Clinical placements

The pre-registration courses at Sydney Nursing School involve significant participation in off-campus clinical placements. You will complete more than 900 clinical hours during your degree. Before each clinical placement you will practise your skills in our clinical labs and high fidelity simulation wards. Clinical placement sites include private and public hospitals, mental health services, community health centres and schools. The majority of clinical placements occur within the Sydney metropolitan area. You will also be required to undertake some clinical placements in rural NSW or interstate. NSW Health offers rural placement grants to assist nursing students with travel and accommodation costs associated with rural placements. You will also need to be available to undertake shift work and clinical placements throughout university holiday periods.

The clinical program

Your pattern of clinical placements is based on your degree. For more information please look at the Student Calendar along with the study pattern information for your degree:

• Study patterns for the Bachelor of Nursing (Advanced Studies)
• Study patterns for the combined degrees
• Study patterns for the Master of Nursing (Graduate Entry)

Before you start placements

The majority of clinical placements we offer are with NSW Health. If you are enrolled in a pre-registration degree you should read the information and follow the preparation required by NSW Health. They require you to present the following documentation (plus a photocopy) on the first day of each placement:

1. University of Sydney Student Card (please blackout Visa card number on photocopy)
2. National Police Certificate
3. NSW Health Adult Vaccination Record Card (handed out at enrolment and spare copies at Clinical Placement Services)
4. NSW Health – Form 2 Tuberculosis (TB) Assessment Tool
5. NSW Health – Form 3 Student Undertaking/Declaration
6. NSW Health Code of Conduct Form
7. Commission For Children and Young People Student Declaration Form

NOTE: Overseas students also need a Police Certificate (with English translation) from your home country and/or a Statutory Declaration.


All students must also present the following documentation to Clinical Placement Services before they are allocated a clinical placement:

1. NSW Health Student Undertaking
2. Sydney Nursing School Compliance Check Sheet

Uniforms

You are required to wear a University of Sydney uniform when on clinical placements. These are available from the Course Collateral eStore.

Allocation of placements

You are allocated placement sites on the basis of your semester address, so please make sure your address details are up to date in ‘My Uni’. Sites are booked on the basis of learning and teaching outcomes for each unit of study and the capacity for places available within the health system. This means that you may need to travel up to two hours each way to attend your placement. You are given an opportunity to swap placements with other students in the same unit of study. (Please note only site swaps are allowed, not ward or roster swaps.) Expect to do at least one rural placement in the course of your degree.

Rosters for each placement

Rosters vary for each site and you will be expected to fit in with the needs of the nursing unit where you are placed. Shifts are generally eight hours a day from Monday to Friday. Please plan ahead for your clinical placements, so that you have the time and money to undertake each designated placement. Completion of your clinical hours at the allocated site is a compulsory part of your unit of study. Failure to complete a placement satisfactorily will impact on your progression within your degree.

Communicating information about clinical placements with SONIA

Placements are allocated and tracked through a specialised database called 'SONIA'.

• You'll find a link to SONIA on the right hand side of the Current Students page of our website.
• Select Sydney Nursing School and click GO.
• Use your Unikey and Password to log into SONIA.

You can log in to SONIA to get information about each placement, rosters, and site details. Other information and forms are often uploaded to SONIA as well. Please check SONIA regularly, especially when you are due to begin a placement in six weeks or less. You will also receive emails with additional information when necessary. Please make sure you check your University email address regularly, otherwise you may miss important deadlines.

Help and information on clinical matters

If you have concerns about the allocation of a placement, or the logistics of undertaking a placement, please contact:

Clinical Placement Services
Counter: A3.07 12–2pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday
T +61 2 9351 0518
E

The team will respond to enquiries to these central contact points within three working days.

Central contact point for issues and incidents that occur while you are on placements:

Dr Jennifer Hardy (Clinical Education Academic)
T +61 2 9351 0609
E

Some placements will also have facilitators who visit you regularly on site and are a good first point of contact for any issues.

If you are concerned about the satisfactory completion of a clinical placement, the learning outcomes or your clinical logbook, please contact the relevant unit of study coordinator.

Problems or special requests

If you are sick or away on any day of placement, please notify your supervising RN. If it is before your placement begins, and will affect your attendance at placement, please notify Clinical Placement Services so we can inform your allocated site. Clinical placement is part of your assessment for the unit of study. In case of illness or misadventure, please follow the standard process for special consideration.

If you have a disability, carer responsibilities or other extenuating circumstances that make undertaking placements difficult, please notify Clinical Placement Services before 31 March each year. We will attempt to accommodate your needs, where they are deemed reasonable by the Director (Pre-registration).