Master of Advanced Nursing

2025 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2025 course information
Award granted	Master of Advanced Nursing
Deakin course code	H771
Course version	3
Faculty	Faculty of Health
Course Information	For students who commenced in 2022
Campus	Campus of offer online only For students who commenced in 2022
Duration	3 years part-time Note this course is only available part-time
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9
Offered to continuing students only. The final intake to this course was in teaching period Trimester 2 2022. Students should contact a Student Adviser in Student Central for course, course map and enrolment information.

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Elevate your nursing career and prepare to take on leadership roles with the Master of Advanced Nursing. This degree helps you build the advanced clinical decision-making skills to improve health service delivery in your workplace, with an option to specialise in an area of advanced nursing practice.

Open the door to roles in advanced practice, education, leadership and management, policy and research.

If you want to improve the quality and safety of your patient care, the Master of Advanced Nursing can help you take your career to the next level. This flexible degree puts you in control of your learning, with:

the opportunity to choose either a coursework or minor thesis pathway
an option to complete the course with a specialisation
exit points available at both the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma levels, whether you complete a specialisation or not.

Throughout the Master of Advanced Nursing, you will be challenged to look at nursing from a new perspective while building your knowledge and skills in leadership, governance, research, education, critical thinking and decision making.

Deakin’s Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research (QPS) is a leader in clinical research, quality and risk management, and has researchers within six of Victoria’s major health services. Research from QPS is used alongside industry needs to shape the course curriculum. Course material is evidence-based, patient-focused and informed by academics, researchers and clinical experts who are leaders in their fields.

HNN727 Research in Nursing is a core coursework unit in the masters degree, and will introduce you to a range of research methods. This unit will help you build your understanding of research in a clinical context.

You can choose to complete your degree by coursework or, if academic entry requirements are met, undertake research in your clinical practice area with a minor thesis (4 credit points). A minor thesis provides a strong foundation for a career in senior nursing roles and may also provide entry to a PhD program.

Whether you are pursuing a senior position in emergency care or want to be a leading voice in nurse education, this course will prepare you for the realities of your role. You’ll graduate ready for careers in areas of nursing education, leadership, management, policy and research.

Specialisations

If you want to specialise in a particular area of advanced nursing, you can choose from the following streams:

intensive care
cardiac care (including interventional cardiology)
emergency care
critical care
perioperative nursing.

Specialist units are completed at Graduate Certificate (4 core units) and Graduate Diploma (4 core units and 4 elective units) levels. You may choose to exit the course at one of these points with a specialist qualification, or continue to complete the full master degree by completing electives in areas such as leadership and management in nursing and quality and safety in medication management.

To be eligible for a specialisation, you must independently secure employment of at least 24 hours per week with a collaborating hospital in your chosen specialty area.

Eligible graduates of the Master of Advanced Nursing may wish to seek endorsement as a nurse practitioner via Pathway 2.

Indicative student workload

As a student in a Cloud (online) course in the Faculty of Health you will be expected to spend 11-13 hours every week studying, interacting via CloudDeakin and completing assessment tasks for each unit in your course. For those enrolled in intensive care, cardiac care, emergency care, critical care and perioperative nursing, classes are conducted at Burwood (Melbourne) and video-conferenced live to other sites - refer to 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.

Career opportunities

The healthcare industry is the largest growing employment industry in Australia. A number of roles within nursing are expected to grow significantly by 2023*, including:

Graduates of the Master of Advanced Nursing will be well placed to take advantage of this demand. Depending on the units you have completed, your expertise will allow you to pursue a range of roles, including:

clinical nurse educator
clinical nurse specialist
associate or unit manager
research roles
critical care nurse
intensive care nurse
cardiac care nurse
emergency care nurse
perioperative nurse
anaesthetic nurse.

Participation requirements

For the units pertaining to specialty courses, there are some on campus requirements at the Burwood (Melbourne) campus or live via videoconference - refer to individual unit details in the course structure for more information.

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. Click here for more information.

Pathways

This course can provide a pathway option to higher degree by research courses and other postgraduate coursework programs.

Clinical Practice

To undertake this course you must provide evidence of 24 months clinical experience in specialty practice in Australia and provide evidence of employment in a relevant specialty practice area or equivalent.

Course learning outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Demonstrate ethical, safe, high quality, clinical decision making within an interdisciplinary team and psychomotor skills commensurate with general or specialised theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practices and person or client-centred care.
Communication	Demonstrate expertise in verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills using discipline-specific language and lay-terms necessary to assess and interpret data, convey ideas, develop plans of care and implement therapeutic interventions to ensure the delivery of high quality, safe general or specialised nursing care to patients/ clients.
Digital literacy	Use appropriate technologies to locate authoritative discipline-specific information and justify the selection of this information; and demonstrate expertise in the ability to evaluate, synthesise and disseminate the information to members of the interdisciplinary health team, and general or specialised patients/clients in an ethical and professional manner.
Critical thinking	Demonstrate expertise in identifying, synthesising, analysing and critically evaluating complex data from multiple sources (e.g. healthcare team members, patients, digital technologies) to inform decision making in general or specialist areas that delivers safe, ethical high quality nursing care in order to promote optimal patient/client outcomes.
Problem solving	Effectively apply expert nursing knowledge and skills to routine, complex and ill-structured problems in general and specialised settings to achieve optimal patient/client outcomes.
Self-management	Demonstrate high level personal autonomy, leadership, expert clinical judgement, professionalism, responsibility, accountability, and reflection as general or specialised nurse.
Teamwork	Establish and maintain collaborative professional respectful relationships demonstrating professionalism, expertise, highly developed communication skills, leadership, responsibility and accountability to the interdisciplinary team, patients/clients and carers.
Global citizenship	Display accountability for, and expert professional judgement in behaviours that uphold ethical and legal principles of practice within diverse social, cultural and environmental contexts.

Course rules

To complete the Master of Advanced Clinical Nursing students must pass 12 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

Coursework stream

2 credit points of core units
1 specialisation (4 credit points)
4 credit points of course electives
2 credit points of open electives

Thesis stream

2 credit points of core units
1 specialisation (4 credit points)
4 credit points of thesis units
1 credit point of course electives
1 credit point of level 7 open electives

Without specialisation

2 credit points of core units
10 credit points of electives which must include a minimum of
- 6 credit points of course electives
4 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 core nursing specialisation units are completed in year 1 of the course and are trimester-based delivery
Failure of a compulsory clinical component in a unit will normally lead to exclusion

Course structure

Coursework Pathway

1 unit set in a specialisation - comprising of 4 credit points

PLUS

DAI001

Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin '(0 credit points)' replaces HAI010

HNN778

Research in Nursing and Midwifery

PLUS 5 course elective units and 2 level 7 elective units from anywhere in the University

HNN727 Research in Nursing and Midwifery ( No longer available for enrolment, replacment unit HNN778)

Thesis Pathway

1 unit set in a specialisation - comprising of 4 credit points

PLUS

DAI001

Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin '(0 credit points)' replaces HAI010

HNN778

Research in Nursing and Midwifery

HNN756

Nursing Research Thesis A

HNN757

Nursing Research Thesis B

HNN758

Nursing Research Thesis C

HNN759

Nursing Research Thesis D

PLUS 1 course elective unit and 1 level 7 elective unit from anywhere in the University

*HAI010 Academic Integrity (no longer available for enrolment, replacement unit DAI001)
HNN727 Research in Nursing and Midwifery ( No longer available for enrolment, replacment unit HNN778)

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

HNN730

Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning

HNN749

Patient Safety and Risk Management

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

Work experience

For those students commencing with a specialisation, success is contingent on the student having access to a suitable workplace in which to consolidate learning, enhance understanding, demonstrate skills and undertake assessments.

Prior to entry to the course, each applicant’s workplace is considered in terms of its suitability and capacity to provide students with the necessary supports. Ongoing support for educators in the workplace is also provided by Deakin staff

Details of specialisations

Cardiac

Unit set code

SP-H000008

Overview

tand out from the crowd with a postgraduate nursing qualification. Build on your skills and acquire the traits and knowledge required to step into leadership roles within the health industry. If you have a passion for bettering health service delivery, learn how you can make an impact through fields including advanced practice, education, policy and research.

Units

HNN791

Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing (2 credit points)

HNN795

Cardiac Nursing (2 credit points)

Before 2023

HNN751 Advanced Physiology and Patient Assessment
HNN752 Core Principles of Care for the Critically Ill Patient
HNN765 Cardiac Care Nursing 1
HNN775 Cardiac Care Nursing 2

Critical Care

Unit set code

SP-H000009

Overview

Do you want to make a difference to the care of critically ill patients? This postgraduate specialist course links theoretical content and practice, and prepares you for advanced practice, leadership and management in your specialist field. You'll be ready to work as a critical care nurse in a variety of hospital settings, including critical care units, cardiac units, emergency departments, high dependence nursing areas, intensive care units or urban, regional and rural units.

Units

HNN791

Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing (2 credit points)

HNN792

Critical Care Nursing (2 credit points)

Before 2023
HNN751 Advanced Physiology and Patient Assessment
HNN752 Core Principles of Care for the Critically Ill Patient
HNN767 Critical Care Nursing 1
HNN777 Critical Care Nursing 2

Emergency

Unit set code

SP-H000010

Overview

Our flexible course in emergency care nursing allows students to be exposed to the current trends in evidence-based practice. We are partnered with numerous metropolitan, rural and regional health partners across Australia to give our students the opportunity to match with employers to support them through their studies. Immerse yourself in your specialty area by working in the field while you study, ensuring you graduate ready to jump into delivering effective, high-quality patient-centred care.

Units

HNN791

Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing (2 credit points)

HNN796

Emergency Nursing (2 credit points)

Before 2023
HNN751 Advanced Physiology and Patient Assessment
HNN752 Core Principles of Care for the Critically Ill Patient
HNN766 Emergency Care Nursing 1
HNN776 Emergency Care Nursing 2

Intensive Care

Unit set code

SP-H000011

Overview

Graduates are prepared to handle the contemporary challenges intensive care nurses may face with a course that responds to industry trends and demands and learn how to make a difference through roles in areas such as practice, education, leadership and research. You'll not only build on your sound theoretical knowledge, but our strong industry connections throughout Australia mean you'll be able to get a taste of life as an intensive care nurse while you are studying.

Units

HNN791

Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing (2 credit points)

HNN794

Intensive Care Nursing (2 credit points)

Before 2023
HNN751 Advanced Physiology and Patient Assessment
HNN752 Core Principles of Care for the Critically Ill Patient
HNN764 Intensive Care Nursing 1
HNN774 Intensive Care Nursing 2

Perioperative

Unit set code

SP-H000012

Overview

Step up to the challenge of practicing in perioperative settings and graduate with the skills to provide high quality, ethical, patient-centred care. Build on your existing knowledge and learn the key concepts crucial to the application of nursing surgical patients. Clinical requirements mean you will be learning while you study – working in a hospital or specialty area will compliment your theoretical studies with on the job learning.

Units

HNN755

Core Principles of Perianaesthesia Nursing Care

HNN740

Core Principles of Intraoperative Nursing Care

HNN742

Principles of Complex Perianaesthesia Nursing Care

HNN743

Principles of Complex Intraoperative Nursing Care

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

Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) are limited and are dependent on Government funding received by the University. Therefore a CSP is not guaranteed to all domestic students. CSPs are awarded based on prior academic merit. No other factors will be considered

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.

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.