Australian Catholic University

Master of Mental Health Nursing

Expanding on units undertaken in the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma, the Master of Mental Health Nursing aims to expand nursing clinicians’ knowledge and skills in mental health practice and leadership through evidence-based knowledge and practice. Students have the option to pursue a project stream or a research stream within this course. As such, they may complete either a project and two elective subjects, or complete a research dissertation in their final semester. The research stream has a PhD articulation pathway.

Both streams consolidate learning from the Graduate Certificate in Mental Health and Graduate Diploma in Mental Health in research, specialist clinical skills and knowledge as well as clinical leadership.

Current mental health postgraduate programs in Australia focus on either acute mental health care settings or generic mental health. ACU’s Master of Mental Health Nursing has been developed specifically for nursing clinicians entering into the specialist area of mental health. The course is targeted to new nursing graduates and to those working in mental health but who have no formal postgraduate mental health qualifications.

In the current period of mental health service provision reform, there has been a shift in focus from acute inpatient treatment to recovery-oriented practice, so the workforce requires professional development opportunities to keep pace with such changes.