Is anyone here studying Diploma of nursing at Metropolitan south institute of tafe???

Hi,

I have just been accepted to MSIT to do the Diploma of Nursing for the July intake, any advise would be helpful.

Thanks
Sharon

Hi,

I was told yesterday that the timetable would be in there system on Monday 24/05/10 as my employer has to organise my roster for work as i work in aged care on a full time basis. I tried for RPL however the time waiting for someone to call me back was so frustrating i decided to forget it. Lets hope thing are more organised when we start. Did they tell you that we have to do a Literacy & Numeracy test at Oreintation?

Oh you should apply for the RPL. I was approved for it through my Diploma in Childrens services and didn't have to do all the subjects, so it's worth the wait : ) They do come out to your workplace and watch you ect.

Hi Jasmyn,

Yes i am enrolled Part Time and have oreintation at Logan on the 12th July @ 9:30 to 10:30. I dont know what is happening with my RPL as i have given the Customer Service Centre the email this lady sent me, and they were not impressed either so i have probably done my chances as far as that goes as i am now enrolled. Are you studying full or Part time? Can you please let me know what the book list is if you manage to get it , as i would also like to be organised. My home email is gandsharris@bigpond.com

Bye for now

Hi,

Thanks for the info on books, I am better to wait until i get the list from Tafe ie: is there special editions/ authors we need? I am starting to get worried about MSIT as you are not the first to say it was not a good experience. Can i ask if there were a lot of problems, if so with what?

Thanks

Marieb & Hoehn, Brown & Edwards, Crisp & Taylor .. just get the latest editions of everything.. I think text books cost me around $500. Which isn't much when you think about it you use them alot and even when you finish your course and working you still ask the books for advice. If you go on to do RNs they use fundamentals of nursing med-surg and phamarcology so you aren't wasting money.

Administration is a problem. People don't help you out in anything. I know with Uni my boyfriend is studying criminiology, there is always someone he can go too and they can give him advice pretty much straight away .. with tafe they go 'oh, let me just call someone else and see what they have to say' ... that other person is never in there office .. your problem really never gets resolved.. I remember there was a problem with one of my classes. They didn't even enrol me into it!!!! I was about to fail, FAIL the whole course just based on this one class the administration didn't enrol me into.

Anyways my mother always told me if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all and already I have said to much.

I have passed the course though so don't let my negativity stop you. If you are meant to succeed and have the right attitude you will.

Oh yes and always keep reciepts and records of what you have and haven't talked about with the administration department. Always check off what classes you have paid for and are enrolled into too, even down to the course number.

Amadeus, Do you mind me asking you what hospital you did your prac at? Also what other hospitals did other students get?
Thanks for the info on the Tafe I have had trouble with them doing my diploma in childrens services so I have an idea what to expect lol.

Jasmyn,

Hospitals were PA, Logan, St Vincents, RBH, another hospital can not remember the name but it was AGES away thankfully I was not placed there, and nursing homes for sem 1...from memory that is all I can remember.

You don't get to choose where you go and I don't think they really care if you have a car or not. You can swap once with someone else who is willing to swap with you though.

I remember I used to spend 2.5 hours getting back from one of my placements, I fell asleep on the bus and the driver who was a regular driver normally woke me up. There was no trasnport in the morning so my brother offered to help me and pick me up at 5-5.30am everyday for the three weeks.

I know this post is a little old but as no one has answered Jame's questions and he is still yet to actually commence the course I thought I might share some of my experience.

I have just completed the Diploma of Nursing through MSIT (Alex Hills).

1.) The course content is identical between the two campuses. The Logan campus is larger, there are a greater number of students and a more ethnically diverse student body.

The Alex Hills campus is nice and has everything you will need to complete your studies.

The biggest difference for nursing students is that the Logan campus has a brand new prac room which is like a 3 room, 24 bed hospital ward. Alex Hills on the other hand has an older prac room with 6 beds and probably 4 and a half dumbies though it is pretty well stocked with everything you will need. Us Alex Hills students had to go to the Logan prac room for our ENID (practical exam) in semester 2 and 3.

The Logan prac room is pretty and new but there is nothing high-tech about it and there is nothing that will further aid your learning in comparison to what is available at Alex Hills. The library and computer facilities at Alex Hills are newer and a lot nicer than at Logan. Both libraries though have all the books you will need. Logan has a better canteen offering a greater variety of food but the Alex Hills canteen is OK and the coffee is very good.

2.) Living in the Redlands (Alexandra Hills, Capalaba, Birkdale, Ormiston, Cleveland) area would definitely be much nicer than living in Logan. The suburbs surrounding the Logan campus (Marsden, Kingston, Woodridge, Waterford West, Logan Central) are some of Brisbane's worst suburbs. The Logan area generally gets a pretty bad rap but in reality it isn't that bad. There is good access to shopping and infrastructure and there are a lot of parts that are actually quite attractive. And even in the uglier areas of Logan there wouldn't likely be any serious threats to your personal safety.

3.) When my original class first started we had more than 30 students from 17 right through to almost 60. The age distribution would have broken down something like this: | Teenagers- 10% | 20- 30yo- 35% | 30- 40yo- 25% | 40- 50yo - 20% | 50+yo - 5% |

From what I have seen I believe Logan have proportionately fewer 40+yo students. Either way you will certainly not be close to being the oldest and their will certainly be more than a few other students born in the same decade as you. I am a few years younger than you and have made a couple of new good friends who are more than 10 years older than me, a couple of new good friends who are more than 10 years younger than me and a couple of new good friends about my own age.

4.) I believe I read somewhere that 8 or 9% of nurses are male (not sure about that figure, whether it is current or whether it was even for Australia). There are certainly plenty of males studying nursing.

Our class started with more than 30 including 6 males (of which I am one). From that 30 odd probably half had dropped out by the halfway mark and several others have dropped a subject or two and will take 6 or 12 months longer to complete the course. From that original class only 5 people will actually be graduating on-time, including 3 males (of which I am one).

5.) In first semester there was a seperate class full of international students but by third semester there were only a few left and they were combined into our class. At Alex Hills 90% of international students are Nepalese who are lovely.

6.) You only wear uniform on the one day a week when you have your prac class. You also wear the uniform for ENID (practical exams) and while on clinical placement. Of course you could wear it everyday if you like. haha.

7.) Generally three days a week the hours will be 0900- 12000 and 13000- 16000. So two three-hour long classes with an hour break for lunch. Perhaps one day a week you might have an 0800 start or a 1700 finish and you might have one day a week off or certainly at least one day a week where you will have only either a morning or an afternoon class but not both. Some classes may often finish 30 minutes early and there will usually be a short break 10- 20 minutes in the middle of most classes.

8.) You will have at least 10 or 11 weeks of classes and a week off before two weeks with exams and then you will be sent out for a three week placement. The first placement is done in an aged care setting. You may well have a week or two off before you start your two week placement. You won't know your exact placement dates or what facility you will be going to until just before the exam period.

OK. I hope I helped some. If you (or anyone else) have any more queries about anything I would be more than willing to help.

Good luck with the course and your nursing career.