Inherent requirements for Nursing courses

These inherent requirements apply to the Bachelor of Science (Nursing) and the Master of Nursing Practice (Graduate Entry).

Two nursing students standing next to a bed with an artificial patient

Why are inherent requirements essential for studying this course?

The Nursing courses at Curtin University are professionally accredited and graduating students will need to meet the requirements of the professional body to register to work in this profession. Students should be familiar with the requirements set out by the following accrediting bodies which may impact their progression throughout their studies and in entering the profession:

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) helps protect the health and safety of the Australian Community through its role as the external accreditation entity to assess and accredit nursing and midwifery programs.

Visit the ANMAC website

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia works to ensure that Australia’s nurses and midwives are suitably trained, qualified and safe to practise. Public safety is our priority.

Visit the Nursing and Midwifery Board website

Inherent requirement statements

How to read the inherent requirements

Ethical behaviour

Nursing is a profession governed by codes, guidelines, and policies where practitioners are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional behaviour in all contexts.
Compliance with the codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and/or the people they engage with. This ensures the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the individual is not placed at risk.
Examples:
- Adhere to the applicable Codes, Guidelines and Policies of the Medical Council of New Zealand and other relevant statutory authorities at all times to enable safe delivery of care.
- Adherence to International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics.
- Compliance with the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice, Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics and relevant State and Federal equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation (for Nurse Practitioner students).
- Compliance with the Nurse Practitioner Standards for Practice.
- Comply with professional conduct, confidentiality, and health organisation policies and procedures.
- Adhere to infection control procedures and testing and immunisation requirements.
- Behave ethically at all times including in times of significant stress. Place patient care above own interests and maintain high ethical standards and professional boundaries.
- Meet infection control requirements, and complete medical screening and immunisation checks. Students should consider and discuss pre-existing medical conditions, or effects of ongoing medication, effects on their ability to fulfil the inherent requirements of the course.
- Apply good judgement and achieve timely completion of all responsibilities for the diagnosis and care of patients.
- Respond appropriately to feedback and have appropriate insight and judgements into own abilities, limitations, and health.
- Dress appropriately and safely in the clinical workplace.

Sensory ability

This course requires adequate visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory abilities.

The core requirements of the course will require students to demonstrate the sensory ability in the areas of vision, hearing, smell, and touch for the clinical assessment of patients.
Observational skills including vision, hearing, smell and touch to allow clinical assessment: physical examination, recognising and interpreting sensory stimuli relating to visual colour differentiation, hearing, smell, and touch are core requirements of the course.
Examples:
- Adequate visual acuity in order demonstrate safe practice in clinical labs, simulation and during clinical placements and assessment of patients.
- Adequate auditory ability to demonstrate safe practice in clinical labs, simulation and during clinical placements and assessment of patients.
- Adequate tactile ability to demonstrate safe practice in clinical labs, simulation and during clinical placements and assessment of patients.
- Adequate smelling ability in order demonstrate safe practice in clinical labs, simulation and during clinical placements and assessment of patients.

Strength and mobility

Demonstrated motor skills for the coordination of gross and fine muscular movements are a core inherent requirement of this course.

Gross motor skills

Nursing involves physical demands and requires gross motor function.
Students must demonstrate an ability to perform gross motor skills including positioning, supporting, bending, twisting, pushing, pulling, lifting, carrying equipment and or patients, utilising approved manual handling techniques and available aids.
Examples:
- Maintaining balance while safely mobilising and transferring individuals or resources.
- Able to safely retrieve and utilise stock and equipment.
- Safely perform a physical examination on a patient, including palpation, auscultation, and percussion so that the important and relevant findings are discovered. The examination must be done in a timely manner.
- Perform actions that require coordination of both gross and fine motor muscular movements, equilibrium, and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

Fine motor skills

Nursing is a profession that requires manual dexterity and fine motor skills.
Students must demonstrate the ability to use fine motor skills including being able to grasp, press, pull, push, turn, squeeze, and manipulate objects and individual patients using appropriate techniques.
Examples:
- Safely and effectively perform basic and advanced life support on a patient.
- Use common diagnostic aids or instruments either directly or in an adaptive form (e.g. sphygmomanometer, stethoscope, auroscope, otoscope and ophthalmoscope).
- Provide general and emergency clinical care to patients.
- Safe use of forceps when attending to aseptic non-touch technique procedures such as dressings.
- Safely perform clinical procedural skills.

Cognition

This course requires knowledge of theory and the skills of cognition, literacy, and numeracy.

Knowledge and cognitive skills

Consistent knowledge and effective cognitive skills must be demonstrated to provide safe and competent nursing care.
Safe and effective delivery of nursing care is based on comprehensive knowledge that must be sourced, understood, and applied appropriately.
Examples:
- Process, recall and apply appropriate and relevant information in a timely manner.
- Measure, calculate and reason to analyse and synthesise information.
- Calculate medication dosage accurately.
- Solve complex problems by obtaining, synthesizing, and evaluating appropriate and relevant information.
- Comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures.
- Engage in scientific and clinical reasoning.
- Capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information.
- Ability to process information relevant to practice.
- Ability to integrate and implement knowledge.
- Ability to plan and undertake these plans.
- Ability to organise and manage time and activities.
- The above are consistent with the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice.

Communication

This course requires effective, verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills.

Effective and efficient verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of care.
Effective communication skills are required including speech, hearing, observation, reading and writing. These communication skills are necessary for ensuring coordination and continuity of care and building a strong therapeutic relationship.
Examples:
- Communicate in English accurately and efficiently verbally, in writing and using electronic devices, with patients and members of health care teams.
- Communicate with and observe patients to effectively and efficiently elicit information, describe mood, activity and posture, and perceive and respond to non-verbal communication (such as cues including emotional changes and distress), as well as establish rapport and trust with patients and colleagues.
- Communicate effectively and sensitively with others irrespective of their sex, age, culture, lifestyle, sexual orientation, spiritual beliefs, or disabilities, including patients, families and any member of the health care team and display respect, empathy, and compassion.
- Provide clinical documentation in an accurate, concise, and timely fashion that meets professional standards.
- Understand and participate effectively in educational and clinical discussions.

Reflective skills

This course requires self-awareness and a capacity for reflection and reflexivity to consider the effect of one’s own issues, actions, values, and behaviours on practice.
Students are required to actively engage in clinical reasoning and critical reflection related to practice and other experiences. They must be able to identify their scope of practice and understand the need to practice within their scope, as well as be able to identify when an issue is outside their scope and how to refer the patient to another member of the multidisciplinary team. Students must be aware of their own beliefs, actions and values and behave in a manner that reflects professional practice consistent with a Registered Nurse.
Examples:
- Students should be able to appropriately give and receive constructive feedback especially in the clinical setting and utilise the feedback to improve their practice.
- Students must be able to identify goals and set objectives, particularly for the clinical practice setting, that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely to reflexively improve.
- Accurately reflect on their performance, engage in critical reflection, and reflect on their beliefs, actions, and values.
- Ability to accept feedback and respond constructively.

Relational skills

Nursing requires the ability to use highly developed interpersonal skills and establish and maintain strong relationships with people.
Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain rapport with health consumers, academic staff, supervisors, and peers, and effectively, and empathetically, engage with others Students require the ability to engage and relate appropriately in individual and group settings, including clinical supervision and experiential learning groups in the educational environment. Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain positive professional relationships with other students, school staff and others, and be conscientious regarding how their behaviour and actions impacts upon others.
Examples:
- The above are consistent with the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and may include any or all of the following (not exhaustive):
- Building rapport with a health consumer in order to engage them effectively.
- Using relational and interpersonal skills to manage the therapeutic relationship with health consumers.
- Relating effectively, openly, and sensitively to academic staff, supervisors, peers, patients, and their families.
- Develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients.
- Adapt to changing environments, display flexibility and learn to work effectively when faced with the uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients.
- Display personal qualities of compassion, integrity, concern for others, interest, and motivation.
- Respect personal and professional boundaries.

Behavioural stability

Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively to a nursing role.
This course requires students to demonstrate behavioural stability to work constructively in diverse and changing academic and professional environments. Students will be exposed to situations which are challenging and unpredictable and will be required to have the behavioural stability to manage these objectively and professionally.
Examples:
- The above statement is consistent with the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and may include any or all of the following (not exhaustive):
- Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback.
- Coping with own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with individuals in the clinical setting.
- Tolerate the physical, emotional, and mental demands of the course and function effectively under stress. (i.e. manage own physical and mental health effectively).
- Adapt to changing environments and function when faced with the uncertainties that are inherent in the care of patients.

Sustainable performance

Nursing practice requires both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level.
Students are required to demonstrate a consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner and over time, as well as the ability to perform repetitive activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately.
Examples:
- Participate and complete required tasks in workshops and practicums.
- Demonstrate sustained physical and mental resilience during clinical assessments.
- Demonstrate consistent placement practice over a negotiated time frame.

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