Graduate Certificate of Nursing Practice (Cardiac Care)

Description

The Graduate Certificate course is designed to prepare nurses to meet contemporary challenges in cardiac nursing within the specialist field of critical care nursing and to progressively build upon knowledge and skills required to comprehensively care for critically ill patients. The course responds to the demands of industry and partnership/collaborating hospitals for nurses with sophisticated specialty skills and knowledge. The course links Deakin University with existing partners and a number of other collaborating hospitals, all of which have a high demand for specialist cardiac care nurses.

The use of learning technologies such as Deakin Studies Online (DSO), teleconferencing, eLive, Lectures and in Spring mini movies will facilitate student engagement in a large proportion of the specialist units.



Team-Based Learning (TBL), a specific educational strategy that involves individual preparation, team discussions and immediate lecture feedback, is conducted at the Melbourne Campus at Burwood. Team-Based Learning assists students to further develop their critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork skills by applying recently learnt knowledge to real clinical issues.



A compulsory introductory four-day program at the Melbourne Campus at Burwood is normally held in the second week of February.


On completion of the Graduate Certificate course, students are eligible to continue studies towards the Graduate Diploma of Nursing Practice (Cardiac Care), and/or the Master of Nursing Practice. The Master of Nursing Practice (by coursework) may be entered directly from a Graduate Certificate of Nursing Practice (Cardiac Care) [requires an additional 8 credit points of study] or following completion of a Graduate Diploma of Nursing Practice (Cardiac Care) [requires an additional 4 credit points of study].

Requirements

The course is open to registered nurses who possess a Bachelor of Nursing degree, or an equivalent approved qualification. In addition, applicants must be currently registered as a Division 1 nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and will normally have completed at least 12 months recent acute care nursing experience. Students may also be required to attend an interview as part of the selection process.

Notes

Professional recognition
On successful completion of course, students will hold a Graduate Certificate of Nursing Practice (Cardiac Care). Graduates of the course are qualified to gain employment within specialty areas of critical care nursing in all states and territories of Australia