Nursing specialisation was necessary because of the
recognition that nurses could no longer master the
volume of knowledge and skills required to work in
all clinical areas (Russell et al., 1997). To assist
emergency nurses in gaining in-depth knowledge
and clinical expertise, specialty postgraduate
courses were developed. By 1979 professional
bodies such as the New South Wales College of
Nursing, had extended their nursing education profile
to include advanced emergency nursing programs.
By 1995 the Emergency Nursing Graduate
Certificate course had been established (College
of Nursing, 2003).
When hospital-based pre-registration nurse education
was transferred to the tertiary sector in
1985 there was a corresponding demand for postgraduate
tertiary qualifications (Whyte, 2000; Bennett,
1995). To meet this demand, tertiary
programs were developed to articulate with specialist
certificate courses and extend nursing
knowledge, attributes and clinical skills beyond
mere technical competence. Today, Australasian
universities provide postgraduate courses in specialty
areas such as emergency nursing. Emergency
department registered nurses (RN) can now pursue
graduate diploma, master or doctoral degrees in
their area of specialisation (Whyte, 2000).