Anyone studied/studying Nursing in Australian Catholic University(ACU) Melbourne campus? I really need some advice.

Hi Joanne,

I found you on the Whirlpool forum and answered you there but I'll paste it here too so that if anyone else wants to know they can read it too :)

1) Anyone have the full booklist for Bachelor of Nursing? (whether its 2013 or 2014 booklist, because i just need a rough idea which books they are using) I haven't receive it up till now.

For the first semester we had

'Navigating the maze of nursing research' for Inquiry into Health care
"The person, health and wellbeing" for The person health and wellbeing (written by an ACU lecturer)
"Tollefson clinical motor skills" and "Fundamentals of Nursing by Kozier and Erb" for Beginning professional practice
"Fundamentals of anatomy and physiology by Martini" for Biology.

2) May I know which book(s) did you need to use for lectures, tests, exams & etc during year1 sem1? (if only requires 1book, then i still have time to find the others for cheap 2ndhand books)

I only used the Fundamentals of Anatomy and Fundamentals of Nursing. The others were a complete waste of money. The pages we needed from Tollefson clinical motor skills all got uploaded onto LEO (the student portal) so I didnt even need to open that book.

3) Did the lecturers not use textbooks during lectures and ask students to study from which page to which page?

No textbooks during lectures. I never even took mine with me to uni. Just read them at home. The worksheets will specify which pages you need to read :)

4) I notice that Tutorial often comes before Lectures. Actually, how are tutorials conducted? If tutorial first then lecture, then how are we suppose to know which chapter to study first and which part that we don't understand to ask the lecturers during tutorials?

On LEO they will upload worksheets for every class. Print out the worksheets and bring them to class as you will work off them. It doesn't matter which order you do the tutorial/lecture.

5) on the timetable, there are code like "HLSC122_4C_Sem1/T/16" & "HLSC122_4C_Sem1/T/01" I understand that it is the course unit. But what does "T/16" & "T/01" stand for? Is it that same tutorial?

Best way to explain this is: There will be about 500 students needing to attend the same tutorial each week. They can't fit 500 students into one class so they make about 30 of the same class at different times on different days so there is a class to suit everyone. I believe the T stands for 'tutorial' and the number is which class it is, ranging between say 1 and 30. You only need to attend ONE of these classes, not all thirty!

6) Can I attend to the same lecture more than one time? (Just to know which lecturer's teaching style suits me. Btw, if there's any good lecturers that you know from the campus, pls let me know)

You allocate yourself to one lecture but they don't take your name when you attend so you can attend as many as you want. They also upload the lectures to LEO in case you miss them.

7) How much for the Nursing uniform? Is there any other equipment that I need to purchase besides the BP cuff, stethoscope & pen torch? (sometimes they list all those books & equip that are not needed or compulsory to have. I really don't want to waste money on things that will not be using/not needed)

They sell nursing packs at the bookshop for around $40. They contain a (cheap) stethoscope and a manual blood pressure machine (sphygmomanometer).
I would suggest getting a Littman branded stethoscope from medshop.com.au as they are much higher in quality.

You will require a nursing shirt from Andrews Corporate Clothing. I believe they are around $50. http://www.acuclothing.com.au/

All up for equipment/uniform you're looking at about $150-200.

8) I'm aware that ACU has Online lectures called Echo 360. Not all Lecturers use it, right?

All of mine did in first year.

9) Anyone did any clinical placement? It is tiring or fun? I heard you'll have to clean poop and stuff. Would like to heard any experience on placement from you guys.

Aged care placement was horrible. No support from staff, getting all of the shitty jobs no one else wants. Second year should be a lot better!