Key facts
Duration
2 years part-time
Note: this course is only available part-time
Current Deakin Students
To access your official course details for the year you started your degree, please visit the handbook
Course overview
With around 42% of Australians* experiencing a mental health condition at some time in their life, there is significant government and industry focus on growing and fostering the mental health workforce. Designed with flexibility for practicing nurses, Deakin’s Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing will provide you with the advanced practical skills and knowledge to launch, or advance, your practice in mental health.
Developed in consultation with our key industry partners, you’ll gain the comprehensive theoretical and advanced practical skills needed to work with consumers, carers and supporters in any setting where mental health intervention occurs. You’ll graduate with an advanced understanding of holistic nursing assessment, major mental health conditions, person-centred approaches, therapeutic and pharmacological interventions.
Are you looking to advance your career in mental health nursing while also gaining complementary knowledge and skills?
Help deliver the care that an increasing number of Australians need each year. With Deakin’s Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing you’ll understand the core, foundational, and consumer-centric mental health concepts necessary to work within the multidisciplinary teams supporting consumers, carers and supporters.
In this two-year part-time course, you’ll undertake six core units via Deakin’s premium interactive learning platform, and can tailor your degree to your interests with the choice of two course electives.
During your first year you’ll gain an advanced understanding of comprehensive nursing assessment and the fundamental role that it plays in mental health nursing. You will learn to recognise the biological, psychological, social and spiritual components of an individual’s life, and how these can positively and negatively influence their mental health. Build on your existing skills with course content and assessments designed to facilitate advanced recognition and response to altered mental states and clinical presentations; develop comprehensive understanding of the experiences of vulnerable populations while also exploring high and low prevalence mental health conditions including, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders.
Expanding on these foundations you’ll examine and learn how to apply contemporary and effective person-centred therapeutic interventions; working with consumers, carers and supporters on their recovery journey. Students will explore trauma-informed care, principles of recovery-oriented nursing practice and the role of peers, carers and families in supporting consumers with mental health challenges. Contemporary mental health treatment calls for a combination of nursing interventions that treat symptoms, manage psychological distress and support and foster consumer wellbeing and resilience. You’ll gain a deep understanding of both pharmacologic and talk therapies that underpin current mental health nursing practices, including the quality use of psychotropic medications such as antipsychotic, antimanic, anxiolytic, and antidepressant medications; as well as person-centred approaches to talk therapy, such as cognitive behaviour therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.
In the second year you’ll gain an advanced understanding and knowledge of the physical health issues associated with mental illness and its treatments, such as common complications experienced by those consumers taking psychotropic medications, including metabolic syndrome and other conditions caused by medication-induced obesity.
In order to support consumers living with mental health challenges, nurses must be resilient and able to thrive in spite of the demands and stress of working in this challenging environment. You’ll enhance and support your nursing practice to manage the dynamic and challenging experiences of working in the mental healthcare environment; safeguarding your personal mental health through recognising, navigating and preventing burnout.
You’ll have the opportunity to explore a personal area of interest, or add further specialised knowledge and skills to your CV with the inclusion of two course electives. You can tailor your degree and your career outcomes by choosing from a wide range of areas including vulnerable communities, counselling, diabetes education and management, or leadership and education in nursing.
As a graduate of the Graduate Diploma 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.
*(People aged 16–85 years) National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020-2022
Read MoreCourse information
- Award granted
- Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing
- Year
2024 course information
- Deakin code
- H679
- Level
- Postgraduate (Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma)
- Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition
The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8
Course structure
To complete the Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing, students must attain 8 credit points of units comprising of 6 core (compulsory) units, plus 2 credit points of course electives taken over two years of part-time study.
All commencing Faculty of Health Undergraduate and Postgraduate course work students are required to complete DAI001 Academic Integrity Module (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first trimester of study.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. Click here for more information.
Core Units:
Course Electives
Intakes by location
The availability of a course varies across locations and intakes. This means that a course offered in Trimester 1 may not be offered in the same location for Trimester 2 or 3. Check each intake for up-to-date information on when and where you can commence your studies.
Trimester 1 - March
- Start date: March
- Available at:
- Online
Trimester 2 - July
- Start date: July
- Available at:
- Online
Workload
As an online student 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. Refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information.
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.
Entry requirements
Selection is based on a holistic consideration of your academic merit, work experience, likelihood of success, availability of places, participation requirements, regulatory requirements, and individual circumstances. You will need to meet the minimum academic and English language proficiency requirements to be considered for selection, but this does not guarantee admission.
Please note, there are limited places in this course and entry is competitive. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible. Applications for this course may close prior to the published closing date if all places are filled.
Academic requirements
To be considered for admission to this degree you will need to meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Bachelor of Nursing degree or equivalent
- Graduate Certificate of Mental Health Nursing
Applicants will also need to have a current NMBA registration (with no conditions or restrictions) as a Registered Nurse (Division 1) or equivalent, or Nurses registered with their appropriate professional nursing body in countries other than Australia.
English language proficiency requirements
To meet the English language proficiency requirements of this course, you will need to demonstrate at least one of the following:
- bachelor degree from a recognised English-speaking country
- IELTS overall score of 6.5 (with no band score less than 6.0) or equivalent
- CEFR Proficient User Level C1
- other evidence of English language proficiency (learn more about other ways to satisfy the requirements)
Admissions information
Learn more about Deakin courses and how we compare to other universities when it comes to the quality of our teaching and learning.
Not sure if you can get into Deakin postgraduate study? Postgraduate study doesn’t have to be a balancing act; we provide flexible course entry and exit options based on your desired career outcomes and the time you are able to commit to your study.
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.
You can also refer to the Recognition of prior learning system which outlines the credit that may be granted towards a Deakin University degree.
Fees and scholarships
Fee information
Learn more about fees and your options for paying.
The 'Estimated tuition fee' is provided as a guide only based on a typical enrolment of students completing this course in the same year they started. The cost will vary depending on the units you choose, your study load, the length of your course and any approved Recognition of prior learning. One year full-time study load is typically represented by eight credit points of study. Each unit you enrol in has a credit point value.
The 'Estimated tuition fee' is calculated by adding together eight credit points of a typical combination of units for your course.
You can find the credit point value of each unit under the Unit Description by searching for the unit in the Handbook.
Learn more about tuition fees.
Scholarship options
A Deakin scholarship might change your life. If you've got something special to offer Deakin – or you just need the financial help to get you here – we may have a scholarship opportunity for you.
Postgraduate bursary
If you’re a Deakin alumnus commencing a postgraduate award course, you may be eligible to receive a 10% reduction per unit on your enrolment fees.
Apply now
Applications can be made directly to the University through StudyLink Connect - Deakin University's International Student Application Service. For information on the application process and closing dates, see the How to apply web page.
Fill out the application form and submit to a Deakin International office or take your application form to a Deakin representative for assistance
For information on the application process and closing dates, see the How to apply webpage.
If you’re still having problems, please contact Deakin International for assistance.
Entry pathways
Upon successful completion of the Graduate Diploma of Mental Health Nursing, students have the option to further their studies by articulating into the below course:
H779 Master of Mental Health Nursing
Alternative exits
Careers
Career outcomes
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 Graduate Diploma 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
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.
Course learning outcomes
Deakin's graduate learning outcomes describe the knowledge and capabilities graduates can demonstrate at the completion of their course. These outcomes mean that regardless of the Deakin course you undertake, you can rest assured your degree will teach you the skills and professional attributes that employers value. They'll set you up to learn and work effectively in the future.
| Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Critically analyse and apply theories and evidence informed practice to facilitate recovery-oriented, trauma informed and consumer-centred mental health nursing care. |
| Communication | Apply 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. |
| Digital literacy | Maintain and advance mental health nursing knowledge and practice through the critical analysis of mental health research using digital technologies. |
| Critical thinking | Apply advanced critical thinking nursing skills through the analysis, evaluation, and critique of evidence-based sources to inform clinical decision making. |
| Problem solving | Assess, plan and deliver mental health nursing care to diverse consumers with complex mental health needs. |
| Self-management | Practice independently demonstrating accountability and personal responsibility, whilst reflecting on nursing practice. |
| Teamwork | Collaborate with mental health consumers and the multidisciplinary team to optimise consumer outcomes and engagement. |
| Global Citizenship | Maintain professional and ethical standards of nursing practice whilst recognising diverse cultural and community perspectives. |
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