Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing
2025 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2025 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing |
| Deakin course code | H668 |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health |
| Campus | This course is only offered Online |
| Duration | 2 year part-time study |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for new students commencing from Semester 1 2025 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Indicative student workload
- Professional recognition
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Pathways
- Alternative exits
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Fees and charges
Course overview
Each year, 2.8 million hospitalisations in Australia result in surgical interventions.* With a skills shortage in the intraoperative specialty area, Deakin’s Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing will equip you with the knowledge and skills to join this growth area and help meet the growing demand for intraoperative nurses.
Ranked #16 in the world,^ our School of Nursing and Midwifery is one of Australia’s largest and most established schools. You will be learning from the best with the School’s cutting-edge research recognised as well above world standard.#
Do you want to join the multidisciplinary team supporting and caring for patients during surgery?
If you want to take the next step in your nursing career, Deakin’s Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing develops specialty knowledge of the core principles and concepts of intraoperative nursing and collaborative management, with a specific focus on the global, national, and local quality and safety standards.
You will feel empowered to step up as a leader in evidence-based intraoperative care, helping to drive change to improve the quality of nursing care and patient outcomes, playing a key role in advocating for your patients.
Our strong industry connections mean you will be guided by experts in perioperative nursing as you explore the current and emerging trends, concepts, knowledge and evidence that provides the policy and practice framework in which the care of surgical patients takes place. Links to industry also ensures a high level of collaboration and support during your clinical practice. This means that while you study you can immerse yourself in your speciality practice area with one of our numerous metropolitan, rural and regional health partners across Australia.
This course develops your skills in:
- how to critically analyse and apply evidence-based practice to implement risk management strategies in the intraoperative context
- the concepts and principles of intraoperative techniques in assessment and management of elective and emergency patients undergoing complex and specialty surgical procedures
- understanding the role specialist intraoperative nurses play in managing surgical and/or procedural patients across infection prevention, surgical safety and environmental planning and preparation; surgical wound closure and management; and medico-legal requirements
- managing complex and special populations to identify risks and inform decisions that deliver safe, high-quality nursing care to promote optimal patient outcomes
- how to apply the core principles of intraoperative practice across a range of surgical specialities
- what role you will play in comprehensively managing patients through their surgical journey
- advancing your professional judgement, leadership and professionalism through reflection on, experiential learning in, and knowledge acquisition of, the contemporary healthcare practice environment.
Elective units available from your first year enable you to pursue specific areas of interest aligned to your career goals. You can choose from complementary areas of nursing practice to intraoperative nursing or undertake units that will further prepare you for roles in education, leadership or management. You will also have the opportunity to select a unit from anywhere across the University, further expanding your skill set.
Our innovative online program delivers a rich, interactive and empowering learning experience that is designed for postgraduate nursing students. Live-streaming seminars and class discussions encourage critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork skills. Australia’s top-rated tech support and access to our expert teaching staff means you can learn at your own pace, when and where it suits you, without compromising quality or support.
With job growth of 12.2% projected for registered nurses and 12.1% for nurse managers by 2028~, there is an industry demand for nurses with sophisticated specialty skills. Intraoperative nurses are in strong demand as they are an integral part of the multidisciplinary teams that support patients through their surgical experience.
* Australia’s hospitals at a glance 2022 - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Australian Government (2022)
^ 2023 ShanghaiRankings Ranking of Academic Subjects.
# Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) 2018.
~ Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections
Indicative student workload
As an online student in the Faculty of Health you will be expected to spend 11-13 hours every week studying, interacting online and completing assessment tasks for each unit in your course. Refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information.
Professional recognition
Nurses employed under the Victorian public hospital award receive a higher duties allowance for postgraduate qualifications relevant to their practice.
Career opportunities
With job growth of 12.2% projected for registered nurses and 12.1% for nurse managers by 2028*, there is an industry demand for nurses with sophisticated specialty skills. Our Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing will allow you to meet that demand in a variety of roles across advanced practice, leadership, management and education including:
- instrument nurse
- circulating nurse.
* Jobs and Skills Australia Employment Projections
Participation requirements
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Pathways
Alternative exits
| Graduate Certificate of Intraoperative Nursing (H568) |
Clinical practice
To undertake this course you must independently secure employment of at least 24 hours per week in an intraoperative care setting within a collaborating hospital in Australia.
Clinical requirement
Clinical practice with intraoperative nursing roles (instrument/circulating nurse) per semester.
Enrolment in a clinical perianaesthesia unit HNN755 as an elective (semester 1 only) requires additional clinical practice in anaesthesia and post anaesthesia care unit.
Core clinical certificate units in this course are semester based. Students are expected to attend synchronous seminars on Wednesdays throughout the semester.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Demonstrate advanced clinical practice commensurate with intraoperative nursing theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practice and person-centred care. |
| Communication | Demonstrate advanced communication skills to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe nursing care to patients in the intraoperative care setting. |
| Digital literacy | Evaluate information using digital technologies to effectively disseminate relevant intraoperative care information to patients and/or the multidisciplinary team. |
| Critical thinking | Identify, analyse and evaluate complex data from multiple sources to inform clinical decision making in the intraoperative care setting. |
| Problem solving | Apply advanced nursing knowledge to complex problems in the intraoperative care setting to optimise patient outcomes. |
| Self-management | Demonstrate professionalism, accountability, reflection and personal autonomy as an intraoperative care nurse. |
| Teamwork | Establish and maintain inclusive, collaborative professional relationships with all members of the multidisciplinary team. |
| Global citizenship | Demonstrate accountability for, and sound professional judgement in behaviours that uphold ethical principles of practice within diverse social, cultural and environmental contexts. |
Course rules
To complete the Graduate Diploma of Intraoperative Nursing students must pass 8 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
- 4 credit points of core units
- 3 credit points of course electives
- 1 credit point of level 7 open electives
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.
Note:
- This course is part-time only.
- The intraoperative nursing specialisation units (HNN740 Core Principles of Intraoperative Nursing Care and HNN743 Principles of Complex Intraoperative Nursing Care) are completed in year 1 of the course and are semester-based delivery.
- Both the theoretical and clinical components of the assessment for each unit must be passed in order to successfully gain an overall pass in this course. Compulsory clinical hurdles form part of the assessment of this course. Recognition of the importance of clinical assessments is calculated in the overall student workload.
- Failure of a compulsory clinical component in a unit will normally lead to exclusion.
- Students wishing to complete a thesis at the masters level, must complete HNN730 Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning and HNN749 Patient and Risk Management during their Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma in order to gain the Intraoperative Nursing Specialisation at the masters level.
Course structure
Core units
Year 1 - Semester 1
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0 credit points) |
| HNN740 | Core Principles of Intraoperative Nursing Care |
Plus 1 credit point course elective or specialisation unit
Year 1 - Semester 2
| HNN743 | Principles of Complex Intraoperative Nursing Care |
Plus 1 credit point course elective or specialisation unit
Year 2 - Trimester 1
| HNN750 | Inquiry Into Specialty Nursing Practice |
Plus 1 credit point course elective or specialisation unit
Year 2 - Trimester 2
| HNN788 | Advanced Concepts in Specialty Nursing Practice |
Plus 1 credit point from any level 7 electives from anywhere in the university or two Deakin stackable short courses (0.5cp microcredentials).
Intraoperative Specialisation
| HNN730 | Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning |
| HNN749 | Patient Safety and Risk Management |
Course Electives
| HND701 | Pathophysiology of Diabetes |
| HND702 | Management of Diabetes |
| HND731 | Contemporary Approaches to Diabetes Education |
| HND732 | Diabetes in Social and Psychological Contexts |
| HNN714 | Ethical Dimensions in Nursing |
| HNN715 | Leadership and Management in Nursing |
| HNN754 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' History, Culture and Health |
| HNN755 | Core Principles of Perianaesthesia Nursing Care |
| HNN761 | Biopsychosocialspiritual Mental Health Nursing Assessment |
| HNN762 | Person-Centred Approaches to Engagement in Mental Health Nursing |
| HNN771 | Facilitating Clinical Learning |
| HNN772 | Healthcare in Low Resource/Complex Environments |
| HNN773 | Healthcare Management of Vulnerable Populations |
| HNN778 | Research in Nursing and Midwifery |
| HNN780 | Quality and Safety in Medication Management |
| HNN781 | Therapeutic Medication Management |
| HNN782 | Recognising and Understanding Mental Illness |
| HNN783 | Therapeutic Interventions in Mental Health Nursing |
| HNN789 | The Physical Health Needs of Persons with Mental Illness |
| HNN790 | Sustaining the Mental Health Nursing Workforce |
Stackable short courses
Mix and match Deakin stackable short courses (0.5 cp microcredentials) to earn up to 1 credit point of open electives, subject to eligibility. Any stacking must add up to a whole number to be used for credit. See more information on Deakin stackable short course options.
Course duration
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing clinical requirements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
- Contact Student Central
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.