The GMCT Hepatitis Working Group was established to assist the Ministerial Advisory Committee for Hepatitis in developing strategies for implementing recommendations of the Review into Treatment and Care Services, 2008. The Group has identified that in order to increase the number of people with hepatitis C being treated, the nursing workforce (as the main treatment providers) needs to increase and up-skill. In order to ensure that the workforce has the appropriate training and experience to treat HCV patients, it has been recommended that the nurses participate in accredited courses that will further develop their training.

The AIDS and Infectious Disease Branch NSW Health has provided GMCT with funding for scholarships for nurses in the area of hepatology. The following criterion applies to nurses who wish to apply for the scholarship. Applicants must be:

• Hepatology Nurses who currently have a position in hepatology treatment services (hepatitis C in particular)
• Gastroenterology Nurses who wish to increase their skills in hepatology

The NSW Department of Health offers scholarships to Registered Nurses employed in the NSW public health system taking postgraduate nursing courses. For further information and an application form please see the NSW Health website:

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/scholarships.asp

Alternatively, contact the NSW Health Project Officer - Scholarships directly on:

Tel: (02) 9391 9813 or Email at nscholar@doh.health.nsw.gov.au

Early discussions by the Network's Nurses Working Group led to a rapid consensus that there was a need for professional development and educational opportunities to encourage more nurses (particularly new graduate nurses) into the growing specialty of gastroenterology.

To gauge the likely support for a post-graduate university course for Registered Nurses working in public gastroenterology services, the Network took forward a survey of NSW Area Health Service Directors of Nursing. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and indicated strong support for a university course. As no suitable post- graduate university course existed at the time, the Executive undertook discussions in 2006 with the NSW Chief Nursing Officer, the National Director of Education of the Gastroenterological Nurses College of Australia (GENCA) and the Dean of Nursing, Midwifery and Health and senior lecturers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

The Network established a working party in 2006 in conjunction with the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, UTS to identify the gastroenterology components of the post-graduate course, UTS Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing and to examine the feasibility of individualising subjects for gastroenterology nurses. The course was mapped against both gastroenterology-specific nursing and the GENCA advanced competencies. This led to the introduction of a UTS Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing course with four subjects: a pathophysiology subject, two clinical theory subjects, with gastroenterology components and a professional portfolio subject, individualised for the gastroenterology nurse. This course is now available to Registered Nurses working in gastroenterology services to undertake study from 2007.

Further details about the UTS Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing are available online at:

http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/nmh/pg/c11201.html#F26

Nurses who wish to find out more may contact the course co-ordinator:

Christopher Gordon
Course Coordinator
Graduate Certificate of Acute Care Nursing
Lecturer
Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health
UTS
Tel: 9514 5739
Mobile: 0418 602 816
Fax: 9514 5049
Email: christopher.gordon@uts.edu.au
General Enquiries phone: 9514 5021 or 5202
Faculty Student Office fax: 9514 5513
(Prospective students)