The Subfaculty of Nursing at Monash University will provide national leadership in nursing education at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. The elements for a distinguished future are in place and opportunities for innovative developments abound. Cooperative interactions between the schools and centres of the Subfaculty of Nursing and centres and departments in the Faculty of Medicine have the potential for innovative developments in practice, education and research.
Robert Porter
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
After the establishment of the Subfaculty of Nursing, the Faculty of Medicine became the only institution in Victoria charged with the education of both medical and nursing students and one of the few institutions in Australia.
The Subfaculty of Nursing comprises the Caroline Chisholm School of Nursing, the School of Health Sciences and the recently established Centre for Graduate Studies in Clinical Nursing. The two schools and the centre are each headed by a professor of nursing who is in turn responsible to the head of the subfaculty. The office of the head of the Subfaculty of Nursing is currently located on the Clayton campus of the university, and serves as the administrative centre for nursing within the university and the focal point for relationships with the Faculty of Medicine.
The Caroline Chisholm School of Nursing is located on the university's Peninsula campus, about 40 kilometres south of Melbourne. The school has established collaborative links with the Monash Medical Centre, Alfred Hospital, Southern Peninsula Hospital, Kingston Hospital, Mt Eliza Centre, Royal Park Hospital, Frankston Community Health Centre, Mountain District Community Health Centre and the private hospital sector. The school will continue the expansion of postgraduate nursing studies through these links and in collaboration with the Centre for Graduate Studies in Clinical Nursing. The school was closely involved in the establishment of the Institute of Cultural Studies in Psychiatric Nursing at Royal Park Hospital. A number of projects have evolved from this involvement.
The School of Health Sciences is situated in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges at Churchill, 160 kilometres east of Melbourne in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley. It is one of seven schools on the Churchill campus, and since its inception in 1986 has experienced a strong pattern of growth that has continued to be developed and consolidated, largely through its distance education and offshore initiatives.
Offshore activities have meant a significant new direction for the school. Staff visit Hong Kong as part of the twinning arrangement with Hong Kong Polytechnic, which offers the bachelors degree course to registered nurses in Hong Kong. Strong links have been established with the Centre for Rural Health, and a number of joint projects have been funded and developed together with school staff.
The Centre for Graduate Studies in Clinical Nursing is located at the Monash Medical Centre, Clayton campus. It creates a partnership between Monash University and Monash Medical Centre to offer postgraduate award courses in clinical nursing specialties and provides a major focus for research within the subfaculty. The centre's philosophy is that an understanding of nursing is best achieved through the interpretation of experience, thus the education and research programs of the centre are firmly grounded in clinical nursing practice.
Course developments across the subfaculty have been given impetus through the competitive allocation of Monash Development Fund grants over the past two years to projects related to palliative care, mental health and critical care nursing. Major curriculum initiatives are currently being undertaken to implement multi-campus and multi-modal course delivery. This is being achieved through the further development of existing strengths in extended campus and distance education teaching arrangements across the subfaculty.
The subfaculty looks forward to further achievements which are adaptable to emerging community, national and international needs and the growth and development in the areas of cross-campus research and teaching linkages.
Anthony Barnett
Acting head, Subfaculty of Nursing