Aged care nursing
Caring for those who care for others
Education @ ACN
ACN offers postgraduate education for registered and enrolled nurses who care for older people across all health care settings including; acute and subacute, residential aged care facilities (RACFs) and in the community. Nurses who understand the needs of clinical nurse leaders write all of ACN’s courses. ACN partners with industry experts to ensure our content is contemporary and can be applied to your practice as you study.
If you’re looking for a way to explore how studying fits in with your busy life, ACN also offers many single units of study including:
- Assessing and Managing Adult Pain (113)
- Assessment of the Older Person (054)
- Clinical Issues in the Care of the Older Person (055)
- Continence Management (045)
- Dementia Care (064)
- Healthy Ageing (053)
- Parkinson’s Care (299)
- Principles of Infection Control (117)
- Principles of Palliative Care Nursing (314)
- Wound Management (050)
CPD
ACN offers a suite of continuing professional development (CPD) offerings both online and face to face including:
- Introduction to Aged Care Funding Instruments
- Aged Care Funding Instruments Domain 1: Activities of Daily Living
- Aged Care Funding Instruments Domain 2: Cognition and Behaviour
- Aged Care Funding Instruments Domain 3: Complex Care
- Introduction to the Standards and Standard One
- Aged Care Standard Two
- Aged Care Standard Three
- Aged Care Standard Four
- Aged Care Standard Five
- Aged Care Standard Six
- Aged Care Standard Seven
- Aged Care Standard Eight
- Defining Palliative Care
- End Stage Dementia (topics 1 and 2)
- Infection Prevention and Control
- Pain Management in the Elderly
- Serious Incidence Reporting Scheme in Aged Care
- Wound Management
If you have suggestions for topics, please email cpd@acn.edu.au.
ACN offers Customised Education Programs and Transition to Practice Programs specific to aged care. We recognise no two organisations are the same and individual learning needs are unique therefore we design education to meet your organisation’s specific requirements, in a format and venue of your choice. Contact us today for more information at customised.education@acn.edu.au.
Institute of Leadership
ACN’s Institute of Leadership offers a range of leadership development opportunities from CPD short courses to formal leadership programs for nurses to enhance their leadership skills and career progression. Our Leadership Programs Emerging Nurse Leader program to kick-start your career, or our Mid-Career Nurse Leadership program build your career and take the next step into management or our Nurse Executive Leadership program to accelerate your career and strengthen your influence, commanding respect and recognition.
Our ACN Nurse Executive Capability Framework provides a guide for those in, or aspiring to, nurse executive roles. Its sets the standard for capabilities required as an executive nurse leader.
Aged Care Policy and Advocacy
The ACN Policy Team is committed to ‘Shaping Health, Advancing Nursing’ in the provision of high quality, person-centred and sustainable aged care in Australia. We give our members a voice to advocate for an aged care system that rewards their efforts and empowers them to deliver the best possible outcomes for older Australians, whether in their own homes or in aged care facilities.
In conjunction with our Policy Chapters and other experts, the Policy Team develops white papers, position statements and perspective briefs to address systemic challenges and opportunities in aged care.
White papers
- Nurses are essential in health and aged care reform
- Regulation of the unregulated health care workforce across the health care system
- Achieving quality palliative care for all: The essential role of nurses
- Establishing a nurse-led palliative care service in Australia: an implementation toolkit
Position statements
- Person-centred care
- Unregulated health care workers
- The role of nurses in promoting healthy ageing
- Voluntary Assisted Dying in Victoria
- The role of registered nurses in residential aged care facilities
Perspective briefs
- Palliative and end-of-life care in aged care: A response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
- Aged care reform – recommendations to action (by Aged Care Solutions Expert Advisory Group)
Our Ageing Policy Chapter and End of Life Policy Chapter are led by internationally renowned nurses who lead a team of experts to develop issues papers, position statements and proactive, long-term policy strategies around aged and palliative care.
Engagement
Faculty of Healthy Ageing
ACN members can connect with like-minded nurses around the country who share areas of interest or specialty through Communities of Interest (COI). The Faculty of Healthy Ageing brings together nurses who are passionate about, or interested in, working with the older person. This enables members to enhance their knowledge and keep up to date with the latest news, research findings, and opportunities for the identification of best practice and major policy developments. If you are a member of ACN and would like to join the COI to connect and engage in discussions, you can do so via neo. Members of the COI can also read the latest discussion article written by the COI’s Leadership Team on neo. If you are not yet a member of the ACN Tribe and would like to sign up to access COIs and other member benefits, we would love you to join online.
Representation
ACN has and continues to represent its members and the broader nursing profession through participation in representation opportunities. Over the past 12 months ACN has contributed to numerous consultations, inquiries, government and non-government workshops and working groups on a wide range of aged care related subjects. These include the Department of Health (DoH) Use of Chemical Restraints in Aged Care Environment, COVID-19 Aged Care Forum, and Australian Digital Health Agency Aged Care Advisory Group into the adoption and use of My Health Record in Residential Aged Care Facilities, Development and modifications of My Aged Care Website and the National Aged care Alliance (NACA). Watch out for our expressions of interest through the Healthy Ageing COI.
On the agenda in Aged Care
| Agenda Item | Date Posted |
|---|---|
| Aged Care Nurses’ Payment to reward clinical skills and leadership The Australian Government is delivering a payment to registered nurses who work for the same aged care employer for 12 months. | 5 October 2021 |
| Transitional arrangements to allocate residential care places beyond the ACAR Transitioning from ACFI to AN-ACC The Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) will transition to the new Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model on 1 October 2022. The new funding model will better match funding to resident needs and provide more equitable distribution of funding. Providers will be given full information regarding the AN‑ACC classification of each of their residents and the proposed AN-ACC price ahead of the implementation date. The provision of this information is dependent on finalisation of the shadow assessment process, which commenced on 6 April 2021, and has been affected by COVID restrictions. | 2 September 2021 |
| Supporting communication in language in aged care homes Communication Cards and Aged Care Signage are now available in four new languages – Urdu, Hebrew, Sinhalese and Gaelic – which means 61 languages are now available in these popular products. The products have been developed to help aged care providers deliver culturally appropriate care to people from CALD communities, by the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing, part of the PICAC alliance in Victoria. | 2 September 2021 |
| Webinars for the aged care sector The Department of Health webinars on various topics relevant to the aged care sector. See what's coming up or watch past webinars. You do not need to RSVP for live webinars and there's no limit to the number of participants who can attend. | 4 August 2021 |
| Subscribe to aged care sector announcements and newsletters This newsletter provides important information on matters affecting the aged care sector, including aged care initiatives, programs and processes and links to recent announcements. | 31 May 2021 |
| COVID-19 Updates - SACWIC, OPAN, PPE Update In line with the National COVID-19 Aged Care Plan, residential aged care providers should also maintain a worker register that records which of their employees work across multiple settings or lives with someone who does. Understanding this information is critical for contact tracing purposes. Further support for workers and employers is available through the Guiding Principles Support Hub website or hotline on 1800 491 793. | 31 May 2021 |
| Aged Care Laws in Australia The Aged Care Act 1997 is the main law that covers government-funded aged care. It sets out rules for things like funding, regulation, approval of providers, quality of care and the rights of people receiving care. Laws on diversity and discrimination also apply to aged care. | March 2021 |
| 2019–20 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 This report details the operation of Australia’s aged care system during the 2019–20. The report is delivered to Parliament by the Minister in accordance with section 63-2 of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act). | March 2021 |
| Aged Care Diversity Framework The Aged Care Diversity Framework aims to make sure our aged care services are respectful and inclusive. All people have a right to quality care, no matter their social, cultural, language, religious, spiritual, psychological, medical or care needs. | March 2021 |
| Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final Report | 26 February 2021 |
Aged Care Solutions Expert Advisory Group
In response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final Report, the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) established the Aged Care Solutions Expert Advisory Group (EAG). The EAG is made up of leading gerontological nursing specialists and academics from across Australia, who provide expert guidance and a robust evidence base for system-wide reform in aged care.
In addition to the work of the EAG, members also work across the three sub-committees, devoted to areas most in need of reform: Workforce, the Aged Care Act, and Aged Care in the Community.
Through the EAG, ACN demonstrates its commitment to ensuring nurses are front and centre in clinical governance and leadership, while providing the person-centred, culturally safe and professional care every older person deserves.
Affiliate Partners
ACN is proud to have the following Aged Care organisations as Affiliate Partners. These organisations have made an investment collaborating with ACN to allow their nursing team access to ACN’s broad range of leadership, education, membership and networking opportunities.
An Affiliation with ACN provides your nursing team the opportunity to grow their career and tap into their individual leadership potential.
