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Healthy pathway ahead for Indigenous students by David Manning 28 September 2013
I
ndigenous Diploma of Nursing students are set to receive a boost to their clinical skills thanks to a new partnership between Tropical North Queensland TAFE (TNQT) and Townsville based, Murra Innovations Limited. Murra Innovations partners with various industries and training organisations to provide training and employment to long-term unemployed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Project Manager Lisa Rodwell said Murra Innovations had chosen TNQT because of the institute’s reputation for providing quality training in state-of-the-art facilities. “My organisation is quite passionate about making sure we are partnering with a vocational education provider that shares our passion and determination to make changes to peoples’ lives,” Ms Rodwell said. “Many in this group have already attained a dual Certificate III in Aged and Disability Care qualification and were keen to make that next step in their career pathways to become a nurse. “We know that Indigenous nurses are poorly represented in the nursing workforce and that this is an important issue in consideration of the critical role Indigenous nurses can play in improving health service delivery to Indigenous people.”
TNQT Nursing Department manager Tracy Turner said her nursing teachers were looking forward to welcoming the students to the Cairns campus for training. “We are very proud of the state-of-the-art facilities we offer our nursing students and if we can assist 31 Indigenous people achieve their dreams, it will be a
further accolade for our nursing department,” Ms Turner said. “This new initiative of delivering nursing training to Indigenous people outside of our immediate catchment area, further enhances our reputation as TAFE Queensland’s leading provider of vocational education to Indigenous people in Queensland.”
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