Masters (Coursework)
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:
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:
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.
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:
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.
The University aims to provide students with as much credit as possible for approved prior study or informal learning which exceeds the normal entrance requirements for the course and is within the constraints of the course regulations. Students are required to complete a minimum of one-third of the course at Deakin University, or four credit points, whichever is the greater. In the case of certificates, including graduate certificates, a minimum of two credit points within the course must be completed at Deakin.
You can also refer to the Recognition of Prior Learning System which outlines the credit that may be granted towards a Deakin University degree and how to apply for credit.
Students holding an approved specialist certificate from the former Nurses Board of Victoria may apply for up to four credit points of Recognition of Prior Learning towards the Masters.