Specialty clinical areas, such as Neonatal Intensive Care (NIC), require proficient nurses with skills specific to the job who demonstrate "fitness of and for purpose" (Stephenson, 1998). Neonatal healthcare employs a global workforce and is an industry that is constantly transforming with new and evolving therapies and technologies. These characteristics require it to employ graduates capable of and effective in working in both familiar and unfamiliar contexts, and taking into account existing and emerging cultures, technologies and phenomena (O’Connell et al., 2014; Stephenson, 1998).

This paper will discuss the results of research exploring Stephenson’s (1992) concept of capability. This heuristic research utilised the Delphi technique to identify capability requisites in students (qualified Registered Nurses and/or Midwives) enrolled any Postgraduate Certificate in Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing (PG Cert NICN) at any Tertiary Education Institution (TEI) in Australia.