Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing (GC-CCNURS) // Attributes, outcomes and skills

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, graduates will demonstrate the ability to competently practice as a critical care registered nurse in accordance with either the Emergency Nursing or Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Practice Standards by:

• Functioning within professional legal and ethical parameters of nursing practice
• Providing coordinated scientific and evidence-based patient and family centred care to patients with acute and complex illnesses or injuries
• Demonstrating critical thinking and analytical skills by applying an integrated approach to patient assessments skills, developing and managing a plan of care, and evaluating and responding to changing situations
• Demonstrating a high level of oral and written communication skills by collaborating with members of the critical care team, including allied health, to achieve desired patient outcomes
• Engaging and contributing to evidence-based critical care nursing practice
• Acting to enhance the professional development of self, and others where appropriate.

Generic skills

• A capacity to articulate their knowledge and understanding in oral and written modes of communication
• A capacity to manage competing demands on time, including self-directed project work
• Advanced competency in areas of nursing practice
• Advanced skills and techniques applicable to the critical care nursing
• Well-developed problem-solving abilities in the discipline area, characterised by flexibility of approach
• An ability to evaluate and synthesise the research and professional literature in the specialist nursing practice
• An appreciation of the ways in which advanced knowledge equips the student to begin to offer leadership skills in the specialist area

Graduate attributes

The Melbourne Experience enables our graduates to become: