It was a landmark moment for education in Lithgow when 14 University of Western Sydney nursing students attended their first class in Lithgow on Wednesday.
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The students are the first to commence their Bachelor of Nursing in Lithgow, starting with a full day of Clinical Practicum studies.
UWS began offering courses in Lithgow in 2014 through UWSCollege and 2015 is the first time that direct enrolment into a Bachelor degree has been offered at the Lithgow campus.
The campus is housed in the heritage listed Charles Hoskins Memorial building and has been completely refurbished for teaching.
The Bachelor of Nursing is offered by the UWS School of Nursing and Midwifery.
One room has been dedicated to nursing and has been refurbished to resemble a hospital, complete with beds, medical ducting, mannequins and nursing equipment, providing the students with real life practices.
The new fit out duplicates current Clinical Practice Unit (CPU) spaces and offers all of the internet technology of a new teaching space (with a few extras to facilitate distance teaching).
There are currently 14 students enrolled in Lithgow with teaching occurring on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The class is composed of both local students and those travelling from elsewhere to complete their studies.
“We enrolled almost 1400 first year nursing students this year,” UWS’ Professor Rhonda Griffiths AM, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery said.
“We’re trying to increase the access people who want to do nursing have to tertiary courses.
“While we have a good cover of the Sydney basin, we wanted to take the course out of the city to increase the cover in regional areas where people don’t necessarily have that access.
“It’s very difficult for a mother with children who wants to study nursing to travel to a campus in Hawkesbury, for example, to do the course,” she said.
Maxine Veale and Anna Maceri are teaching the theory units and a casual academic (Christine Haley) has been engaged at Lithgow for Professional Practice Experience 1 and to oversee the smooth running of the CPU and to offer front line support to the new students.
On completion of their first year of studies, students will then move on to another campus to complete their second and third years.
UWS is dedicated to providing tertiary education opportunities to the residents of the Lithgow Local Government Area.
“We’re aiming to give people in Lithgow options for tertiary education that they didn’t have before,” Prof Griffiths said.
“Prospective students are likely to already be working at health facilities in Lithgow.
“We want to educate people for those facilities, and to train people for the various health services in Lithgow,” she said.
UWSCollege Lithgow campus can also be contacted directly on (02) 6354 4511 or visitors can drop in to the Student Centre, located at 154 Mort Street, Lithgow, between 10am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
