#14 in the world for nursing
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia-approved degree
800 hours of placement from your first trimester
Why choose nursing (clinical leadership) at Deakin
Deakin’s Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership) is the only undergraduate degree of its kind in Victoria. Building on the Bachelor of Nursing, this specialised course includes three additional leadership units to develop your potential as a future nurse leader. You’ll work alongside clinical nurse leaders from partner organisations, and leading academics from our School of Nursing and Midwifery, ranked #14 in the world.
Learn in our state-of-the-art clinical simulation centres before undertaking 800 hours of professional experience placements, starting in your first trimester, across metropolitan, regional and rural settings. Gain experience in acute and sub-acute care, medical and surgical nursing, aged care, rehabilitation, community and mental health settings. With registered nurse roles projected to grow by 11.3% by 2029, you’ll graduate eligible to apply for registration and ready to grow your leadership potential.
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World-ranked excellence
Study nursing at a university ranked #14 in the world, gaining a qualification respected by employers across Australia.
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Placements from your first year of study
Complete 800 hours of supervised clinical placements from first year across metropolitan, regional and rural settings.
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High-quality simulation facilities
Build confidence in clinical simulation centres that replicate real hospital and community healthcare environments.
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Industry-shaped and accredited
Graduate eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and begin practicing as a registered nurse.
Connected to industry
Deakin’s strong industry connections help shape your learning. Build practical experience in real workplace contexts through work-integrated learning, mentoring and networking opportunities. Industry advisory boards also help shape our degrees, which means what you study is current, relevant and aligned to what your future employers need.
Deakin puts employability first
Career outcomes
Prepare for nursing practice while building leadership capability for clinical teams, care coordination and health service improvement.
Registered nurse
Provide person-centred care, coordinate treatment and support health outcomes across hospitals, community services and specialist settings.
- 13.7%
Projected job growth in 5 years
- $95k
Typical annual salary in Australia
Nurse manager
Lead clinical teams, coordinate service delivery and support safe, high-quality nursing practice across health settings.
- 13.6%
Projected job growth in 5 years
- $138k
Typical annual salary in Australia
Other jobs
- Clinical nurse specialist
- Nurse unit manager
- Community nurse
- Practice nurse
- Nurse educator
- Quality and safety officer
*Deakin references data from a range of government, higher education and reputable media sources. Learn more about our achievements on our University rankings page, or explore our sources page for supporting references.
What will I study in the Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership)?
This degree follows the core nursing curriculum while extending your capability in clinical leadership and healthcare systems. You will graduate eligible to apply for registration as a registered nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and complete required clinical practice placements across diverse healthcare settings.
Foundations of nursing practice
Human biosciences
Develop scientific knowledge that underpins safe nursing assessment and clinical decision-making.
Core nursing skills
Build foundational capability in patient assessment, communication and delivery of evidence-informed care.
Professional practice and placement
Begin your clinical placements in your first trimester, caring for people from diverse backgrounds in various metropolitan, regional and rural healthcare settings.
Developing clinical expertise
Clinical assessment, decision-making and leadership
Apply systematic assessment frameworks to recognise and respond to changes in patient condition, and build your leadership skills.
Care across the lifespan
Examine nursing practice in acute, chronic and community health contexts across diverse population groups.
Clinical placements
Undertake progressively complex supervised placements in hospital and community healthcare settings.
Advanced clinical practice and leadership
Clinical leadership principles
Analyse leadership theory, team coordination and quality improvement within healthcare environments.
Healthcare systems and policy
Examine governance, policy and organisational factors that influence patient safety and service delivery.
Integrated clinical consolidation
Apply both clinical expertise and leadership capability in your final supervised placements.
Course structure
To complete the Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership), you must pass 24 credit points.
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.
Are you a current student? For course information that applies to the year you started your degree, visit the handbook.
All students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements
Units
Year 1 - Trimester 1
Trimester 2
Year 2 - Trimester 1
Trimester 2
Year 3 - Trimester 1
Trimester 2
Professional recognition
On successful completion of your course, you will be eligible to apply for registration as a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).
The NMBA has mandatory registration standards that applicants need to meet to be registered. Core registration standards are available on the NMBA website.
This course is accredited with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) and is an NMBA approved course.
What to expect while studying
You may be able to study available units in the optional third trimester to fast-track your degree, however your course duration may be extended if there are delays in meeting course requirements, such as completing a placement.
Department of Health – Safety Screening Requirements - Police Record Check, Working With Children Check and Immunisation Status
Police Record Check
In accordance with the Department of Health policy, all students are required to undertake a Police Record Check prior to professional experience placements in each calendar year of their course. Students who fail to obtain a Police Record Check prior to the commencement of professional experience placement will not be able to undertake professional experience placement and this will impede progress in the course.
Working With Children Check
In accordance with the Worker Screening Act 2020, all students are required to undertake a Working with Children Check at the commencement of their course. Students who fail to obtain a Working with Children Check prior to the commencement of professional experience placement will not be able to undertake professional experience placement and this will impede progress in the course.
Immunisation Status
Students are required to declare their immunisation status to satisfy the requirements of health organisations where they will be undertaking their clinical learning experience. A health organisation may refuse to accept a student for placement if the student’s immunisation status is not satisfactory to the health organisation.
As a student in the Faculty of Health you can expect to participate in a range of learning activities each week. This may include lectures, seminars, simulations, and online interaction. You can refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information. You will also need to study and complete assessment tasks in your own time.
Professional experience placement can occur at any time, including during the standard holiday breaks.
In addition, this course requires participation in 60 hours of mentored experiences.
In order to participate in on-campus learning activities, and to safely engage in placements in clinical environments, there are a number of skills and functions that students need to be able to demonstrate, with or without reasonable adjustments. These skills and functions are known as Inherent Requirements. Find out more about the School of Nursing and Midwifery’s Undergraduate Courses Inherent Requirements.
To discuss these requirements and the adjustments we can provide to support your success, please contact the Disability Resource Centre.
Professional experience placement
Professional experience placements are conducted throughout your course beginning in Trimester 1 of your first year. This early exposure to the clinical environment gives you extensive opportunities to develop clinical skills under the supervision of registered nurses and enables you to experience being part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team. You will gain clinical experience in a variety of settings such as acute/sub-acute care, medical and surgical care, aged care, rehabilitation, community nursing and mental health nursing. Placements may be undertaken in hospitals and community health settings in metropolitan, rural and regional areas.
To be eligible to undertake placements, you are required to supply mandatory documents (prerequisites) including police checks, working with children check and immunisation status.
At Deakin, we're committed to ensuring an inclusive environment that supports all students to belong, thrive and succeed. We work closely with students, where needed, to identify potential barriers to participation and where possible, provide tailored support so students can engage with learning and assessment activities.
If you are neurodivergent, have a disability, health condition or mental health condition that may impact your study or participation in university life, and want to know how Deakin could support you, contact our Domestic students (opens in a new window) or International students (opens in a new window) or Disability Resource Centre (opens email client) teams for a collaborative and confidential discussion. This discussion is to support you to make plans for your studies and future career and will not have any bearing on your application to the course.
When can I start?
When you study depends on your course, location and available intakes. Check the table to see when you can start and how study is offered throughout the year.
Your course learning outcomes describe the knowledge, skills and capabilities you’ll develop and be able to demonstrate by the time you graduate. Built into your course through your units and assessments, they provide a clear picture of what you’ll be equipped to know, understand and do – preparing you to apply your learning with confidence beyond university.
| Course Learning Outcomes |
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| Think critically, analyse and apply evidence and evaluate outcomes to inform safe and quality nursing practice. |
| Foster effective therapeutic and professional relationships to ensure safe and quality care across the lifespan. |
| Exhibit professionalism through self-management and engagement with feedback to maintain capability for practice of self and others. |
| Apply nursing knowledge and capability in accordance with professional, legal and ethical requirements to deliver comprehensive, safe and quality care based on best available evidence. |
| Provide person-centred, culturally safe, and respectful nursing care that upholds the rights, dignity, and wellbeing of all people, enriched by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultures and knowledges, and responsive to the diversity of all communities. |
| Critically and ethically apply digital technologies to locate, interpret and disseminate information and deliver safe and quality care. |
- Award granted
- Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership)
- Year
2027 course information
- VTAC code
- 1400510233 - Burwood (Melbourne), International full-fee paying place
- Deakin code
- H329
- CRICOS code?Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students
- 120445F Burwood (Melbourne)
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition
The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7
Fees
Estimated tuition fee
$45,800
for 1 yr full-time AUD
The estimated tuition fee above is based on a typical first-year full-time enrolment of 8 credit points and is provided as a guide only. Your tuition fees are determined by your course and unit enrolment. Your tuition fees will vary depending on your study load, the course duration, and any approved recognition of prior learning.
Scholarships
We want to help you excel at Deakin. Our scholarships recognise your dedication and achievements, providing financial support that can ease the cost of living and studying. With less pressure, you'll have more freedom to focus on what matters most – your education and future success.
Apply now
Apply through VTAC
If you are an international student completing an Australian Year 12 in Australia or overseas, you must submit an application through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC).
Recognition of prior learning
We value your previous study and experience. Recognition of prior learning enables you to get credit for what you've already achieved. When you apply, we'll consider your previous study and experience for recognition of prior learning.
If you have completed previous studies which you believe may reduce the number of units you have to complete at Deakin, indicate in the appropriate section on your application that you wish to be considered for Recognition of prior learning. You will need to provide a certified copy of your previous course details so your credit can be determined. If you are eligible, your offer letter will then contain information about your Recognition of prior learning. Your Recognition of prior learning is formally approved prior to your enrolment at Deakin during the Enrolment and Orientation Program. You must bring original documents relating to your previous study so that this approval can occur.
You can also refer to the recognition of prior learning (RPL) system which outlines the credit that may be granted towards a Deakin University degree. In all cases, credit will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis with a maximum credit granted being consistent with University policy (Deakin University, Recognition of prior learning policy and procedure, July 2003) and the guidelines for Recognition of prior learning as approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Not sure if you'll meet entry requirements?
Deakin offers a range of pathways into the Bachelor of Nursing (Clinical Leadership) to suit your background and goals. Explore the pathways finder to see how previous study, diplomas or alternative qualifications can lead you into the course.
Pathways
This course provides a pathway to higher degree by research courses and other postgraduate coursework programs.