RN, EN & TVET Student Placements

RN, EN & TVET student placements

Every year St Vincent’s Hospital Network in Sydney will host over 600 clinical placements per year for nursing students, including Bachelor of Nursing students; Diploma of Nursing students and also students studying Health Services.

St Vincent’s Hospital is committed to supporting nursing education and learning and provide opportunities for clinical placements in a variety of our acute, subacute and specialty clinical areas. Within all placements at St Vincent’s Hospital you will work alongside and be supervised by experienced and dedicated nursing staff.

Clinical placements are all managed through a NSW Health system called Clinconnect. All requests for student placements must be made through Clinconnect by the Education Provider (e.g. university or TAFE). We are unable to host nursing/health services students for clinical placements outside of this system.

Information for Placements:

If you are confirmed to attend clinical placement at St Vincent’s Hospital, please ensure you have read the following information and we look forward to seeing you soon for a rewarding placement:

Standard of dress

• University/TAFE/Education provider uniform to be worn (homeless health/community exempt)
• Smart dress required in areas exempt from uniform: jeans, cargos, sneakers and t-shirts are not appropriate
• ID badges with name and photo visible are to be worn at all times
• Hair must be worn off the collar and free from the face
• Facial and ear jewellery are to be limited to a small discreet stud or sleeper
• Bare below the elbows. Limited to one wedding ring band. Coverings on nails (i.e. false nails, shellac, SNS, gel or nail polish), bangles, bracelets or arm bands are not permitted. Wrist watches must be removed for direct patient care
• Extensive or offensive tattoos must be covered
• Shoes must be fully enclosed, non- permeable (i.e. leather or vinyl shoes – cannot be mesh or fabric) with a non-slip sole

Professional and workplace conduct

• Students must comply with NSW Ministry of Health and St Vincent’s Hospital policies at all times while on clinical placement. Failure to do so will result in removal from the clinical placement and the University/TAFE/Education provider will be notified
• Students must be punctual for their shift and only leave the clinical unit at designated breaks. Students are not to organise tours or work in another clinical area unless the facility Clinical Placement Coordinator has approved this first alongside the facilitator
• Shift swaps cannot be organised between students. Under exceptional circumstances it must be referred to the Clinical Nurse Educator of your area who will liaise with the Clinical Placement Coordinator for consideration
• The use of mobile phones or other personal electronic devices is not allowed in clinical areas. All devices are to be switched off and utilised once you have left the clinical area
• Students must comply with the Smoke Free Campus policy. Smoking is not permitted in any area of hospital grounds (including footpaths outside the campus)
• Students or facilitators are not authorised to organise ‘make up’ time during the placement. This is organised through the university via ClinConnect
• Sick leave- if you are sick you need to ensure contact the following:
  • University/TAFE/Education Provider facilitator
  • Clinical unit
  • Clinical Placement Coordinator- text your name and clinical unit to 0459 870 700

Mandatory Training

As per the Guidelines for Clinical Placements in NSW Health (GL2016_02) all students due to commence a clinical placement must complete mandatory training. This mandatory training is in the form of eLearning modules on the NSW Health Learning Management System (My Health Learning).

Students will be given access to My Health Learning from 2 weeks prior until 2 weeks after clinical placement