Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing Practice

The Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing Practice is a 100 credit-point coursework program offered online with clinical specialty practice competency requirements.

Students complete seven 12.5 credit point theory subjects and two 6.25 credit point nursing practice subjects either full-time over one year or part-time over two years.

Course structure

The Graduate Certificate in Nursing Practice (Mental Health) is a 100 credit point course consisting of six 12.5 CP core specialty subjects, two 6.25 CP nursing practice subjects, and one 12.5 CP elective subject.

Entry requirements

1. In order to be considered for entry, applicants must have:

• Completed a Bachelor of Nursing, or equivalent qualification (i.e. Master of Nursing Science entry to practice); and
• Current unrestricted registration with AHPRA; and
• Current employment and clinical support in a mental health specialty area.

Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.

2. In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:

• Prior academic performance
• Area of speciality practice and clinical experience

3. The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.

4. Applicants are required to satisfy the university’s English language requirements for graduate courses. For those applicants seeking to meet these requirements by one of the standard tests approved by the Academic Board, performance band 6.5 is required.

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, graduates will demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and attributes:

• Critically evaluate models of care relevant to the care continuum, to inform co-constructed personalised care strategies which meet the consumer's life needs as well as health needs
• Engage in therapeutic relationships with mental health consumers, their families/carers and significant others which are characterised by co-construction of care and collaborative engagement
• Interrogate the concepts of risk and safety from the basis of person-centered care considering social protections, legal, moral and ethical principles to balance risk in recovery
• Develop and maintain partnerships in care with consumers and their families/carers which focuses on the person, their right to choice and self-determination, and their inherent capacity for recovery
• Advocate for mental health consumers and their families, challenging discrimination, minimising stigma through the use of positive portrayal and working toward social inclusion and independence
• Exercise enhanced clinical judgment and decision-making and insight into specialist mental health nursing in pursuit of optimal outcomes for the person and family
• Expand the range of psychotherapeutic interventions applied to recovery in different situations and contexts of care
• Expands knowledge and use of talk-based therapies and psycho-pharmacology, including medication management, for common mental health and illness issues
• Apply scientific judgment and contemporary evidence from a range of sources (consumer reported, clinician observed and research driven) to underpin the use of therapies, management of medication regimes and frameworks which inform mental health nursing care
• Critically appraise the nature and extent of influences (social, political, economic and organizational) to address constraints in negotiation of options for nursing care
• Demonstrate the role of the mental health nurse in a multi-disciplinary and multi-professional approach to treatment and recovery
• Engage in collaborative critical reflection on mental health nursing practice through clinical supervision and achievement of lifelong learning outcomes
• Respect individual worldviews and enhances critical thinking to challenge own and other's assumptions underpinning those worldviews
• Engage fluently with information technology and demonstrates literate and effective written and verbal communication
• Translate in-depth information or theories from a range of relevant sources such as research reports or policies
• Demonstrates the ability the autonomy, accountability, adaptability and responsibility in self-directed work and learning
• Use theoretical knowledge and nursing skills to conduct comprehensive mental health assessment and develop a meaningful formulation