Postgraduate Nursing Courses overview
Nurses provide medical knowledge combined with compassion for their patients and communities. Nurses are an essential part of providing medical care. They may work in hospitals, healthcare clinics, or provide in-home care.
Studying nursing can give you the opportunity to gain medical understandings, and to assist people to regain their optimum health. Nurses may operate in a range of medical specialities, including in a clinical environment, palliative care, oncological care, infection control, and many more.
Nursing is currently a profession that is highly sought after. Nursing shortages exist all over the world, so skills in nursing are sure to guarantee you steady employment. Nursing is also incredibly rewarding, and comes with the high levels of job satisfaction that flow from helping others and doing healing work.
Is nursing for me?
Nursing offers jobs satisfaction that many other professions don’t come close to. Not only do you get the benefits of job stability, you are performing an essential service that helps people during a trying time.
Good nurses should have excellent interpersonal skills, a strong work ethic, and be able to think on their feet. If you are thinking of working in the field of nursing, you should be prepared to work in sometimes stressful conditions. Nurses have to expect the unexpected in their workplace, and have a cool-headed demeanour in all manner of situations.
Study pathway
Those who wish to be nurses must complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing. The scope within undergraduate nursing degrees can be broad, which gives students a chance to discover which area of the medical system piques their interest the most.
Once students complete their undergraduate studies in nursing, they must register as a nurse with the nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia before they can start working (read more here).
Postgraduate nursing studies allow students to explore more specific areas of interest even further. Most postgraduate nursing qualifications are available for registered nurses only, but check with your tertiary institution to be sure. Most postgraduate nursing degrees will specialise in a distinct branch of the care and skills required of nurses in this area.
Graduate certificates and diploma degrees in the science of nursing are designed to give nurses the knowledge they need to expand their careers in a specialised area. While some general postgraduate nursing degrees exist, the majority focus on a niche area.
Master of Nursing degrees and Doctor of Nursing qualifications also tend to focus on expanding the skills and knowledge of Nurses to be applied in a practical sense. Some of these specialisations tend to be research-based, for students who wish to contribute to the academic world of nursing.
Employment options
Nursing offers many different employment options, but here are descriptions of some of the most common:
Registered nurse
Nurses can work in hospitals and health clinics with doctors and other health specialists to identify, treat and manage illnesses and injuries (read more).
Clinical nurse
Clinical nurses work with acute care, and undertake clinical decisions and actions. Clinical nurses job tasks include analysing clinial data, and identify problems and solutions within a clinic (read more).
Specialisations
Specialised nurses enjoy the chance to work in fields that interest them, as well as potentially significant pay increases from standard nursing salaries.
Cardiac catheterisation lab nurses
These nurses play an integral role in cardiac care. Duties may include assisting the doctor in cardiac procedures and other patient care tasks (read more).
Emergency nurse
These nurses provide care and treatment for people experiencing medical emergencies. Emergency nurses face many different challenges on a day-to-day basis, and play a crucial role in saving lives.
Oncology nurse
An oncology nurse specialises in caring for people with cancer. Oncology nurses help patients to understand their sickness and coordinate their treatments. Oncology nursing is one of the most challenging fields of nursing, but also among the most rewarding.
Primary care nurse
This job refers to nurses who assist on the first level of medical care with minor injuries and illnesses. Much like a GP, those who work in primary care get to develop long term relationships with their patients.
Paediatric nurse
Nurses who work in paediatrics specialise in treating and caring for children. Nurses in this field can work in hospitals, healthcare centres, or provide in-home care.
Palliative care nurse
This type of nursing involves caring for people with advanced progressive illnesses. Pain management and patient support are they key services offered to people suffering these types of sicknesses. Nurses will work both directly with the patient and often extensively with their families as well.