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UNDERGRADUATE From Ben’s desk What an incredible year it has been in 2020. A recent meme from Instagram from the online @thedissertationcoach (2020) captures this sentiment well, stating satirically that Historians in 2050 will be writing their entire PhD thesis on specific days of 2020! Within the undergraduate program however, our students and staff have risen to the challenge in the international year of the nurse, and in celebrating our 20 years of excellence as a School. We have much to celebrate as a School. Our students and staff continue to make a tangible difference in the community across so many areas. The Notre Dame Nursing Society (NDNS) students and volunteers have given their time across numerous projects in 2020. Some examples from the second half of the year include the amazing: “Nurturing Future Nurses” Mentoring Program; fundraising for a number of charities such as the Lebanese Red Cross; assisting and coordinating webinars such as the Alumni Insights with Christine Robinson from the RFDS, and ‘Men in Nursing’; coordinating Grad Connect information sessions; promoting RFDS volunteering; creating support networks online for international students; and so much more. We are so proud of all of our student’s efforts in these areas. Our staff continue to connect and lead industry across many projects and initiatives that include the addition of new and exciting online webinars through the Notre Dame website; many staff working clinically across frontline areas; and including ongoing adaption to the online challenges across their courses. In one course this semester, this included the coordination of the combined online webinar with the School of Medicine on the topic of Survivors Teaching Students (STS). Students heard and engaged with survivors of ovarian cancer so that when they go into practice, they can diagnose women sooner, save lives and improve their communication and care during this time. In addition, students engaged with the State Team Leader from the Department of Health who is coordinating the COVID-19 response in WA. Renee De Prazer, a leading registered nurse in WA, engaged with students within a Q&A session about her role and the challenges around risk management; coordinating and communicating in the multidisciplinary team; QI; networking and much more. One student described the session as ‘…possibly the most inspiring hour ever!’. I also want to take this moment to thank all of our staff in the School for their amazing dedication throughout the semester. We have such an amazing team across the School that includes our permanent academic staff; sessional staff; clinical team and Clinical Facilitators; and our hard working admin team. Many staff have worked extensive hours during the semester to ensure the high quality of teaching and learning, which was recently reflected in our excellent government QILT results, placing us within the top two Schools of Nursing & Midwifery in the country. Finally, as our recent graduates head into industry, we want to acknowledge how proud we are of your achievements. We know you will make an incredible difference to people’s lives as Registered Nurses. We all feel it has been an incredible honour to have been part of your learning journey, and we hope you have been ‘… profoundly challenged, unsettled, pushed and skilled in the hope that you might think differently and better when you graduate’ (Phillip Darbyshire). Thank you also to our graduating students for being role models to our continuing students during these challenging times. We hope you can stay connected with us as a School, and as a University through the Alumni team as a new graduate. Please link into our Alumni Perks program here notredame. edu.au/alumni/alumni-perks . We wish you all the best as you commence your new adventures and continue to make a difference in people’s lives. Dr Benjamin Hay Undergraduate Program Coordinator 2 NOTRE DAME SCHOOL OF NURSING & MIDWIFERY Professional placements The Professional Practice Team have been working closely with industry partners to secure as many placements as possible, in particular for our first and second year students unable to attend prac in semester one. Well done to all students who managed to complete mandatory requirements training to be eligible to attend prac. We know it was particularly difficult to access courses with lockdown and then social distancing requirements. A big shout out to our senior students who are giving back to our community by helping in a voluntary capacity restocking shelves and assisting with general duties at Jandakot and Broome bases with the RFDS. It is such a busy time for them and RFDS flight nurses are very grateful! It is so lovely to see the Notre Dame community spirit alive and well. Though the pandemic continues to present challenges for placements exciting opportunities exist as well! The ability to conduct Clinical Facilitator education in modules and via Zoom has seen more CF staff able to attend which will hopefully result in improved quality facilitation and support of Notre Dame nursing students in the clinical setting. The recent changes in our global community have opened up access to numerous online learning opportunities and we hope students have been utilising this free training to expand knowledge in areas of public health, infection prevention and management and evidenced based care of our patients and residents in this different world. The NDNS Clinical Liaison Student Representative, Jo Masinovic, has worked tirelessly with the PPT to ensure student concerns and questions are managed appropriately and promptly. We are so appreciative of Jo’s hard work and wish to acknowledge her outstanding efforts, along with the NDNS, in supporting the student body during this challenging year. The PPT commit to continue to work in partnership with our students as we head toward prac commencement and wish each and every one of you a successful placement experience. Chris Adams Professional Placements Coordinator nursing.professionalpractice@nd.edu.au