Master of Advanced Clinical Nursing

Take your nursing career to the next level by specialising in an area of advanced clinical nursing practice. Our Master of Advanced Clinical Nursing is a customisable specialist degree that will enhance your clinical decision-making skills to bolster health service delivery and improve patient outcomes.

Ranked #15 in the world,^* our School of Nursing and Midwifery is one of Australia’s largest and most established. You will learn from the best with the school’s cutting-edge research recognised as well above world standard.^

Are you looking for a flexible clinical nursing degree where you can choose your specialisation and take a step forward in your nursing career?

You will enter this course with support from your health service to specialise in your chosen area of practice. This flexible degree enables you to pursue your chosen career pathway; whether you want to support patients through their surgical journey as a perioperative nurse or play a leading role advancing the care of the critically ill as an intensive care nurse. You can select from seven areas of advanced clinical nursing, which will be your focus for the first year of your course:

• cardiac (including interventional cardiology)
• critical care
• emergency
• intensive care
• intraoperative
• perianaesthesia
• perioperative.

No matter your specialty area, you will further your essential skills in navigating patient care, communicating with patient’s families and working efficiently in a multidisciplinary care team. As an experienced registered nurse you will be challenged to advance your professional judgement, leadership and professionalism within modern healthcare practice.

You will explore and analyse ethical, transcultural and psychosocial concepts in the context of complicated grief, critical incident stresses and brain death.
Our course curriculum is shaped by industry insights and research from Deakin’s Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research (QPS). QPS is a leader in clinical research, quality and risk management, and has researchers within six of Victoria’s major health services. This means the course material is evidence-based, patient-focused and informed by academics, researchers and clinical experts who are leaders in their fields.

You will be in control of your learning, and have the opportunity to complement your specialty area with either a thesis stream or coursework stream.
The coursework stream allows you to customise your degree to match your career aspirations. You can choose from a mix of course and postgraduate electives from across the university.

The thesis stream sets you up to pursue a research pathway upon graduation, with four dedicated thesis units and two electives. Supported by a research supervision team and our expert staff you will create an individual research thesis in an area of specialty nursing practice.

Want to further your career in a shorter time? We offer graduate diplomas and graduate certificates for all specialty areas. If you wish to pursue a shorter qualification please enrol in them directly.

Alternatively, if you are seeking a non-specialised postgraduate nursing qualification to advance into a senior position, our Master of Advanced Nursing prepares you to step up into nursing leadership, management or education without the need to specialise in a clinical specialty area. It is also a highly customisable course with a range of electives and the option of a thesis or coursework stream.

^* 2024 ShanghaiRankings Ranking of Academic Subjects.
^{^} Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) 2018.

• Begin the application process

  We have a network of experienced authorised agents around the world who can help you through the application process. They are trained to provide advice and information on Deakin University and our degrees. Find out if you need to use a Deakin authorised agent to submit your application.

• Check entry requirements

  Entry requirements differ depending on your degree or country of residence. Before starting your application, read through the entry requirements on the course page entry requirement tab.

  Need to improve your English language skills?

  You can enrol at the Deakin University English Language Institute and study a course to improve your English language skills. If you pass, this can help you get into most Deakin degrees. Please note, this page is available in both Indonesian and Vietnamese.

  Need help meeting the academic requirements?

  Deakin College is your first step towards your dream degree at Deakin University. With small class sizes and a supportive environment, Deakin College sets you up for success at university.

• Certify supporting documents

  Most documents need to be certified. For example, award certificates, academic transcripts and your identity papers (passport). Documents in languages other than English will also need to be translated. Take the original document and a photocopy to an authorised person (for example, justice of the peace, public notary, member of the police force or Australian lawyer), to sign.

  Be sure to attach all requested supporting documentation, otherwise your application could be delayed. If you get your application in early, this gives us more time to arrange visas and accommodation if you need them.

• Submit your application

  Depending on your nationality and country of residence, you can submit your application directly to Deakin through our online international student application service StudyLink Connect or through a Deakin authorised agent.