The Benchmarque Group have been fortunate to work with a range of Organisations to support over 2000 Registered Nurses/Midwives to become Authorised/Endorsed Nurse Immunisers over the past two years.

Working directly with Organisations has allowed us to deliver both nationally accredited education that leads to a recognised qualification, as well as bespoke learning opportunities to address specific needs within geographic areas.

Over the past two years, we have been engaged by 18 of the 31 Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to provide Immunisation Endorsement/Authorisation qualifications for Registered Nurses and Midwives. 

One of the benefits of working with us, besides the high quality of our courses, is that we have been able to absorb most of the administrative burden. Generally, a PHN has identified individuals they would like to support (e.g., via an Expression of Interest (EOI) process), and our Student Experience team have commenced enrolments, answered student queries, followed up with individuals, and reported to the PHN on enrolment, progress, and completion.

Benchmarque Group have two main offerings in the space of Immunisation:

• Immunisation Clinical Pathway (for clinicians who are required to administer vaccinations under the direct order of a Medical Officer as part of their scope of practice)
• Immunisation Endorsement Pathway (for Registered Nurses and Midwives who want the ability to immunise independent of a Medical Officer.)

We have been fortunate to work closely with a range of Organisations nationally who have sought to support their Nursing and, in some jurisdictions, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner workforce to upskill in the area of Immunisation.

These partnerships have enabled Organisations to focus on identifying individuals working in priority sectors (e.g., Aged Care) who they would like to upskill, and for Benchmarque Group to take on the primary responsibilities of student administration, fielding enquiries, and the delivery of workshops.

To respond to local education needs, Benchmarque Group have regularly been engaged to support specific requests. A great example of this is a series of ‘Fundamentals of Immunisation’ face-to-face workshops, and ‘Complex Catch-up Masterclasses’ that we delivered for Gold Coast PHN in October and November 2023. 

Due to the popularity of some of our bespoke delivery options, we have chosen to make these more broadly available and open to individual registrations. In February 2024 we launched two new offerings in the Immunisation space:

• ‘Basic Catchup for Immunisation’ virtual workshop, and
• ‘Complex Catchup for Immunisation’ virtual workshop.

Since 2021, Benchmarque Group have partnered with 18 of the 31 PHNs to upskill their nursing workforce in the area of Immunisation. In addition, Benchmarque has partnered closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), Private Medical Groups, and State/Territory Health bodies. 

Close partnerships have enabled us to contextualise learning and link learners in with local resources and expertise. It has also enabled us to keep our partners updated on registrations, progress, and completion, as well as other areas identified as priorities for professional development.

We have been fortunate to work closely with so many organisations that support the delivery of primary healthcare services to communities across Australia and are grateful to have built such strong partnerships with PHNs, ACCHOs, Private Groups, and Peak workforce organisations. We thoroughly enjoy this work, and look forward to continuing to build capacity in the sector.