You'll study individual and group counselling, mental health treatment, contemporary mental health issues and research.

You will develop advanced, evidence-based mental health nursing knowledge and skills and be able to identify and address contemporary and emerging issues influencing mental health nursing practice.

The Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing will give you a strong understanding of how to apply diagnostic and therapeutic techniques in your clinical practice, as well the broader professional and social context of mental health nursing.

You will develop research skills and the ability to be reflective of your practice. You will also choose an area of specialisation with an elective subject in either narrative counselling or parent-infant mental health.

A work-integrated learning course will further develop and apply your skills caring for clients in a variety of clinical settings with interaction and feedback from industry.

The program will enable you to:

• critically analyse the impact of ideological and political discourses on the development of Australian healthcare policies and practices
• critically analyse the impact of changing technologies on clinical practice
• conceptualise future directions in healthcare policies and practices
• explore the nature and implications of moral and legal accountability, responsibility and liability in professional practice
• discuss the nature and implications of human rights and social justice considerations in healthcare domains
• examine critically key ethical and legal issues relevant to professional healthcare practice in institutional and community-based settings
• critically describe the models of health education, and the principles of adult learning and health promotion
• analyse the concept of multiculturalism as applied to Australia with particular reference to the health care system
• examine critically different approaches to health care research

Nursing, including mental health nursing, is a large occupation with opportunities in many different locations and organisations.

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.

You may work in across metropolitan and rural areas for public and private organisations, or go on to contribute to mental health policy and research.