Gain a valuable qualification in nursing, along with a deep understanding of the contributors to population health and the skills needed to help people engage in healthier lifestyles. Deakin’s Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Public Health and Health Promotion allows you to make a difference in health outcomes of individuals, communities and global populations.

Do you want to help people lead healthier lives, across clinical and community settings?

Throughout this course, you will gain a valuable mix of hands-on clinical practice and theory. Clinical placements begin in Trimester 1 of your first year, and continue throughout every trimester of the course, totalling 800 hours. Clinical placements support and consolidate your learning and are undertaken in various metropolitan, regional and rural health care settings, under the supervision of qualified practitioners.

Deakin’s purpose-built clinical simulation centres, simulating real healthcare settings, provide you with the facilities and equipment required to develop practical nursing skills, which are further enhanced through clinical placements.

This combined degree also gives you the specialised education in public health and health promotion. Public health is the organised response by society to protect and promote health and prevent disability. By looking at the patterns of health and disease, public health focuses on the health of populations, rather than at the level of the individual. Health promotion is about working with people to improve their health and creating environments that support health – be they environmental, legal, physical, economic or social.

You will also get the chance to study the foundations of health promotion practice, such as:

• biostatistics
• environmental health
• epidemiology
• health sociology
• planning and evaluation

While you will graduate with a suite of specialised and highly sought-after healthcare skills, you will also leave Deakin instilled with lifelong competencies, such as skills across:

• research
• analytical thinking
• project management
• communication
• community development

In your final year, you will also have the opportunity to build practical industry experience in public health through the Public Health and Health Promotion Practicum unit, giving you 120 hours of real-world experience.

As a registered nurse with public health and health promotion knowledge, you can pursue career opportunities around the world in a range of work settings, including:

• hospitals
• homes
• hospices
• aged care settings
• clinics
• schools
• universities
• community health centres
• government agencies and private industries.

The skills you will develop in the growing public health and health promotion area will qualify you to work in diverse areas, including:

• health education
• health and human services
• public health communication
• health policy development and implementation.

Your knowledge of the social and environmental factors that affect the health of individuals and populations will prepare you for a career in a range of clinical and community settings, such as:

• public health
• schools
• rehabilitation
• health education
• voluntary organisations
• patient support agencies
• working abroad.