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Upcoming terms

• Expand scientific knowledge and understanding

  Expand scientific knowledge and understanding

  You will learn about a range of medical conditions and diseases that affect adult patients admitted into hospital, including the pathophysiology of acute and chronic diseases, and understand the principles of how to assess and monitor patients’ response to evidence-based treatment strategies.

• Provide high quality and safe patient care

  Provide high quality and safe patient care

  You will gain the ability to critically analyse and critique health care interventions and treatment strategies, to provide high quality and safe patient care.

• Evidence-based care of adult patients

  Evidence-based care
  of adult patients

  You will gain a theoretical and practical understanding of how to meet the diverse needs of adult patients who are acutely ill.

Who you will learn from

You’ll learn from nurses and be mentored by nursing specialist experts, gaining a progressive and unparalleled educational experience. Your online study will also be enhanced by regular interaction with lecturers and fellow students.

Find out more about the University of Melbourne online learning experience.

• 
  Ms Natasha Morris, Program Coordinator, Nursing Specialty Practice and Course Coordinator, Graduate Certificate in Nursing Practice
• 
  Mr Nick Bridge, Subject Coordinator, Applied Pathophysiology.
• 
  Karen Stephens, Clinical Nurse Educator, Eastern Health and Subject Coordinator, Nursing Speciality 1 and Nursing Practice 1.
• 
  Tarquin Robinson, Clinical Nurse Educator, Eastern Health, Subject Coordinator for Nursing Specialty 2 (Renal) and Nursing Practice 2 (Renal).
• 
  Kristy Cooper, Subject Coordinator for Nursing Specialty 2 (Cardiorespiratory) and Nursing Practice 2 (Cardiorespiratory).

Course structure

To gain the Specialist Certificate in Nursing Practice you must complete 25 points comprising of:

• Two core subjects

Workload

The estimated hours required for each subject is approximately 21 hours per week, but this varies for each student and depends on your task management and planning, familiarity with the material, reading style and speed.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

To apply for the Graduate Certificate of Nursing Practice, you are required to have:

To be considered for entry to the Specialist Certificate in Nursing Practice, applicants must have completed:

• A three-year undergraduate degree in the discipline of nursing, or equivalent; and
• At least one (1) year documented evidence of clinical experience as a Registered Nurse working in an acute, sub-acute or community health care service within the preceding five years from the time of application
• Current unrestricted registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Agency as a Division 1 Registered Nurse (domestic students only)

Meeting these requirements makes you eligible for selection but does not guarantee selection.

In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:

* Prior academic performance; and

* Professional work experience.

All applicants are required to provide a current curriculum vitae describing their work experience and tertiary and other qualifications, as a supplement to transcripts.

The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.

Applicants are required to satisfy the university’s English language requirements for postgraduate courses. For those applicants seeking to meet these requirements by one of the standard tests approved by the Academic Board, performance band 6.5 is required.

Graduates of the Specialist Certificate in Nursing Practice who meet the entry requirements for the Graduate Certificate in Nursing Practice (cardiorespiratory or renal specialties)will be eligible to apply for 25 credit points of advanced standing for the Graduate Certificate in Nursing Practice (cardiorespiratory or renal specialties).

Next: Fees & scholarships

Fees and scholarships

Course fees are the same for both domestic and international students.

Your course is equivalent in quality and accreditation to an on-campus qualification. Each subject is designed by academics, subject coordinators and learning designers to deliver an interactive and enriching experience, with regular contact from lecturers, tutors and a dedicated online Student Support team.

Fees are paid on a per subject basis each term, and total course fees are not required to be paid up-front.

The fees listed are the indicative costs for 2018. The University reviews fees annually. The indicative total course fee is based on typical subject enrolments, and includes an indexation of 4 per cent per annum.

Learn more about tuition fees.

Financial assistance and scholarships

If you are an Australian Citizen or Permanent Humanitarian Visa holder, you may be eligible for financial assistance from the Australian Government.

There are many bursaries and scholarships awarded by the University and specific faculties, based on a variety of criteria. Online students are encouraged to apply.

• FEE-HELP

  FEE-HELP is a loan available to eligible students in domestic fee-paying places to help pay for all or part of their tuition fees. The Commonwealth Government sets limits on how much you can borrow. FEE-HELP loans are repaid through the taxation system. No loan fee applies to loans for postgraduate studies. Detailed information about eligibility for FEE-HELP is available from the Study Assist website.

• Domestic scholarships

  The Melbourne Scholarships Program is one of the most generous and comprehensive in Australia – supporting approximately 3000 students at the University. The scholarships program serves to both reward outstanding academic achievement and provide access for students who might otherwise be prevented from undertaking further study. For full details of all domestic graduate scholarships, visit the Future Students website.

  Further information regarding financial aid options for current students is available on the Student Services website.

  The Dorothy Jean Ineke Scholarship in Nursing was created by nurse Julie Sheldrake. There are two scholarships awarded for excellence in courses in post registration nursing that lead to speciality nursing practice. The scholarships will be available to students who commence in the graduate certificate course and do not receive any funding for their study via the Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) program. For more information go to: The Dorothy Jean Ineke Scholarship in Nursing

  Further information regarding financial aid options for current students is available on the Student Services website.

• International scholarships

  For overseas online students there are no scholarships available from the University of Melbourne. Companies, home universities, professional organisations and charities may provide scholarships.

Next: Apply now

View Key Dates for further important dates and deadlines.

Apply online

If you would like to apply for the Specialist Certificate in Nursing Practice you can apply by following the steps below.

It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete the form using the online application system.

You can save your work in progress and complete the application at a later date.

Admissions for this course are not capped per intake, so you do not need to apply for multiple intakes. If you are unsure which intake you wish to apply for, please note that you can change your application later by contacting the student support team.

To complete your application you require:

• Course code SC-NP
• Evidence of meeting the English Language Requirements as determined by the University
• A detailed CV, including work history if applicable and specifying if the positions were part-time or full-time and the number of years/months employed
• Transcripts for ALL courses previously undertaken including an explanation of the grading system used. Transcripts for subjects or courses studied at the University of Melbourne are not required.
• Digital files of these documents. Limit of 6MB per document. Supported file types: TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, JPG, JPEG, XLS, XLSX, TIFF).

Apply now