Clinical Areas

Note: For more information on any of these areas, please scroll down the page

St. Georges campus, Kew

GEM Unit
Normanby House
Rehabilitation Unit
Prague House

Caritas Christi campus, Kew

Caritas Christi Hospice
Inpatient Palliative Care Unit
Day Hospice

Correctional Health

Port Phillip Prison
Metropolitan Remand Centre
Marngoneet

Other sites

Cambridge House
Auburn House
Riverside House
The Footbridge

10 West – Neurosciences

10 West is a 24-bed surgical unit with facilities for monitoring epilepsy and high dependency patients.

Neurosurgery provides general and specialist outpatient clinics and an inpatient neurosurgical service with expertise in epilepsy, skull base, pituitary and functional surgery.

Common surgical procedures include craniotomies, tumour resections, spinal surgery, drainage of haemorrhages and clipping of aneurysms. Nurses will become skilled at performing neurological assessments and managing seizures, develop an increased awareness of the patient’s psychosocial needs and see secondary problems develop as a result of the patient’s initial condition.

Neurology offers an inpatient unit for patients with major neurological problems requiring investigation, as well as people with acute and complex neurological problems including epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders and headaches (migraines).

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10 East – Stroke, Renal, Endocrinology and Dermatology

10 East is a 24- bed ward with a co-located 4-bed inpatient dialysis treatment area. This Department assesses treats and educates inpatients and outpatients with all forms of renal disease. Patients are also admitted with a variety of acute medical conditions; therefore, nursing staff should have sound assessment skills and will develop clinical skills such as peritoneal dialysis, nasogastric tube and PEG management, dressings, diabetes and coagulation management.

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9 West – General Medicine, specialising in Rheumatology

9 West is a 25-bed ward. General Medicine provides the Hospital's urgent physician service, which includes caring for a large proportion of patients transferred from the Emergency Care Centre.

Nursing staff will develop expertise in the following areas of cardiology, endocrinology, lipid disorders, infectious diseases metabolic bone diseases, diabetes, thyroid disorders, respiratory conditions, cellulitis, PE/DVT’s, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, renal failure and angina. You will also gain experience in a variety of skills that will assist you wherever you go,

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9 East – Oncology, Haematology and General Medicine

9 East is a 25-bed ward with a co-located plasmapheresis and blood stem cell collection service. Patients are admitted for a variety of conditions including leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, primary and metastatic tumour disease, bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy and general medical conditions.

There is a strong focus on providing clinical teaching and research.

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8 West – Medical Assessment and Planning Unit

8 West is a 24-bed ward, which has 15 MAPU beds, as well as accepting General Medical patients from throughout St. Vincent’s that require medical work-ups and investigations.

It is fast paced and has a high turnover of patients. MAPU patients are accepted directly from the Emergency Department with conditions such as pneumonia, diabetes, asthma and cellulitis and provides drug and alcohol management and cardiac monitoring. Nurses require skills in complex patient assessment and discharge planning due to the diversity of the patient conditions.

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8 East – Orthopaedics

8 East is a 29-bed surgical ward, which cares for patients requiring joint replacements, limb reconstruction, repair of fractures, arthroscope and also specialises in orthopaedic oncology.

Research is a major focus at the department, which has established a centre of excellence for the treatment of musculoskeletal tumours – the first of its kind in Victoria.

The team consists of radiologists, nuclear physicians, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, geneticists and surgeons and nurses.

This ward allows nurses to develop advanced clinical skills such as epidural management, wound and drain tube management and traction.

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7 West – Colorectal, Gastroenterology and Urology

7 West is a 25-bed busy acute ward, providing a surgical service for patients with diseases of the colon and rectum. Such diseases include cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease and other disorders of bowel function. A range of specialist services include laparoscopic colorectal surgery and advanced colonoscopic procedures.

Nursing staff develop skills in complex post-operative care, good assessment skills and acute management of such diseases.

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7 East - Upper GI, Hepatobiliary and Department of Surgery

7 East is a busy 25-bed fast paced ward. The unit provides a comprehensive range of consultative and diagnostic procedures in gastroenterology. It has a particular interest in chronic viral hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, therapeutic endoscopy and oesophageal disorders.

Due to the diversity of these surgical patients and short length of stay, skills in accurate assessment, efficient post-operative care and acute pain management are a must.

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5 West – ENT, Plastics and Vascular

This 29- bed ward specialises in surgery of head and neck cancer requiring reconstruction, AAA repairs using endoluminel grafts, vascular bypass surgery, skin grafts, reconstruction following mastectomies , free flaps, amputations and replants of digits and limbs.

You will get great experience in dressings, vascular observations, use of Doppler ultrasound, tracheostomies, stomas, drain tubes, narcotic infusions and the use of leeches to aid wound healing.

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4 West – Cardiology and Coronary Care

4 West is an 18-bed ward that comprises six CCU beds and 12 Cardiology/Respiratory beds, providing diagnosis, consultation and intervention in all areas of cardiology. Diagnostic services include echocardiography, electrocardiography, exercise testing, ambulatory ECG monitoring, stress echos, pacemaker checks, coronary angiograms and angioplasty. Nursing staff gain experience with cardiac and haemodynamic monitoring.

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4 East – Cardiothoracics

This unit has 21 beds, three of which are in the Intensive Care Centre. Patients are admitted for procedures such as CAGs, valve replacement, PPM insertions and thoracic surgery (eg. VATs pleurodesis, lobectomies, pneumonectomies). The Open Heart Surgery Unit performs around 600 open heart procedures and 300 thoracic operative procedures each year. All the beds on this unit have monitoring, as patient conditions can change quickly assessment skills need to be refined.

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Operating Suite/Anaesthetics/Recovery

There are ten theatres at St. Vincent's Hospital that operate 24 hours a day, every day. Approximately 9,000 operations are carried out per year covering a wide range of general and specialist surgical procedures including Cardiothoracic, Vascular, Orthopaedic, Neurosurgery, Microsurgery and Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery.

Nurses are provided with the opportunity to develop the clinical nursing skills to care for clients undergoing surgical and anaesthetic interventions in the operating room environment. Dexterity, good organisational skills and teamwork are crucial skills in this environment and the increased understanding of patient conditions/procedures will be valuable when working in other clinical areas.

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Day Procedure Unit

The Day Procedure Centre provides admission and recovery services to day patients and day-of-admission elective surgery patients. This busy unit involves four areas (admissions, recovery room, endoscopy suite and minor procedures room) where you will assist with procedures such as lithotripsy, angiograms, day surgery cases and ECT.

It is a great place to consolidate your time management and organisational skills and where you’ll learn about managing sedated patients, acute pain, post-op care, airway patency and you will develop good assessment and documentation skills. Another enjoyable aspect is the continuity of care from admission to discharge.

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Emergency Department

The ED has 39 cubicles and rooms for procedures, plastering, suturing, behavioural assessment and resuscitation.

It is a challenging area where nursing staff continually improve both clinical knowledge and assessment skills. Nursing staff need to be flexible, enjoy working in a team and prioritise your care in terms of acuity.

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Medical Imaging Department

Working in the Angiography Suite, main Medical Imaging Department and Central Melbourne Medical Imaging, this department provides an opportunity to broaden your nursing knowledge and skills of minor surgical procedures and patient recovery skills, while being in a supportive and friendly environment.

Working within a small nursing team, you will be involved with many procedures (e.g. Fluoroscopy, Thallium Stress Tests, lumbar punctures, biopsies, pleural taps) and in addition scrub for sterile procedures .The skills and knowledge gained of pre and post care of procedures and imaging will be valuable when working in most other areas of nursing.

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Mental Health Services

St. Vincent's Mental Health is responsible for the management of adult mental health services including:

• a 44-bed acute inpatient service
• two community mental health services with  approximately 350 registered consumers receiving services from each
• a 20-bed community care unit and extended residential rehabilitation service
• specialist services.

SSt. Vincent's Mental Health also provides specialist services on a regional or statewide basis.

The 44-bed adult acute inpatient unit, located at St. Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy specialises in adult acute inpatient unit including an extra care unit for people with more intensive care needs. This unit provides short-term inpatient treatment during an acute phase of mental illness until the person has recovered sufficiently to be treated effectively in a community-based setting.

Treatment is planned and provided by a team that includes psychiatrists, psychiatry registrars/medical officers, psychiatric nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists and occupational therapists, as well as case managers from the community clinics.

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Dialysis Unit

The Dialysis Unit is a 15-chair community facility where you will appreciate the role and importance the kidneys play as a major body system.

You have the opportunity to spend time in the acute dialysis unit at St. Vincent’s and gain experience with dialysis access, sterile techniques, state-of-the-art dialysis technology, monitoring of cardiovascular status and the holistic management of patients with kidney disease. It is rewarding nursing regular patients and you develop a strong rapport.

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Outpatients Unit

St. Vincent’s enjoys an excellent reputation for the provision of high quality care to outpatients in clinics that treat more than 70,000 patients each year.

Nursing staff working in this area have the opportunity to experience all St. Vincent's medical and surgical clinical specialties. The clinics environment is diverse and varied and allows nurses to develop specialist skills including plastering, assessment techniques, complex dressings and wound care. As the clinics interface with many areas both internally and externally, nursing staff will work closely with a large and diverse group of disciplines across the continuum of care.

The clinics are a Monday to Friday service and the team provides a supportive and fun environment.

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Rehabilitation Unit – Fitzroy

This unit at SVHM is a 22-bed sub-acute rehabilitation ward that provides aninpatient and outpatient service for people with disabilities. The service offers assessments, treatments, reviews, discharge planning and follow-up.

Functions are split into two streams of care - neurological rehabilitation and musculo-skeletal rehabilitation, with the latter including amputee rehabilitation.

The rehabilitation unit generally manages conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, joint replacements and other complex orthopaedic cases, amputations and arthritis.

It is a close knit nursing team who are committed to each other and quality patient care. As some of the patients have longer lengths of stay, you will find it really rewarding seeing the vast improvements that patients make.

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Rehabilitation Unit – Kew

The 30-bed Heale Unit is located at St. George’s Hospital. Patients are generally admitted for rehabilitation after orthopaedic surgery or a stroke. There are a number of patients with various other medical conditions admitted for general rehabilitation.

There is a strong focus on interdisciplinary team work and working towards patient-centred goals in order to discharge patients back into the community.

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GEM Unit – Fitzroy

This sub-acute unit at St. Vincent’s has 22 beds and provides an excellent opportunity to consolidate a diversity of skills in a friendly and positive environment.

It is a busy ward admitting patients with many medical and post-surgical conditions and co-morbidities. The focus is on assessment, evaluation and discharge planning.

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GEM Unit – Kew

The Reid Unit is a Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit, which is a sub-acute medical unit situated at St. George's Hospital in Kew.

Patients are admitted from the community and also from tertiary hospitals including St. Vincent's Inpatient Services, Epworth and St Vincent's and Mercy Private. Patients are usually aged above 65 years and are frequently older than 80 years. On this unit you will care for patients with chronic and acute cardiac, renal and vascular conditions, with multiple co-morbidities including diabetes, dementia, respiratory illnesses and conditions, mobility, swallowing and functional loss.

You will have the opportunity to work closely with the multidisciplinary team in a consultative and happy environment. Support and mentoring are important features of the culture in this unit.

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Ellerslie Unit – Kew

The Ellerslie Unit is a 22-bed inpatient unit located at St George’s Hospital.

Patients are admitted to the unit while awaiting permanent residential care placement. Referrals to the unit are limited to St. Vincent’s. Patients are generally medically stable and no longer require active therapy, with a view for immediate discharge once a bed is offered in a residential care facility.

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Correctional Health (St. Vincent’s Hospital, Port Phillip Prison, Metropolitan Remand Centre, Marngoneet)

St. Vincent’s Correctional Health Service provides acute medical, surgical and psychosocial care to prisoners in Victoria. This service operates from four locations:

• Metropolitan Remand Centre, Truginina is a 600-bed maximum security facility housing adult males who have been charged with offences and a court has ordered they should be detained in custody.
• Marngoneet is a 300-bed medium security facility for offenders undertaking programs that are designed to break the cycle of re-offending.
• Inpatient services are provided at Port Phillip Prison and St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy. It is a 764 -bed, maximum security, primary sentence serving male prisoners.

There is a diversity in the patient acuity seen, which can include but is not limited to cardiac, diabetes, liver disease, renal disease, post-surgical intervention, self-harm attempts, epilepsy, burns, substance withdrawal and overdoses, orthopaedic and plastics.

Orientation and security training to Port Phillip Prison is provided over a two day workshop by Global Solutions Limited. Nursing education is provided weekly. Other bonuses include the self-rostering system, no car parking costs and no night duty.

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Caritas Christi Hospice

The Centre for Palliative Care offers patients with advanced illnesses advice on pain and symptom management and supportive and respite care. This 70-bed facility also provides terminal care in the Palliative Care Unit and advises patients, families and staff in other inpatient units at St. Vincent's.

Diagnoses include cancer and end-stage organ failure. This is a very rewarding area of nursing where essential skills include assessing and managing pain and other symptoms, communicating with dying patients and their families while assisting them with their psychological, emotional and spiritual concerns. The model of care encourages holistic assessment by the multidisciplinary team. Nursing staff are encouraged to attend regular reflection sessions and a Palliative Care Education Program, which is also offered.

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Intensive Care

The Intensive Care Unit is a 12-bed modern, well designed unit which promotes team work and admits a broad range of patients. It is a major tertiary referral unit that receives a large number of patients from all over Victoria as well as from the hospital and Emergency Department. The centre uses a paperless medical records system and digital imaging technology.

Nursing staff are encouraged to participate in multi-centre trails and research. This unit also offers an Introduction into Intensive Care providing a gradual and affordable approach to further study.

This unit provides an ideal setting for nursing staff to experience a wide range of intensive care conditions and interventions, while working and learning in a supportive and friendly environment.

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St. Vincent’s @ Home

St. Vincent's at Home provides home-based nursing and services the Sister Francesca Healy Cottage, a six-bed facility that offers short-term care to sick, homeless people.

The Service aims to provide continuing care from the hospital to the community setting. Emphasis is placed on education and maintaining and restoring patient independence.

The Service is offered to patients living within 10–15kms of St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.

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PIER Centre (Preoperative Investigation, Education and Research Centre)

The Preoperative Investigation, Education and Research (PIER) Centre offers patients and staff an efficient system of waiting list management and pre-operative preparation. The Centre provides Pre-admission Clinics for all surgical units and a waiting list coordination/triage centre in St. Vincent's Clinics.

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The Footbridge (Community Care Unit)

The Footbridge is a community residential service providing nursing/allied health support 24 hours a day.

Care is provided to 20 residents in a ‘home-like’ setting with the aim of improving the residents’ community living skills, independence and maximising their quality of life.

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Normanby Unit

Normanby House is a 20-bed purposely built unit that provides comprehensive assessment and treatment for people in the acute phase of mental illness over the age of 65. It is staffed by multidisciplinary team, emphasise on individualised, patient-centred approach.

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Prague House

Prague House is a 45-bed low care facility located in Kew, less than a kilometre from St. George’s Hospital. Prague House provides care and support to men and women who have been homeless or at serious risk of homelessness. The men and women at Prague House often have a mental health problem such as schizophrenia or bipolar and/or an alcohol related brain injury. Care delivery is very flexible to accommodate the specific needs of the men.

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Auburn House

Auburn House is a 30 -bed high care facility, caring for residents with psychiatric condition located in Camberwell. Patients are normally assessed and treated in Normanby Unit prior to placing in Auburn. The length of stay will be determined by their needs and suitability for generic Nursing Homes. Staff will be provided regular in service and education to enhance and maintain their skills in psychiatric care of the elderly.

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Riverside House

Riverside House is 30-bed high care facility, caring for patients with psychiatric conditions. It is located in Richmond. Like Auburn House, patients are normally assessed and treated in the Normanby Unit prior to transfer to Riverside. The length of stay will be determined by their needs and suitability for generic Nursing Homes. Staff will be provided regular in service and education to enhance and maintain their skills in psychiatric care of the elderly.

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Cambridge House

Cambridge House is a 30-bed generic aged care facility located in Collingwood, less than a kilometre from St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy. The facility provides care for people requiring high level care in a residential setting. It is a modern, purpose built facility with 30 permanent beds and one respite bed. It is centrally located and well equipped with a commitment to the provisions of a high standard of care in a comfortable and relaxed environment.

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