Masters (Coursework)
The Master of Mental Health Nursing offers registered nurses the opportunity to develop specialty skills in mental health nursing and prepare for advanced clinical leadership roles. To undertake this course, you should be a registered nurse with at least 840 hours experience working in mental health clinical practice or you will be currently completing a graduate year in mental health nursing.
As a student of this course, you'll study advanced individual and group counselling, mental health treatment, contemporary nursing issues, global health, physical health assessment, psychopharmacology, leadership, clinical teaching, mentorship and research.
RMIT is one of the longest standing providers of nursing education in Australia and sits at the forefront of nursing education and research. We are also the leading provider of postgraduate mental health nursing education in Australia. Our mental health nursing courses are linked and supported by industry partners and are offered to nurses across Australia working in acute, forensic services, child and adolescent, aged mental health, addictions, homelessness teams and consultation liaison services.
Graduates will be able to seek to extend their careers in mental health nursing in a wide range of hospital and community settings across metropolitan and rural areas. Graduates of this program should be well prepared to conduct shift leadership and care coordination roles as well as mentorship of staff in a mental health setting.
With almost half of Australians estimated to experience a mental illness at some point in their lives, mental health nurses perform an essential role in a wide range of hospital and community settings.
According to the Australian Government, employment rates have increased steadily over the past ten years and are forecast to continue growing for the foreseeable future. A substantial workforce gap is projected for the mental health nursing sector to 2030.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that around $8.5 billion per annum is spent on mental health-related services in Australia.