extremely rewarding professions with varied career outcomes. Some midwives are also nurses and some nurses are also midwives. But they are different professions and require different sets of skills, training and experience.

Nursing offers diverse opportunities in many areas including clinical, management, research and education.

Midwifery focuses on the health and wellbeing of women before, during and after childbirth. It’s a broad and varied role, like nursing, that has many career prospects depending on your interests.

A Registered Nurse (RN) undertakes a three-year University Bachelor of Nursing degree in comparison to an enrolled nurse who completes a Diploma of Nursing via the Vocational Education Training sector which is 2 years duration.

Both an RN and EN provide direct patient care. The scope of practice for an RN is more extensive than an EN and an RN is responsible and accountable for all care delivered that is delegated to an Enrolled Nurse.

Preregistration means the period during which a Bachelor of Nursing student is undertaking a course of study leading to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Our flexible study options facilitate part time options, and some topics are offered either face to face or online. On campus attendance is not mandatory, with the exception of clinical intensives and placements.

Yes you need to be on campus for practicals (intensives) which are 4 days in the Laboratory prior to undertaking placement. 

Health is a growing industry overall in Australia. According to the National Skills Commission (2022), midwives will experience a 21.6% increase in jobs growth, while nursing is set to experience a 13.9% jobs boost.

The 2022 ATAR for Midwifery was 96.65 and the 2022 ATAR for Nursing was 70.40.

Yes. You will complete a range of field placements at public and private hospitals across metropolitan and rural areas. Throughout the degree you will experience clinical placements in many areas of midwifery practice such as antenatal, birthing, postnatal, gynaecology, community midwifery, and neonatal special care. These will take place across metropolitan, regional and rural hospitals and health services in South Australia.

Yes. Midwifery students are required to follow women throughout their antenatal, birth, and postnatal journey. Pre-registration students will have a minimum of 15 CoCE experiences throughout the degree, whereas post-registration (registered nurse) students will have a minimum of 10 CoCE experiences.

No, you will not need to be on call for placements. Placements blocks range between 1 – 6 weeks and are scheduled at different times throughout the year. You will be rostered across all shifts over a 7-day week roster.

Yes, you will be required to be on call to successfully complete your CoCE.  You will need to be available when the women are giving birth, which could be at any time, day or night. It is a requirement that you are available to be on call for the labour and birth for these women, equivalent to at least five times a year for each year of your degree.

Yes. Placements for nursing may occur at any time of the year and will include shift work (including night shift and public holidays) across a seven-day week roster. It’s recommended that you do not book holidays or make travel arrangements until your placement has been confirmed on InPlace. Placements occur in a full-time block format attended over several weeks. Placement topics in the Bachelor of Nursing program range from 2 to 8 weeks in length.

Placements will be undertaken across a range of locations, where care is provided to patients / consumers / clients / residents across the life span. This includes aged care, rural and remote and acute care locations such as hospitals.

If you are studying full-time (18 units per semester), you would normally need to spend about two-and-a-half to three days on campus to attend compulsory classes such as laboratories, tutorials, and workshops.

No, Undergraduate nursing and midwifery students do not get paid for placement.

No, nursing is not run within the normal university semester. Students are expected to be available all year round.

A driver's licence is essential as public transport is not always available for shift work, CoCE appointments and rural placements.

Yes, upon completion of the midwifery program you will be able to register as a midwife with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Upon the completion of the nursing program, you can apply to AHPRA for official registration as a Registered Nurse.