Firstly I am a Gerontic specialist clinician and have been involved in the industry for over 30 yrs. I have held many senior positions from DON, Nurse Educator, Clinical Preceptor etc and I do sit on a number of committees and boards.
I have encountered many applicants for PSW positions who have completed their course online and to be honest I have only retained one of them and that was due to the fact they had previous experience in the industry.
Many of the online courses do not offer currency nor do they embrace diversity in perception. It appears that assessment responses are 'standardised' and are mere regurgitation of material from resources provided by the online RTO- this is not acceptable nor reflective of the industry standards.
I realise there are many who prefer to do online courses but if you are seeking employment there are many in the industry, like myself, who are not enthused or comfortable with the degree and level of knowledge and we will bypass you when it comes to employment.
Again it is individual choice and there have been a number of concerns raised by the industry regards online courses, in particular, assessment requirements and currency, these concerns have been directed to ISC,VRQA and ASQA.
Just be careful and always research the RTO prior to enrolling and ascertain how many of their graduates from courses actually obtained employment within 3/12 of completion of course
