Clinical placement information
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ACN delivers a NMBA approved re-entry to practice program and a bridging program which includes a clinical placement and assessment against the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice/Enrolled Nurse Standards for Practice.

Nurses undertaking the program are registered students with the NMBA and must provide a letter of referral from the NMBA to be eligible to enrol in the program.

ACN is unable to offer clinical placements for nurses wishing to update clinical skills or meet regulatory requirements such as conditions on registration.

ACN will organise, coordinate and arrange all clinical placements. Clinical placements take significant time to arrange and due to health facility requirements must be organised by ACN.

This means that no student is to approach a facility to negotiate or arrange their clinical placements.

ACN will make every effort to secure you a clinical placement as close as possible to the home or work address that you have provided us. Where it is not possible to arrange a suitable placement ACN will liaise with you to arrange a suitable alternative.

Clinical placements occur during a Monday – Friday working week. Shift times vary and are facility dependent, you will be advised of these details.  Please ensure you keep your contact details current as these are the details we use to arrange your placement and contact you. If we are unable to contact you then you risk missing important information and being unable to meet your course requirements.

Clinical placement contacts

N.B. Clinical placement staff are not part of the academic staff and therefore if you have questions about your assessments or course content please ask your tutor or the course co-ordinator.

Clinical placement requirements

Each Australian state and territory has it’s own clinical placement documentation requirements. Please ensure you upload the specific documents required by the state/territory in which your clinical placement is located. Failure to do so by the due date will result in your clinical placement being cancelled and you risk withdrawal from the units of study. Any costs associated with clinical placement including obtaining the correct documentation, uniform and travel costs are your responsibility.

Below is the all the information and links required for you to be clinical placement compliant. Please take time to review the requirements of the state in which your placement is located and apply for the necessary paperwork promptly as it may take up to 6 weeks to receive.

When applying for your police check please ensure you include your married name, maiden name and any other alias as appropriate.

ACT

Australian Capital Territory

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

  • Working with Children Check – it is a requirement of ACN that all students undertaking clinical placement hold a current Working with Children Check
  • National Police Certificate issued through a State/Territory Police service, OR;
  • Australian Federal Police Check

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles, Mumps and Rubella
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Tuberculosis (Mantoux test and chest x-ray)
  • Varicella
  • Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis

Other requirements:

NSW

New South Wales

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

  • National Police Certificate issued through a State/Territory Police service, OR; *
  • Australian Federal Police Check, OR; *
  • NSW Health Clinical Placement Authority Card, or conditional letter issued by NSW Health
  • Working with Children Check – it is a requirement of ACN that all students undertaking clinical placement hold a current Working with Children Check

For international students you will also need:

  • Students who are not Australian citizens nor hold permanent resident status needs to provide a criminal record check from their country of origin and any country they have resided in since the age of 16 or older in additional to their Australian criminal record check for the compulsory NSW Health compliance screening OR;
  • Alternatively students have to complete a statutory declaration signed in front of a judicial officer declaring that they have no criminal convictions or offences against children in any county prior to entering Australia

Health Screening/Vaccination Requirement:

More information about the NSW Health Occupational Assessment, Screening and Vaccination Policy Directive can be found here.

Other requirements:

You may find these videos helpful in explaining the NSW health requirements.

NT

Northern Territory

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (maximum of 6 months from commencement date of clinical placement):

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Polio
  • Diphtheria/Tetanus
  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles/Mumps & Rubella
  • Varicella Zoster (Chickenpox)
  • Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Hepatitis A*
  • Tuberculosis*

​Other requirements:

QLD

Queensland

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

  • National Police Certificate issued through a State/Territory Police service, OR;
  • Australian Federal Police Check
  • Working with Children Check – it is a requirement of ACN that all students undertaking clinical placement hold a current Working with Children Check

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles,Mumps and Rubella
  • Tuberculosis (Mantoux test and chest x-ray)
  • Varicella
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis*

​Other requirements:

SA

South Australia

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Polio
  • Diphtheria/Tetanus
  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles/Mumps & Rubella
  • Varicella Zoster (Chickenpox)
  • Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
  • Hepatitis C
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Hepatitis A*
  • Tuberculosis

​Other requirements:

TAS

Tasmania

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles, Mumps and Rubella
  • Tuberculosis (Mantoux test and chest x-ray)
  • Varicella
  • Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis
  • Influenza (yearly)

​Other requirements:

VIC

Victoria

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 12 months old):

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles, Mumps and Rubella
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Hepatitis A
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Tuberculosis (Mantoux test and chest x-ray)
  • Varicella
  • Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis

​Other requirements:

WA

Western Australia

National Police Check / Criminal History Screening and Working with Children Check (must be less than 3 years old):

Health Screening / vaccination Requirement:

Evidence of immunisations and serology for the following:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Measles, Mumps and Rubella
  • Influenza (yearly)
  • Tuberculosis (Mantoux test and chest x-ray)
  • Varicella
  • Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis*

​Other requirements:

Western Australian students completing the Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Health Nursing

  • Students from both the Metropolitan and Rural and Remote areas of Western Australia will need to complete a Pre-clinical Skills Workshop at Curtin University as a pre-requisite prior to undertaking clinical placement in that state. If students can provide evidence that they have already had training and are deemed competent in clinical skills pertaining to Physical Assessment; Developmental Assessment; and Growth Assessment of Children/Adolescents, this may be accepted in place of the pre-skills workshop. This evidence has to be presented to Curtin University’s Clinical Placement team for assessment.
    More information about the clinical skills workshop can be found by following this link: https://payments.curtin.edu.au/PRECLINICAL_19021.
    N.B. You can enrol into our course before completing this workshop but please be aware that clinical placement may be delayed if this pre-requisite has not been completed.
  • All students, attending clinical placement in New South Wales public facilities and residing in New South Wales metropolitan location, need to attend the bulk compliance session at ACN Sydney Office. Students have to present their original National Police Certificate/Australian Federal Police Check to corresponding ClinConnect coordinator in person as part of the compulsory compliance screening.
    If you are required to attend this then you will be contacted by the clinical placement officer following enrolment. (NSW only)
  • *Hepatitis A screening and vaccination is necessary for student health care workers who will be living or making frequent visits to remote Indigenous communities in SA, NT, WA, VIC & QLD and all medical students. It is also recommended for students in childcare and preschool settings and carers of people with intellectual disabilities.
  • Students who have lived in a Hepatitis B endemic country for at least 3 month are required to have serology that includes hepatitis B surface antigen prior to vaccination
  • Information regarding immunisation compliance

If you are having issues trying to locate the required PDF forms through CNnect, please download the PDF file needed below and email it to clinicalplacement@acn.edu.au.

Clinical placement uniform

  • Black or navy trousers/pants/skirt (skirt must be knee length and allow for movement)
  • White short sleeved collared shirt
  • Black or navy closed in shoes with covered heel, heel no higher than 3cm. Crocs and/or clogs are not acceptable.