The Australian government has underscored its commitment to women’s health through substantial budget allocations. The 2024–25 Budget includes extensive funding for enhancing women’s safety, economic security, and health as part of the national gender equality plan Working for Women (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2024). As an effort to strengthen endometriosis treatment, the government has included subsidies on treatments under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). According to the Department of Health and Aged Care (2025), as of 1 May 2025, medications such as Ryeqo, used in treating endometriosis, will be subsidised, saving women potentially thousands of dollars per year.
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) partners with numerous providers, including Endometriosis Australia and Queensland Health, providing scholarships to train endometriosis specialty nurses, particularly those in remote, rural, and regional communities.
A transformative learning experience
Students in unit 316 Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain, have an experiential learning process that unifies theoretical concepts with practice. The curriculum in the unit discusses the vital characteristics of endometriosis, including its pathophysiology, pain management, diagnostic challenges, and holistic person-centred care interventions. Through the progression of the unit, students are exposed to evidence-based education, critical reflection, and authentic case studies, allowing them to strengthen their clinical thinking and decision-making skills. The goal is to ensure that students are well prepared to translate theoretical knowledge into real-world, person-centred interventions.
Sarah’s journey: advancing rural women’s health
Sarah is a 39-year-old primary care nurse who is the only practitioner in a rural clinic. Her work varies from wound care to health promotion, and she sees people with complicated conditions like endometriosis regularly. She feels professionally isolated and without peer support and wishes to gain higher-level knowledge to help her community. Motivated to enhance her clinical competence further, Sarah applied for and received a scholarship to study ACN’s Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain unit. The 100 per cent online, self-paced delivery of the unit allows her to balance study with her demanding workload. Through the unit, Sarah gains in-depth knowledge of endometriosis pathophysiology, pain management strategies, and person-centred care approaches. The relevance of the unit to contemporary women’s health nursing practice gives Sarah the ability to utilise evidence-based interventions in her clinic. She designs educational materials tailored to her community, which raise awareness of endometriosis. This improves not just individual health outcomes, but also empowers Sarah, making her less professionally isolated by connecting her with a network of other nurses who are also specialised in the field.
Demonstrating learning outcomes
A compelling testament to the effectiveness of this unit is the quality of student assessments, which reflect both their academic growth and their ability to apply learning in practice. One of the assessments is a health educational material. During the term, students have submitted some outstanding work that exemplifies how they synthesise knowledge to create impactful resources for patient education and community awareness.
Empowering nurses, enhancing care
Sarah’s case illustrates how professional training programs and policies of the government can significantly enhance healthcare services, particularly among disadvantaged communities. If you can relate to Sarah or have compassion for assisting women with endometriosis, be part of this study. From here, you can effectively combine knowledge and practice, eventually translating into enhanced health outcomes for women across the country. These collective measures are a visionary step in breaking past constraints regarding women’s health and sending a message that nurses are fully equipped to offer holistic, informed, and compassionate care to women living with endometriosis.
Examples of student assessment submissions
Pelvic pain management pamphlet by Cynthia Pollard
Living with endometriosis pamphlet by Anna Forbes
Learn more about ACN’s Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain unit of study.
This article was originally published in the Winter 2025 edition of ACN’s quarterly member publication The Hive. Members can access all past editions of The Hive on MyACN. Non-members can get a sneak peek by viewing our open-access articles.
Author: Linlin Ho MACN
References
Department of Health and Aged Care. (2025). Government delivering even more choice for women’s contraception, endometriosis, and IVF journeys. Commonwealth of Australia. https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/government-delivering-even-more-choice-for-womens-contraception-endometriosis-and-ivf-journeys?language=en
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2024). Working for women: A strategy for gender equality. Commonwealth of Australia. https://genderequality.gov.au/
