A Vaccine History Check is required for nursing, some health science (such as paramedicine and sonography), and teaching students who need to have vaccines administered and signed off before they go on a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placement.
It is also sometimes referred to as a Risk Assessment, as we are assessing the risks to you working in an environment where you may be exposed to, or pass on, contagious illnesses. To mitigate (reduce) these risks, your school has recommended a series of vaccines and serology testing to ensure you are immune to certain common illnesses.
Your school will give you a form for your health professional to sign off. This is usually called a Student Vaccination Record (SVR). You need to bring this form to each appointment with us for completion.
The medical practitioners at ECU Health Service can complete your vaccine history check at Joondalup or the City Campus.
If you have questions regarding your paperwork and how or when it needs to be uploaded, please ask your unit co-ordinator for advice.
This appointment cannot be booked online.
Please visit us at the reception desk at Joondalup or City Campus or telephone us to make this appointment. If you book the wrong type of appointment online, you will not be seen and you will need to re-book at another time.
You will first be booked to see the registered nurse, who will go over any medical history and evidence you have of prior vaccinations.
Then you will see a general practitioner (GP) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) who will make a medical request for pathology (serology/blood tests) to assess whether you are immune to chicken pox (varicella), measles, mumps, rubella and Hepatitis B, as well as Quanti-FERON Gold Testing and possibly MRSA screening.
It is very common to require vaccines during this appointment so you should be prepared. If you need any vaccines on the day, you will return to the RN after seeing the GP/NP. You will then be required to wait 15 minutes after the vaccination to be monitored for any side effects.
We therefore ask you to allow for one hour / 60 minutes for your complete appointment.
It is not advisable to try and squeeze in this appointment between classes, work or meetings.
You will be given two appointment times for your first visit.
The first time is the arrival time to see the RN. This will be followed by a GP or NP.
Arriving late for your first appointment with the RN could mean you will not be seen, and you may have to reschedule your appointment for another day.
We recommend you book your vaccine history check on a day and at a time when you do not have to get to classes or work afterwards. Sometimes delays being seen by the medical practitioners may result in you being late for class or having to leave your appointment before you are seen.
We are a very busy service and ask that if you cannot attend your appointment or think you will be late - please let us know as soon as you can so we can give the appointment to someone else in need.
If you do not arrive for your appointment and have not given us at least two hours’ notice, you may be charged a $45 missed appointment fee.
You will not be able to book another appointment with us until this has been paid. This fee is not covered by Medicare or OSHC.
Please note, pictures on your phone and paperwork that do not contain information like your name, date of birth, information of the hospital, clinic or official stamps for certification will not be accepted as proof of vaccination.
If you need to reschedule the follow up appointment, please call us to help you do this. Remember – not attending a missed appointment will result in a missed appointment fee of $45.
When you return for your results, we will be able to tell you what vaccines you need and commence signing off your SVR.
You may need to return for repeat vaccinations if you need more than one dose. You will be advised of this on the day.
The most common vaccines that need repeat doses are MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella), Varicella (Chicken Pox) and Hepatitis B.
Once the medical practitioner has given you a pathology request form you can go and get your blood tests done at a Pathology Collection Centre.
These tests are not done at ECU. We will provide you with a map of some local services close to the University, alternatively, you can go somewhere that is more convenient for you.
The pathology request forms we commonly use are for Clinpath, Australian Clinical Labs or Western Diagnostics. You can take this form to any pathology collection centre in Australia. For example, if the doctor has given you a form for Clinpath but you live closer to an Australian Clinical Labs or Western Diagnostics collection centre, you can take the form there and they will be accepted, and they will send us the results.
Your name, date of birth and address will be on the pathology request form. Keep this safe as reissuing the form will take time. Each laboratory is a private business and therefore have their own set of fees. You can usually expect an invoice in the mail after you have taken the tests.
There will be fees associated with your pathology and serology tests as these are not covered by Medicare of OSHC.
Your results will take approximately one week to return to the ECU Health Service.
Fees apply for seeing the general practitioner or nurse practitioner, however in most cases your Medicare or Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) will cover this:
For all clients there are private fees for vaccines.
| Vaccine | Details |
|---|---|
| Influenza (Flu) | Nursing students will need an annual influenza (‘flu) vaccine which can usually be administered at this first visit. The standard cost of this is $20 but during the winter months the WA Department of Health offers this for FREE. |
Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DTP) | If you have not had this vaccine for more than ten years, we can also administer this, which is a combined vaccine for Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (whooping cough). The fee for this vaccine is $42. |
Varicella (Chicken Pox) | If you do not have proof of two doses of this vaccine, you will need to have serology testing to show you are immune. If you have had chicken pox in the past, you may already be immune, so no vaccine would be required. If your serology is immune, we can sign you off. If you require a vaccine, the fee is $85 and you will need two doses, four weeks apart. |
Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) | If you do not have proof of two doses, you must have serology to test your immunity against MMR. If the serology shows you are not immune to all three diseases, then you must have two doses of the MMR vaccine four weeks apart. For example, if you are immune to Measles and Rubella but not immune to Mumps, you will still be required to have two doses of the MMR Vaccine. If you show immunity for all three diseases, you do not need to have any vaccines, and your Student Vaccination Record (SVR) can be signed off. The MMR vaccine cannot be given separately. The vaccine comes as a combined dose in powder form to be diluted. The current fee for one dose is $45 and three doses are required. |
| Hepatitis B | The serology for immunity against Hepatitis B is mandatory, even if you have had vaccines for Hepatitis B before. This is to ensure you have good coverage against the disease. If you show immunity, you do not need to have any vaccines, and your SVR can be signed off. If you don’t show immunity, you will need to have the Hepatitis B vaccine. The current fee is $35 and a routine course is three doses, followed by a second serology test. If you are still not immune after three doses, additional doses may be required. |
Quanti-FERON Gold Testing | This test is mandatory, even if you have had vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) before. This is not a serology to show immunity. This is a test to check for latent (dead) TB. Your result will be either negative or positive. If your result is negative, you don’t need any further action and can have your SVR signed off. If your result is positive, there are some health department guidelines we need to follow to ensure you are can be ready for your future placements. This will be discussed with you if needed. |
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Screening | In addition to serology testing and mandatory vaccines, if you have previously worked or been a patient, in a health care facility, including an aged care facility, in the last 12 months, anywhere outside of Western Australia, you will also need to be tested for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). This nose, throat and sometimes hand swab can also be carried out when having your blood taken. |