Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice

The Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice provides students with the skills and the opportunity to extend their nursing knowledge in an area of specialty transfusion practice. It aims to improve the transfusion safety and appropriate use of blood and blood products within hospitals. The foundation of the work is the translation of national best practice guidelines into everyday transfusion practice.

The Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice is a part-time, four subject online program of one years duration administered by The University of Melbourne School of Nursing and coordinated by Melbourne Consulting and Custom Programs. The course is delivered in partnership with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service under the auspices of the Blood Matters: better safer transfusion (BeST) program and the Department of Human Services Victoria.

The program is conducted by an experienced nurse educator and is the only online Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice course in the Southern Hemisphere.
For a history of this program please click here

Objectives

Upon successful completion the student will obtain a Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice from The University of Melbourne which enables them to conduct safe, appropriate and effective transfusion practice of blood and blood products. It will provide them with the framework to effectively contribute to achieving best practice hospital transfusion across health services.

The course aims to:

Assist students to develop skills and attitudes that enable them to initiate and accommodate change within the specialty area of Transfusion Medicine;
Inform participant's knowledge of international best practice, theory, policy and trends emerging around transfusion practice;
Develop thinking skills, problem solving, critical/analytical inquiry in relation to transfusion practice and determine the need for practice change;
Develop a high level of communication and educational skills to complement the resource aspect of the transfusion improvement role;
Develop critical self-awareness to enable self-monitoring of performance and initiate self-education when required.

Graduate Attributes

Source, coordinate and deliver educational information
Motivate other health care professionals to implement policy
Analyse data and present persuasively the outcome and implication to relevant stakeholders
Present at workshops on the latest evidence and the implications for current practice

Entry Requirements

All applicants must demonstrate that they meet the following minimum entry requirements

An undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification in medicine, nursing, an allied health profession, science or social science which is recognised by The University of Melbourne as evidence of adequate preparation for the course,

You must have at least five years of documented relevant work experience.

Students must also be employed in an appropriate clinical environment and have the support of their employer to facilitate completion of specialty clinical competencies.

Pathways

Pathway for the Graduate Certificate in Transfusion Practice click here

Course Fee

$2,000 per subject (GST exempt).

Applicants may be eligible for a Department of Human Services Victoria scholarship The scholarship is available to Victorians only and is provided to encourage individuals interested in taking up a transfusion improvement role in the Victorian public health system. The scholarship provides 75 percent of the course fees (GST exempt). Further information on the scholarship application process is available from the Blood Matters program secretariat Lisa.Stevenson@dhs.vic.gov.au

Course Structure

To satisfy the requirements of the Graduate Certificate of Transfusion Practice students will need to complete 4 x 12.5 point subjects thereby accumulating a total of 50 points.

360905 - Fundamentals in Transfusion Practice (12.5 points)

360904 - Quality within Transfusion Practice (12.5 points)

360903 - Transfusion Practice - Advanced Concepts (12.5 points)

360906 - Transfusion Specialty Practice (12.5 points)

Delivery Mode

The content for the three theory subjects will be delivered in two ways:

1.Text based Distance Learning Packages delivered via a web-enabled Learning Management System (LMS) called Moodle

2.Video presentations (sent out on CD) and the accompanying PowerPoint presentation notes (downloadable in pdf format via the LMS)

The practical Transfusion Specialty Practice subject will be delivered through the use of a clinical practice portfolio.

Online Facilitator

Judy Forsyth
Clinical Nurse Educator

transfusion.practice@mccp.unimelb.edu.au

Course Contributors

For a complete list of course authors,reviewers and presenters please Click here

Evaluation

Standard course evaluation forms for each subject will be sent prior to the end of each semester. Student feedback and evaluations are very important to the ongoing development of our course.

Application Form

The closing date for applications is the 28th February 2010 Click here

Contact Us

For all course enquiries and registering interest, please contact

Kathy Griffiths
Project Manager

Melbourne Consulting and Custom Programs
The University of Melbourne
Level 3, 442 Auburn Road
Hawthorn, Vic 3122 Australia

T: +61 3 9810 3174
F: +61 3 9810 3149
E: transfusion.practice@mccp.unimelb.edu.au

Melbourne Consulting and Custom Programs

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