Bupa announces UQ education deal
Bupa Care Services has teamed up with a leading university to train aged care nurses to become tomorrow’s leaders and managers.
Dr Anthony Tuckett, school of nursing and midwifery, UQ
By Linda Belardi.
Bupa Care Services has partnered with the University of Queensland and Frontline Care Solutions to deliver a new training program to upskill nurses in aged care leadership and management.
The 18-month graduate nurse management program announced today will assist nurses to fast track into senior nursing and management positions.
Emillie McKenna, Bupa’s Human Resources Manager, said the unique tripartite agreement between industry, a leading university and a private RTO, recognised aged care management as a specialist area of nursing.
“We recognised that to grow and develop a workforce of highly skilled clinical leaders and managers in aged care, it was important to partner with a leading university to achieve that,” she said.
The blended program will include a six-month vocational component delivered by Frontline Care Solutions, followed by the completion of a Graduate Certificate in Aged Care Management through the University of Queensland’s school of nursing and midwifery.
The 48 funded places each year will be offered to both new graduates, as well as Bupa’s clinical placement supervisors, to support their development in the area of mentoring, and training and assessment.
Ms McKenna said the overall program follows a ‘lock and key’ design where graduates undertake foundational training with an experienced private provider in aged care education before moving into the more theoretical learning at UQ.
Postgraduate Research Coordinator, Dr Anthony Tuckett from UQ’s school of nursing and midwifery, said the partnership addressed the call from industry and government for skills development and the expansion of courses in aged care management.
UQ’s postgraduate course will be delivered completely online and Bupa’s clinical placement supervisors will also have a choice to complete a Graduate Certificate in either Aged Care Management or Palliative Care.
Tuckett said the new initiative will also help to attract more graduates to the sector and to prepare them for the complexity of aged care management roles.
Bupa’s nursing leadership and management program will accept two cohorts per year, beginning with an intake in August 2013.
For further information or to apply go to www.bupa.com.au/aged-care