diploma of nursing new entry point for DIV2

Hi Denacey,

I hope this is not the case, this is a very unfair way to be told! I have not yet heard of this, but will call my course coordinators tomorrow as I enrol next Wednesday. I myself contacted Vic Uni for info and they did tell me something to the effect that they weren't sure what they were doing for the 2nd year for the part time course as there were going to be some changes and they were not sure they were offering it. They were very vague and almost advised me against it (although I'm glad I was told that at the time) and also I was looking mainly at full time then so I didnt go in to it further. If thats across the board then it would mean the same for me too as I'm about to start part time as you know. In the mean time I will look at ANF website to see if I can find something.... Also, as of July this year if you start a new course then the fees are going to be much higher and a loan scheme is being introduced by the government similar to that of HECS. If all this goes ahead, we may be looking at higher costs and much longer to finishe the course......... I'm going to look in to this now too before I start as I have just recently given up my full time spot which may turn out to be a big mistake considering all this!!

HI Deancey,

No probs, not scared, just in same boat as you so am interested to find out more too. I do have a feeling this may be a Vic Uni thing in terms of what they may be offering in order to reduce the number of courses, etc. From memory they were dropping it from Sunbury next year, is that where you are studying?
The dimploma takes an additional 6 months full time and includes more specialist subject than those covered in cert IV. Part time I would assume 9 - 12 months depending where you study. I believe we are doing Cert IV at RMIT part time in only 18 months because we have much less holidays than others and our course finished mid Dec.
You may be interested to check out the following site: "http://www.health.vic.gov.au/nursing/career/becoming". Considering they only changed the course in Jan 08 to include more subjects covering med endorsement it would be interesting if they have changed it considering the demand for nurses. Also, what would that mean for existing nurses and training??
One more site for you is: "http://www.nbv.org.au/web/guest/courses-division-2" which is the nurses board Vic who governs who is approved to offer courses, etc.
Sorry, one more thing why we are at it - do you know if full med endorsement is included in the "new" cert IV course that we are doing (changed in 08) or is there still additional training we need to do or is the med endorsement courses on offer only for those who completed Cert IV pre 08 change in course?

Cheers.

the cert 4 includes med indorsement however the diploma includes the addition of IV meds.

I am did check out victorian nursing board website last night and they didnt mention anything about it either, so maybe VU will not offer it anymore after this year? who knows, they havent been the most organised place to study with so far. We seem to be getting varied info from all diff people so who knows whats right and wrong.

Hopefully RMIT are a better place to study with. It will be interesting to compare notes

Wow Belinda, great job on the research!!!

OK, so we will still be able to register after our 18 months, phew! Just wondering whether you know the extent of our meds endorsement? I thought (and was told at the interview) that our course includes IV endorsement. Also, if we have to do another subject, can we do this during our 18 months or do we have to do it after?

Thanks again for the info, see you Wednesday :o)

Hi, i'm currently studyin div 2. Started in august last year. We have meds included in the course and yeah pretty soon the diploma will be introduced.. My understanding is that the diploma is so us div 2's can go on and specialise in say mental health or rehab etc. Its more an elective course from my understanding giving you the option to find out MORE about the stuff that really interests you. Hope this helps.

To be completely honest i really don't know. I don't think it includes IV but there is a possibility of it being included because our course is two years part time for div 2 so we wont be doing medication for a while. . I think our teachers are still a bit unsure with all the changes going on at the moment. So don't worry your school isnt the only one confused about the situation hehe.. big changes are happening with nursing and I think its fantastic- it gives us more options without having to do div 1