Nursing students fear graduation delays amid university course issues

Nursing students at the University of Notre Dame in Western Australia are expressing frustration and anxiety over potential delays to their graduation. The university recently admitted it had oversubscribed its nursing program, leading to a pause in new enrollments for the next 12 months.

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Everyone was like go to Notre Dame, it's great, you'll get lots of placements. But now a lot of people have been told they'll be delayed to their graduation.

Students like Madison, a 24-year-old third-year nursing student, report that their practical placements have been impacted. Madison's first placement was cut short, leaving her with insufficient hours, and her attempts to make up the time have been unsuccessful. She also cited a lack of transparency and difficulty contacting university administration for answers.

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There's been no transparency, no open disclosure. It's very hard to get in contact with the uni. If you email them, you might be waiting a month to get a response.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) WA secretary, Romina Raschilla, predicts that the paused intake at Notre Dame could lead to a significant shortfall of approximately 1,000 nurses in Western Australia by 2029-2030. This projected shortage is expected to impact public and private hospitals across the state. The university, when approached for comment, referred to its previous statement about the course being oversubscribed and had nothing further to add.

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There's approximately 1,000 nurses from Notre Dame that would be graduating, so I think there will be a shortage of about 1,000 in 2029/30. That shortage is going to impact the community, WA's public hospitals and private hospitals. That's going to impact everybody.