These inherent requirements apply to the following courses:
H326 Bachelor of Nursing
H329 Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership)
D355 Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Midwifery
D381 Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Public Health and Health Promotion
D387 Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Psychological Science
Statement of Commitment
The School of Nursing and Midwifery affirms the rights of all individuals, including those with disabilities, to pursue nursing and midwifery education. The School recognises disability as a valued aspect of diversity and welcomes the unique perspectives, knowledge, and contributions of learners with disability. The School is committed to providing learning environments that are inclusive, accessible, and respectful of all students.
The intent of the inherent requirements is to ensure that students are able to provide safe and quality care during Professional Experience Placements and/or Midwifery Practice Experience and are equipped to successfully complete course requirements. Throughout the Bachelor of Nursing suite of courses, students will be assessed against the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and/or Midwifery Standards for Practice. For this reason, these inherent requirements have been mapped to both the Registered Nurse Standards for Practice and Midwifery Standards for Practice.
These functional requirements reflect the essential capabilities needed to meet the learning outcomes and professional competencies of the courses, with or without reasonable adjustments. They do not prescribe how these capabilities must be demonstrated, and students may use a range of supports, technologies, and strategies to meet these requirements. Reasonable adjustments are determined by feasibility and safety in the clinical context and are negotiated between our clinical partners, students and staff.
Inherent Requirements for the Bachelor of Nursing Suite of Courses
Decription of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Ability to acquire and apply knowledge through diverse learning activities and demonstrate competency via standard assessment methods.
Example in context: Attend seminars and scheduled placements, complete written assessments, engage in online learning, participate in group assignments, present in digital or in-person contexts.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice.
Capacity to engage in a range of learning modalities and to develop and apply critical thinking skills to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for evidence-informed, person-centred, safe, and high-quality nursing practice.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 1: Promotes health and wellbeing through evidence-based midwifery practice.
Capacity to participate in a variety of learning modalities to acquire the knowledge and skills to practice evidence informed woman centred, safe and quality midwifery.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Independently and clearly communicate using verbal, written and non-verbal methods in high-pressure and emotionally sensitive contexts.
Example in context: Participate in clinical handovers, complete documentation, provide patient education, engage with simulation feedback, provide peer feedback, establish rapport and therapeutic connection with patients and contribute to team-based care planning.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 2: Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships.
Communication capacity in a variety of modalities is integral to building and maintaining therapeutic and professional relationships.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 2: Engages in professional relationships and respectful partnerships.
Communication capacity in a variety of modalities is integral to building and maintaining professional relationships.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Sufficient visual and auditory and tactile acuity to accurately perceive and respond to clinical cues, patient needs and environmental alarms.
Example in context: Detect wheezing via stethoscope, reading charts and monitors, recognise patient distress or pain, and identify subtle changes in skin colour or temperature.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 4: Comprehensively conducts assessments.
Standard 5: Develops a plan for nursing practice.
Standard 7: Evaluate outcomes to inform nursing practice.
To conduct thorough and accurate assessments to inform nursing practice and plan and evaluate care.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 3: Undertakes comprehensive assessments.
Standard 4: Develops a plan for midwifery practice.
Standard 6: Evaluates outcomes to improve midwifery practice.
To undertake comprehensive assessment to inform provision of safe and quality midwifery care.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Adequate fine and gross motor skills to safely and efficiently perform clinical procedures and use equipment independently.
Example in context: Administering injections, conducting CPR, inserting IVs, wound care, using a computer or manipulating equipment with two hands.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 6: Provides safe, appropriate, and responsive quality nursing practice.
To deliver high-quality care that is safe, appropriate, and responsive to the needs of patients.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 5: Provides safety and quality in midwifery practice.
To meet the needs of the woman and collaborate to reach agreed goals of care
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Ability to think critically, prioritise, recall and integrate complex information for safe patient care and learning.
Example in context: Clinical reasoning, developing care plans, responding to emergencies, applying theory to practice.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice.
To use a variety of thinking strategies and the best available evidence in making decisions and providing safe, quality nursing practice within person-centred and evidence-based frameworks.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 1: Promotes health and wellbeing through evidence-based midwifery practice.
Requires capacity to translate and apply best evidence informed theory to practice when providing woman centred quality midwifery care.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Capacity for behavioural and emotional regulation, self-awareness, teamwork, empathy and interpersonal sensitivity across diverse and often emotionally charged environments.
Example in context: Engaging with distressed patients or families, contributing in group work, receiving and accepting feedback, maintaining professional decorum. This includes identifying, interpreting and responding appropriately to non-verbal cues, and verbal tone.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 2: Engages in therapeutic and professional relationships
Standard 3: Maintaining capability for practice.
Central to building and maintaining professional relationships with patients, families, and colleagues, while taking accountability for self.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 2: Engages in professional relationships and respectful partnerships.
Fundamental to providing quality midwifery care when partnering with women and health professionals.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Demonstrate ethical conduct, integrity, accountability and respect for diverse individuals and teams, consistent with NMBA codes.
Example in context: Confidentiality, documentation integrity, adherence to professional guidelines and health care agency policy, preparedness to engage in learning opportunities, respectful communication in all settings. This includes being accountable for own behaviours.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 1: Thinks critically and analyses nursing practice.
Focusing on working within legal parameters and professional standards including adherence to the NMBA Standards for the Registered Nurse.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice.
Focusing on working within scope of practice, legal parameters and professional standards.
Description of required ability (with or without reasonable adjustments): Understand and apply safety standards, infection control procedures and emergency protocols appropriate to supervised and delegated responsibilities.
Example in context: Hand hygiene, responding to deteriorating patients, safe medication administration, hazard recognition.
Alignment with Registered Nurse Standards:
Standard 6: Provides safe, appropriate, and responsive quality nursing practice.
Focus is development of the knowledge and skills required to provide safe and quality nursing care.
Alignment with Midwife Standards for Practice (D355 only):
Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice.
Focus is development and maintenance of skills and knowledge to provide safe and quality midwifery care.
Supporting information for students with disability
Who to contact
Disability Resource Centre (DRC) is the primary contact for disability-related questions, supports and accommodations at Deakin.
For clinical enquiries, email the clinical team, who can support you to explore reasonable adjustments that can be made during Midwifery Practice Experience. They can also be reached by phone at +61 3 9244 5445.
Is disclosure required?
Disclosure is not mandatory at the point of application, but early disclosure is encouraged to facilitate timely support.
Impact of disclosure on admission
Disability disclosure does not affect admission. All applicants are assessed on their academic merit and capacity to meet inherent requirements with reasonable adjustments.
What if a student discloses after enrolment?
Students can register with the DRC at any time. Access Plans will be developed for students needing adjustments. If, despite accommodations, a student cannot meet the functional requirements, the course team will explore alternate pathways or supports.
Role of inherent requirements in course progression
Inability to meet these requirements (with reasonable adjustments) may result in non-progression or exclusion, particularly when safety, professionalism, or fitness for clinical placement is compromised.
Legal requirements
Under the National Law, all nursing and midwifery students enrolled in an approved program of study, or who are undertaking clinical training in midwifery, must be registered as a student with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
To protect the public from the risk of harm, registered health practitioners, education providers and employers must make mandatory notifications in some limited circumstances. As per The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), “This is a legal requirement under the National Law. A mandatory notification about a student can only be triggered by concerns about impairment. The National Law defines ‘impairment’ as ‘a physical or mental impairment, disability, condition or disorder (including substance abuse or dependence) that detrimentally affects or is likely to detrimentally affect the student’s capacity to carry out clinical training.”
Students are encouraged to review this document regularly and seek guidance early to ensure they are supported in their learning journey.
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