Established in 2007, Health Careers International Pty Ltd (HCI) is a registered training organization operating as the Institute of Health and Nursing Australia (IHNA). With the focus on becoming a global leader in the arena of healthcare education, the organization commenced operations in Victoria and then established campuses in Western Australia and New South Wales in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

IHNA has delivered quality healthcare-focused education to over 10,000 students (domestic and international) for over a decade. The institute continues to achieve excellence as a private education and training provider. It gives credit to the staff and partners, who have played a key role in its success.

A Wide Array of Offerings

The institute strongly believes in creating employment opportunities and improving lives. It focuses on skill and aptitude development of the students along with emphasis on career and academic excellence. IHNA upholds 3 core values – Innovation, Caring, and Excellence. Since the institute’s inception, the staff has actively reflected these values, and has dedicatedly focused on the betterment of the students and improved interactions with the healthcare sector. Some of the popular courses offered by the institute include:

• CHC33015 – Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, Disability)
• HLT33115 – Certificate III in Health Services Assistance (Assisting in Nursing Work in Acute Care)
• CHC43115 – Certificate IV in Disability
• CHC30113 – Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
• CHC50113 – Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
• CHC43015 – Certificate IV in Ageing Support
• HLT37215 – Certificate III in Pathology Collection
• CHC52015 – Diploma of Community Services
• HLT47315 – Certificate IV in Health Administration
• HLT57715 – Diploma of Practice Management
• HLT37315 – Certificate III in Health Administration
• BSB51918 – Diploma of Leadership and Management
• BSB42015 – Certificate IV in Leadership and Management
• HLT54115 – Diploma of Nursing

Exceptional Leadership

The persona leading IHNA towards the heights of excellence is none other than Bijo Kunnumpurath, the Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Health Careers Group. His demonstrated passion towards education, entrepreneurship and technology has shaped the vision of the company. Bijo holds a Master’s in Business Administration and has a qualification in Mechanical Engineering. He has worked extensively on a global scale and is well respected as a prominent community figure in Australia, Malaysia and India.

Bijo’s comprehensive project management and business management experience is the driving force behind all programs and activities of HC group and has led the organization to successfully start a number of international businesses.

Pertaining to his role at Health Careers Group Pty. Ltd., Bijo oversees and manages the operational activities, systems and policy implementation of the organization. He is also a member of GAICD (Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors).

The Core Values

IHNA focuses on certain core values to provide the students with the ultimate educational facilities. These have been mentioned below:

• Innovation

Adopt a culture of innovation in every aspect of the design and delivery of the education programs and services.

Constantly challenge and question the existing practices and processes.

• Caring

Recognize the challenging nature of the healthcare sector in the support it provides for the students.

Understand the unique requirements of the students and celebrate their diversity.

• Excellence

Strive to consistently deliver excellence in the design and delivery of training and education

Provide an educational environment that encourages and recognizes excellence

Ensuring Academic Excellence

An academic board guides IHNA towards better outcomes. It brings together external experts in business and health to advice management, as well as the academic teams. The board ensures IHNA’s programs remain relevant and satisfy the changing requirements of industry and meet the high expectations of students.

IHNA collects, analyses, and acts on the latest and relevant data from regulatory bodies, industry and trainer/assessors (Curriculum Development and Management Committee) to inform the continuous improvement of training and assessment strategies through regular communication, feedback, and surveys. The institute has also established student representative councils at each campus, comprising of the current students from all intakes, to provide first-hand insights that further inform the academic board.

The institute’s faculty not only has the required qualifications, but has also acquired current industry experience. They coordinate with the students regularly during their practical experience placement. This combination of relevant VET and industry experience helps students to more effectively link the learned theory to practice.

IHNA prides itself on the development and innovative use of ICTs that provide an engaging and highly interactive learning experience for students. The institute has a proprietary in-house developed ERP system, ‘Knowledge Hub’, which assists in managing various aspects of IHNA including staff, students, stakeholders, and resources. Knowledge Hub is the central information store and delivery platform for all of the resources that are essential for learning and engagement. It provides students access to learning content and educational resources anytime, anywhere.

The institute has an in-house e-learning team which facilitates course design, technology integration, and user support. Moreover, the Knowledge Hub enables the academic team to monitor student participation, track progress, and identify challenges for students all displayed as user-friendly graphical analytics.

The Knowledge Hub is also the communication center for students through auto-generated notifications, platforms for simple and straightforward submission of assessments, and testing program delivery. It helps in the creation of course calendars, time tables, attendance, assessment due dates, and reminders.

Additionally, the hub’s Resource Management System allows all educators to provide industry updates, validation feedback and comments, regulatory and training package updates, training package and AQTF implementation, and industry feedback and inputs – all available anytime, anywhere. The Online Assessment System, an integral part of Knowledge Hub, enables IHNA to maintain consistency in assessments across campuses. This system facilitates feedback from students on assessment questions, which may then be reviewed by the Curriculum Development Team, for quality improvement and validation.

Winning Laurels

The institution is reaching newer heights each passing day, with the objective of setting its foot on the summit of academic excellence. Over the years, it has achieved many noteworthy feats. A total of 1601 nurses have graduated through IHNA Victoria Campuses from 2014, including 1313 registered nurses and 288 enrolled nurses.

The Victorian Government recognized IHNA’s contribution in international healthcare education. The college received the Victorian International Education Awards in 2016 and was the finalist in 2018. In addition, it was awarded the McMillian Woods Global Awards 2018 for “Nursing and Health Care Training Excellence” at a gala event hosted in Malaysia. IHNA’s growing reputation in healthcare education and training was validated by the ASQA regulatory body during the Re-Registration Audit in February 2018. The institute was deemed by Health Careers International as a 100% compliant RTO and extended its registration for 7 years.

On the Career Front

IHNA maintains healthy relations with the healthcare industry. It remains connected to the healthcare industry through its connections with healthcare facilities. The institute prepares the students to be job ready through its extensive course content, industry placements, and training sessions in a simulated environment. It also works with local and international partners with the objective of opening doors for newer job opportunities to the students.

Towards a Future of Endless Possibilities

For over a decade, IHNA has stood tall when it comes to providing specialized education and training for the healthcare sector. Over the past three years IHNA has placed an emphasis on expanding its presence to markets beyond Australia through partnerships for transnational delivery of Australian qualifications.

The institute is of the opinion that partnerships with other education providers can assist to collaborate and work towards helping students learn and grow. It has secured a commercial license in Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, for delivering Professional and Management Development Training programs off-shore as permitted by the Australian regulatory authority. This initiative focuses on the objective identified in IHNA’s strategic plan, namely internationalization, wherein, IHNA seeks to expand its reach and presence to more countries so as to build the image of Australian vocational education and healthcare training.

The institute has been actively creating innovative pathway options for the students of Certificate IV courses to ease their transition to IHNA’s Diploma of Nursing qualification and then to also receive 1-year’s credit transfer if they are undertaking the Bachelor of Nursing course with Edith Cowan University (ECU). This business partnership with ECU provides the students with certainty in realizing an opportunity to pursue further education in Australia within the health care sector. IHNA has also initiated discussions with Federation University for similar pathway options for the students. HCI has expanded into Dubai with a plan to set up learning hubs in 10 locations by end of 2020. The institute continues to execute on its overall strategies of establishing 50 learning hubs across Australia by 2022.