Attending a workplace experience or clinical placement is an exciting part of your program. These health-related placements let you experience what it’s like to work as a professional in real-life workplace settings and are an integral part of your learning.
Please expand and review all the Preparing for placement tabs for specific and detailed information about your health-related placement. Further Additional information is included below.
All students completing health-related programs* must meet the mandatory NSW Health Student Compliance requirements for:
You will only be able to attend a placement within a NSW Health Facility after you have met these requirements and NSW Health have verified your evidence.
It is your responsibility to meet these requirements and to maintain your compliance throughout your course. If you do not meet or maintain these requirements, you may be prevented from attending a future placement.
Collating evidence can take some time; for some students it may take several months to complete the requirements, it is important that you start now.
NSW Health recognise the time it can take and allow a “temporary compliance” period of six months for any student that meets the “minimum requirements”. If you fall into the “temporary compliant” category you will be able to attend a placement whilst you finalise meeting all the requirements (e.g., complete your Hepatitis B vaccination regimen).
The following steps outline how you can meet the mandatory NSW Health Student Compliance requirements. Whilst it is recommended that you start collating your evidence 2-3 months before commencing, you can only finalise collating your evidence after you have enrolled as your UOW student ID card is a required component.
1. Download the NSW Governments Vaccination Record Card for Health Care Workers and Students (PDF) (please ensure you use the current version from this link as older versions will not be accepted). This card details the vaccinations that are required. Take this card to your GP to complete, ensuring they sign and practice stamp all entries made.
2. Collate evidence of your vaccinations. The best evidence is a copy of your Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).
If your full immunisation history is not available on your immunisation history statement, review the detail on the Student Compliance Web page, in particular “What evidence do I need?” and “What constitutes evidence?”
Full COVID-19 vaccination evidence is mandatory. Acceptable evidence is either a copy of your immunisation history statement OR a copy of your COVID-19 digital certificate OR an approved NSW Health medical contraindication form. Any vaccination evidence must detail dates of all doses received and the name of vaccine received (e.g., Pfizer). International students should follow the Services Australia guidelines to obtain appropriate evidence.
If you have not received all your required vaccinations, discuss the options of receiving these ASAP with your GP.
3. Collate evidence of your immunity status. Some vaccinations require a blood test and serology report to confirm your immunity (e.g., Hepatitis B). If your GP documents serology results on your Vaccination Record Card for any vaccination (i.e., Hepatitis B, MMR, Varicella or TB), you must also provide a copy of the serology report/s as evidence. Some serology (e.g., Hepatitis B) can only be provided if it was taken at least 28 days after your last age-appropriate dose of the vaccine.
Minimum Requirements: If you have evidence of at least one (1) dose of Hepatitis B vaccine (but not all) and meet ALL other requirements, you meet the minimum requirements and will be verified as Temporary Compliant.
Temporary compliance allows you to attend a health-related placement whilst you finalise the Hepatitis B regimen. Temporary compliance expires after 6 months.
4. Download each of the following NSW Health forms and answer ALL questions. Personally sign each document as electronic signatures will not be accepted:
Links to all of these documents are included on the Student Compliance Web page.
5. All students (both local and international) must provide a valid Australian National Police Certificate (NPC). A valid NPC is one that is:
If you are planning to do a health placement within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), it is recommended that you obtain your NPC through either NSW Police or the Australian Federal Police (and not a listed ACIC accredited body). ACT Health have slightly different requirements.
Once verified by NSW Health, all NPCs are valid for five (5) years from their purchase date. NPC’s must remain valid for the duration of your program.
Disclosable Outcomes: If your NPC contains any disclosable outcomes (i.e. a charge or conviction), you must also independently apply for a Clinical Placement Clearance; the application process is detailed on the Student Compliance Web page. Please contact your placement coordinator for assistance.
International Students: If you are an international student, you must also provide either:
6. A photocopy / PDF copy of your UOW student ID card must be provided (this is only available after you have commenced at UOW)
Use this quick checklist to self-assess your readiness for NSW Health to verify you as being compliant (or temporary compliant).
a. Student Undertaking / Declaration (Appendix 6)
b. Tuberculosis (TB) Assessment Tool (Attachment 7)
c. Blood Borne Virus (BBV) declaration – Medical students only*
d. Code of Conduct Agreement
SONIA is the UOW Student Placement System; an online portal for all things related to placements. Once you have commenced at UOW you will be granted access to SONIA. Instruction on how to upload your evidence can be found in the How to upload “check” evidence and how to navigate the Check Tab within SONIA guide (PDF).
Your evidence will be checked by the UOW Verification Team before it is sent to NSW Health to be verified.
NB: If there is a need for you to re-upload and / or correct some evidence, you will be sent an email to your UOW mail address requesting the same. It is important that you follow up on these requests as soon as possible.
Further information can be found from the FAQ’s - NSW Health Student Compliance and verification (PDF) or from the UOW Verification Team uow-verification@uow.edu.au
Health placements provide students with an opportunity to work in clinical practice in a variety of settings across the three years of the degree and gain real-world experience in preparation for registration as a nurse. All information regarding the Workplace Experience (WPE) placement component of your program can be found on the Sonia Placement System and further information regarding this will be explained within your WPE subjects.
To understand when you will be attending workplace experience, please consult the School of Nursing WPE Calendar (2022 Calendar (PDF)). This highlights for each year the learning and teaching blocks and the dates for WPE. Please note where there are pattern allocations for WPE placement, this will be allocated by the school of nursing and you will receive information regarding this via SOLS and emails.
Detailed placement information will be provided at your orientation.
Once you have enrolled in your placement subject, instructions on how to use the placement system (SONIA) and what to expect from placement will be discussed in your subject lectures.
All information regarding the Workplace Experience (WPE) placement component of your program can be found on the Sonia Placement System and further information regarding this will be explained within your WPE subjects.
The UOW Nursing student uniform has been specifically designed to meet the NSW Health Uniform Policy (PD2019_012) requirements as well as UOW standards.
The UOW Nursing student uniform consists of:
In keeping with infection control measures, you are required to wear a freshly laundered set of scrubs each day whilst on placement. As placements can vary between two and five weeks in duration, you will need to have a sufficient number of Scrubs to meet these requirements. We suggest a minimum of two sets of scrubs.
To try on your new scrubs, you can either go to your campus on the following dates or directly visit the supplier, All Trades Safety & Workwear Supplies, located at 21 Berkeley Rd, Unanderra 2526.
You can purchase your scrubs in store at All Trades Safety and Workwear Supplies or online from the All Trades Safety & Workwear Supplies website.
Continuing 3rd year students wearing the Blue Shirt with pants, etc. are still able to wear this uniform.
| Campus | Date and time |
|---|---|
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Batemans' Bay Call Campus on 4472 2125 |
UOW BB Orientation Session Tuesday 15 February 2022 |
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Bega Call Campus on 6494 7035 |
UOW Bega Orientation Session Tuesday 15 February 2022 Exact times and locations for nursing uniform fittings to be provided on the day. |
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Shoalhaven Call Campus on 4448 0888 |
UOW Shoalhaven Orientation Session Wednesday 16 February 2022 Nursing uniform fitting session after orientation activities (ie.2:00pm). If you are unable to attend Orientation alternative arrangements can be made. |
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South Western Sydney Call Meaghan – 8763 6498 |
Friday 25 February 2022 from 9am to 2pm. |
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Southern Sydney Call Campus on 8536 2000 |
The Nursing uniform fitting dates are as follows: 2nd years 4 Feb from 10am to 1pm 11 Feb 9.30am to 11.30am 1st years 25 Feb 9.30am to 4pm |
|
Wollongong Call Campus on 4221 3555 |
Nursing uniform fittings will be during UOW Orientation Session Dates: Location: Building 41, Room 104 You can also visit our supplier to try on the size range at All Trades Safety & Workwear Supplies, |
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For more details on the UOW Scrub Uniform, how to order and delivery deadlines from, All Trades Safety & Workwear supplier please refer to the UOW Health Placement Website. |
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Inherent requirements are the essential components of a course or unit that demonstrate the abilities, knowledge and skills to achieve the core learning outcomes of the course or unit while preserving the academic integrity of the university's learning, assessment and accreditation processes. The inherent requirements are the abilities, knowledge and skills needed to complete the course that must be met by all students. Please review the inherent requirements.
All students and clinical supervisors need to read the WPE Handbook as this outlines the requirements for WPE placements and has information on how to manage many issues and challenges as they arise.
A copy of the WPE Handbook is available within SONIA (from the Home tab).
Other resources, including a copy of the relevant Workplace Assessment Tools, will be made available via SONIA to both students and clinical facilitators once placements (and students) have been allocated.
Students and clinical supervisors can access SONIA through the link below:
The University has in place policies and practices which outline what is expected of you whilst you are on your placement.
If you have any difficulties whilst on your placement, please contact your relevant placement coordinator for assistance.
Please view the policies and practices which apply to students when on placement.
SMAH Student Placement Team (SPT)
Phone: (02) 4221 3338
Email: smah-placements@uow.edu.au
Subject coordinator of the relevant subject
Refer to the Subject Outline for contact details
Nursing WPE Support Line
Phone: 4221 3338