Step into advanced practice, leadership or research with Deakin’s Master of Mental Health Nursing. Designed for practising nurses, this flexible course develops deep expertise in mental health care while supporting your next career step.
You will build advanced knowledge in holistic assessment, complex mental health conditions, therapeutic interventions and person-centred care. Explore trauma-informed and recovery-oriented practice, along with the role of multidisciplinary care in supporting consumers, carers and supporters.
Choose between coursework and thesis streams, with elective options built into both pathways. Choose the coursework stream to broaden your expertise, or the thesis stream to undertake supervised research in mental health nursing. Graduate ready to lead practice, influence care and contribute to the future of mental health nursing.
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 in a health service with mental health postgraduate qualifications, may be eligible for a higher duties allowance relevant to their practice.
Career opportunities
As government and industry continue to focus on building and securing the mental health workforce, registered nurses with specialised postgraduate qualifications in mental health nursing are in strong demand, and in many services are a minimum requirement to work in the setting following an undergraduate nursing degree.
Deakin’s outstanding employment rate for postgraduate nursing means you can be confident in taking the next step in your career. As a graduate of the Master of Mental Health Nursing you’ll have the skills and knowledge to enhance your mental health nursing career as a senior clinician or step into a leadership role across a range of community and inpatient settings.
Upon graduation, you may find work in:
acute public mental health
aged care services
child and adolescent mental health
forensic services
mother and baby services
community mental health
drug and alcohol services
private mental health
Nurses who successfully complete the Master of Mental Health Nursing, and who undertake the thesis stream, may be able to extend their research career by undertaking a PhD to continue to help shape the future of mental health nursing.
Participation requirements
At Deakin, we’re committed to creating an inclusive learning environment that supports all students to succeed. We work closely with students to identify and reduce barriers, and where possible, provide tailored support to help students engage with learning and assessment activities, ensuring every student has the opportunity to belong and thrive.
If you are disabled, neurodivergent, Deaf, and/or you live with the effects of a mental health condition, chronic health condition, or other condition that impacts your studies or participation in university life, we encourage you to reach out to our Disability Resource Centre for a collaborative and confidential discussion.
Pathways
This course can provide a pathway option to higher degree by research courses.
We offer a Graduate Certificate and a Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing.
Nurses who successfully complete the Master of Mental Health Nursing, and who undertake the thesis stream, may be able to extend their research career by undertaking a PhD if desired.
Critically analyse and apply theories and evidence informed practice to facilitate recovery-oriented, trauma informed and consumer-centred advanced mental health nursing care.
Critically employ advanced therapeutic nursing communication skills and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to promote the advocacy, agency and self determination of mental health consumers, families, and carers.
Maintain, evaluate and advance mental health nursing knowledge and practice through the critical analysis, production and dissemination of mental health research using digital technologies.
Apply advanced critical thinking nursing skills through the analysis, evaluation, and critique of complex evidence-based sources to inform clinical decision making.
Assess, plan, and deliver complex mental health nursing care to diverse consumers with multifaceted mental health needs.
Practice autonomously demonstrating accountability, professionalism and personal responsibility, whilst reflecting on nursing practice.
Lead and collaborate in the multidisciplinary team while partnering and advocating for mental health consumers to optimise outcomes and engagement.
Establish and maintain professional and ethical standards of nursing practice whilst promoting diverse cultural and community perspectives.
Note – From 2026, Deakin commenced introducing Graduate Attributes (GAs), which define the distinctive characteristics of a Deakin graduate. You may notice some courses still refer to Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs) during this transition period.
Course rules
To complete the Master of Mental Health Nursing you must pass 12 credit points. The number of credit points required may vary, depending on your entry point or how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) based on your professional experience and previous qualifications.
A 12-credit point Master of Mental Health Nursing includes:
DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
Coursework stream:
7 credit points of core units
3 credit points of course electives
2 credit points of open electives.
Thesis stream:
6 credit points of core units
4 credit points of Thesis (research) units
2 credit points of course electives.
Students must have a WAM>65 from 8-credit points of study comprising of postgraduate level 7 units to complete the thesis units.
Most units are equal to one credit point. As a full-time student you will study four credit points per trimester and usually undertake two trimesters per year.
*HNN778 is only an available course elective in the Thesis stream, the unit is already a core unit in the Coursework pathway
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.
