Should you drive past La Trobe University’s Shepparton campus in the next 18 months, expect to be greeted by racketing jackhammers and fluorescent visions.
Have no fear, it’s all part of the plan.
Construction has begun on the campus’s $20 million redevelopment project to improve the site, specifically the library and nursing and allied health facilities.
In the meantime, a new nursing laboratory and teaching space has launched in Corio St, Shepparton.
La Trobe Shepparton nursing students converged in front of the Corio St hub on Monday, August 7 to commemorate its opening, beginning with a Welcome to Country by First Nations Elder and proud Yorta Yorta man Michael Bourke.
Those attending the ceremony were invited to “get washed in the smoke” of eucalyptus and native plants as Mr Bourke performed a cleansing, before Shepparton head of campus Elizabeth Capp spoke about La Trobe Shepparton’s new and exciting chapter.
“Today’s about celebrating a great new facility, but also reminding our community that we’re still here, we haven’t gone away, we haven’t closed — we’re still teaching our students and it’s business as usual,” she said.
“We’re going to have an even bigger nursing lab at the end of it all, with a new library space, a really beautiful student informal and formal study space, a dedicated Indigenous space for our Indigenous students and staff, and a beautiful courtyard with Indigenous plantings.”
Ms Capp said the university was focused on resolving the job shortage in our region with plans to expand their student intake, made possible through the bigger learning facilities and innovative technologies.
“We’re upgrading all of our AV ... one thing we’ve learnt over the past few years is how to use the online technologies that we have for teaching in different, more innovative ways, particularly with clinical skills,” she said.
“The things you can do on the screen is just amazing — 3D headsets and the like are being built into the new facility, which is really exciting.”
For first year Bachelor of Nursing student Sandy Smith, the simulation labs have been the most beneficial in preparing her for her future career.
“Obviously, it’s going to be quite daunting going into a hospital and doing some of the standard procedures on real people, so it’s good to have the opportunity to do this in an environment made for learning,” she said.
“There’s not going to be any adverse reactions — if you do something wrong, you have the opportunity to fix it.”
Using the dummies, Ms Smith and her cohort demonstrated how they would take a patient’s vitals and showed off their bedside manners, all while moving around seamlessly in their new sustainable scrubs.
The scrubs were donated to the 150 nursing students by Melbourne-based social enterprise group Assembled Threads as part of a trial in a grant by Sustainability Victoria.
Ms Smith said the relationships forged between local organisations and their education group had been among the many perks of her regional learning experience.
“The strong sense of community within the course is amazing. There’s no chance of isolation — always an event or part of the curriculum that’s inclusive,” she said.