Graduate Diploma in Nursing Practice (Mental Health) (GD-NPMH)

Intended learning outcomes

Overall the Graduate Diploma in Nursing Practice aims to provide the opportunity for nurses to extend their nursing knowledge into an area of specialty nursing to develop a level of clinical competence considered to be consistent with proficient specialty practice. Upon completion of the course it is therefore expected that students will have the attributes described for the Graduate Certificate and in acknowledgment of the greater depth and complexity of knowledge incorporated in the Graduate Diploma achieve the following additional objectives:

• the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to understand the practice of providing holistic nursing care to individuals experiencing a complex range of disturbances to health and well-being that require complex specialty nursing interventions;
• an understanding of the professional issues impacting upon specialty nursing and the wider nursing profession;
• a beginning understanding of the international context and sensitivities of the specialty area;
• a capacity to engage where appropriate with issues in contemporary society that impact on and are impacted by specialty nursing practice;
• an appreciation of the ways in which evidence based practice guides specialty practice and how specialty knowledge equips the student to offer leadership in the specialty area;
• an appreciation of the design, conduct and reporting of research as it relates to the development of evidence based practice;
• a critical reader of nursing literature and a capacity to articulate knowledge and understanding of specialty practice in oral and written presentations;
• a capacity to manage competing demands on time, including self-directed project work; and
• demonstrated clinical competencies in a workplace environment assessed by clinical experts to be at a proficient level as benchmarked against Australian specialty practice competencies.

Graduate attributes