Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing Practice (GD-MHNP) // Attributes, outcomes and skills

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, graduates will demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and attributes:

• Critically evaluate models of care relevant to the care continuum, to inform co-constructed personalised care strategies which meet the consumer's life needs as well as health needs
• Engage in therapeutic relationships with mental health consumers, their families/carers and significant others which are characterised by co-construction of care and collaborative engagement
• Interrogate the concepts of risk and safety from the basis of person-centered care considering social protections, legal, moral and ethical principles to balance risk in recovery
• Develop and maintain partnerships in care with consumers and their families/carers which focuses on the person, their right to choice and self-determination, and their inherent capacity for recovery
• Advocate for mental health consumers and their families, challenging discrimination, minimising stigma through the use of positive portrayal and working toward social inclusion and independence
• Exercise enhanced clinical judgment and decision-making and insight into specialist mental health nursing in pursuit of optimal outcomes for the person and family
• Expand the range of psychotherapeutic interventions applied to recovery in different situations and contexts of care
• Expands knowledge and use of talk-based therapies and psycho-pharmacology, including medication management, for common mental health and illness issues
• Apply scientific judgment and contemporary evidence from
a range of sources (consumer reported, clinician observed and research driven) to underpin the use of therapies, management of medication regimes and frameworks which inform mental health nursing care
• Critically appraise the nature and extent of influences (social, political, economic and organizational) to address constraints in negotiation of options for nursing care
• Demonstrate the role of the mental health nurse in a multi-disciplinary and multi-professional approach to treatment and recovery
• Engage in collaborative critical reflection on mental health nursing practice through clinical supervision and achievement of lifelong learning outcomes
• Respect individual worldviews and enhances critical thinking to challenge own and other's assumptions underpinning those worldviews
• Engage fluently with information technology and demonstrates literate and effective written and verbal communication
• Translate in-depth information or theories from a range of relevant sources such as research reports or policies
• Demonstrates the ability the autonomy, accountability, adaptability and responsibility in self-directed work and learning
• Use theoretical knowledge and nursing skills to conduct comprehensive mental health assessment and develop a meaningful formulation

Graduate attributes

The Melbourne Experience enables our graduates to become:

Academically excellent:

• have a strong sense of intellectual integrity and the ethics of scholarship
• have in-depth knowledge of their specialist discipline(s)
• reach a high level of achievement in writing, generic research activities, problem-solving and communication
• be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning
• be adept at learning in a range of ways, including through information and communication technologies

Knowledgeable across disciplines

• examine critically, synthesise and evaluate knowledge across a broad range of disciplines
• expand their analytical and cognitive skills through learning experiences in diverse subjects
• have the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront unfamiliar problems
• have a set of flexible and transferable skills for different types of employment

Leaders in communities

• initiate and implement constructive change in their communities, including professions and workplaces
• have excellent interpersonal and decision-making skills, including an awareness of personal strengths and limitations
• mentor future generations of learners
• engage in meaningful public discourse, with a profound awareness of community needs

Attuned to cultural diversity

• value different cultures
• be well-informed citizens able to contribute to their communities wherever they choose to live and work
• have an understanding of the social and cultural diversity in our community
• respect indigenous knowledge, cultures and values

Active global citizens

• accept social and civic responsibilities
• be advocates for improving the sustainability of the environment
• have a broad global understanding, with a high regard for human rights, equity and ethics