Master of Advanced Nursing
2022 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2022 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Master of Advanced Nursing |
| Campus | This course is only offered in Cloud (online) mode |
| Cloud Campus | Yes |
| Duration | 1.5 years full time or up to 4 years part time, depending on your entry point |
| Deakin course code | H771 |
| Approval status | This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9. |
Students enrol in Cloud (online), however for those undertaking a specialist course (critical care, intensive care, cardiac care, emergency nursing and perioperative) there are also significant on campus requirements - refer to individual unit details in the course structure for more information. | |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Indicative student workload
- Professional recognition
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Pathways
- Fees and charges
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Details of specialisations
- Research and research-related study
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.
Mandatory student checks
Students in specialisations i.e. critical care, perioperative nursing, intensive care, emergency and cardiac care nursing are employed by health services where a National Police Record Check and a Working with Children Check are required for employment.
Pathways
This course can provide a pathway option to higher degree by research courses and other postgraduate coursework programs.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year and your study load. To find out about the fees and charges that apply to you, visit the Current students fees website or our handy Fee estimator to help estimate your tuition fees.
Course Learning Outcomes
| 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 Nursing students must attain 12 credit points, chosen from a suite of units. HNN727 Research in Nursing, a 2 credit point unit, is core. Students may choose to complete the Master of Advanced Nursing by coursework or include a minor thesis. The minor thesis is comprised of 4 credit-points (HNN756 Nursing Research Thesis A, HNN757 Nursing Research Thesis B, HNN758 Nursing Research Thesis C and HNN759 Nursing Research Thesis D). Entry to the minor thesis is offered where academic requirements have been met.
For coursework units, at least 6 of the 12 credit points must normally be level 7 nursing units from the list below. Students are encouraged to select units based on interest and/or relevance to their clinical practice. Please note, among the elective units listed below, four units relate to Diabetes Education. These are HND701 Pathophysiology of Diabetes, HND732 Diabetes in Social and Psychological Contexts, HND702 Management of Diabetes and HND731 Learning and Teaching for Health Professionals. These units may be taken as electives in the Master of Advanced Nursing but do not contribute to a Diabetes Education qualification. If a student wishes to obtain a qualification in Diabetes Education, please seek course advice.
Aside from the units listed below, up to 4 credit points of elective units may be selected from any other postgraduate course at Deakin, providing the student meets the unit entry requirements. Students are encouraged to seek course advice from the Master of Advanced Nursing Course Director prior to selecting alternate units.
To be eligible to apply for endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner under Pathway 2, students are advised to complete units indicated (**) in the list under Master of Advanced Nursing without specialisation. It is assumed students will have completed postgraduate clinical studies to a graduate certificate level, prior to undertaking these units. Further detail about Pathway 2 is available on the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia website. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to read this information, in particular, the requirement for 5000 hours of clinical practice at an ‘advanced practice level’ in a specialty relevant to the context for which they are seeking endorsement. Completion of units in the Master of Advanced Nursing will not guarantee endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner.
All commencing Faculty of Health course work students are required to complete HAI010 Academic Integrity in their first trimester of study (0 credit point compulsory unit).
The Master of Advanced Nursing can be undertaken over 1½ years full time or 4 years part-time.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. Click here for more information.
Course structure
Master of Advanced Nursing without specialisation
Master units (core)
| HNN727 | Research in Nursing and Midwifery (2 credit points)*** |
Master elective units - maximum 10
Each unit is worth 1 credit point unless otherwise specified. Offering is subject to demand and resources
Trimester 1
| HNN714 | Ethical Dimensions in Nursing |
| HNN730 | Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning ** |
| HNN749 | Patient Safety and Risk Management ** |
| HNN781 | Therapeutic Medication Management ** |
| HND701 | Pathophysiology of Diabetes |
| HND732 | Diabetes in Social and Psychological Contexts |
| HNN771 | Facilitating Clinical Learning |
| HNN772 | Healthcare in Low Resource/Complex Environments |
Trimester 2
| HNN715 | Leadership and Management in Nursing |
| HNN780 | Quality and Safety in Medication Management ** |
| HND702 | Management of Diabetes |
| HND731 | Learning and Teaching for Health Professionals (includes 3 day intensive workshop held in T1/T2 inter-trimester break) |
| HNN773 | Healthcare Management of Vulnerable Populations |
Thesis units
All units are available in Trimester 1 and Trimester 2
| HNN756 | Nursing Research Thesis A |
| HNN757 | Nursing Research Thesis B |
| HNN758 | Nursing Research Thesis C |
| HNN759 | Nursing Research Thesis D |
*** Core unit for Master of Advanced Nursing
** Recommended units for students wishing to apply for endorsement as a nurse practitioner via Pathway 2 upon successful completion of the course
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 Care (including interventional cardiology)
Unit set code
SP-H000008
Overview
Stand 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
| 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
| 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 Care
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
| 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
| 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 Nursing
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 |
Fees - CSPs: More information
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
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
- Contact Student Central
Research and research-related study
A minor thesis is comprised of the following units:
| HNN756 | Nursing Research Thesis A (1 credit point) |
| HNN757 | Nursing Research Thesis B (1 credit point) |
| HNN758 | Nursing Research Thesis C (1 credit point) |
| HNN759 | Nursing Research Thesis D (1 credit point) |
Note - Students may only undertake a minor thesis if they have first completed HNN727 and meet the academic entry requirements of a grade of 70% (Distinction) or higher in HNN727 and an overall WAM of 65 (Credit) in their course.