Master of Mental Health Nursing

Help shape the future of Mental Health Nursing in Australia with Deakin’s Master of Mental Health Nursing. With around 42% of Australians* experiencing a mental health condition at some time in their life, there is significant government and industry focus on growing and fostering the mental health workforce. You’ll develop the advanced practical skills and knowledge to expand your practice in mental health as a senior clinician, step into a leadership capacity, or innovate through research.

Developed in consultation with our key industry partners, you’ll gain the comprehensive theoretical and advanced practical skills needed to work with carers and supporters in any setting where mental health intervention occurs. You’ll graduate with an advanced understanding of holistic nursing assessment, major mental health conditions, person-centred approaches, therapeutic and pharmacological interventions.

Are you ready to play a leading role in the future of mental health nursing?

Help deliver the care that an increasing number of Australians need each year. With Deakin’s Master of Mental Health Nursing you’ll understand the core, foundational, and consumer-centric mental health concepts necessary to work within the multidisciplinary teams supporting consumers, carers and supporters.

In this three-year part-time course delivered on Deakin’s premium interactive learning platform you will have the opportunity to undertake either a thesis stream where you can inform current nursing practice by undertaking a research project in mental health nursing; or, choose a course work stream where you can curate your focus with a choice of course and university-wide electives.

During your first year you’ll gain an advanced understanding of comprehensive nursing assessment and the fundamental role that it plays in mental health nursing. You will learn to recognise the biological, psychological, social and spiritual components of an individual’s life, and how these can positively and negatively influence their mental health. Build on your existing skills with course content and assessments designed to facilitate advanced recognition and response to altered mental states and clinical presentation; develop comprehensive understanding of the experiences of vulnerable populations while also exploring high and low prevalence mental health conditions including, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders.

Expanding on these foundations you’ll examine and learn how to apply contemporary and effective person-centred therapeutic interventions; working with consumers, carers and supporters on their recovery journey. Students will explore trauma-informed care, principles of recovery-oriented nursing practice and the role of peers, carers and families in supporting consumers with mental health challenges. Contemporary mental health treatment calls for a combination of nursing interventions that treat symptoms, manage psychological distress and support and foster consumer wellbeing and resilience. You’ll gain a deep understanding of both pharmacologic and talk therapies that underpin current mental health nursing practices, including the quality use of psychotropic medications such as antipsychotic, antimanic, anxiolytic, and antidepressant medications; as well as person-centred approaches to talk therapy, such as cognitive behaviour therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.

In the second year you’ll gain an advanced understanding and knowledge of the physical health issues associated with mental illness and its treatments, such as common complications experienced by those consumers taking psychotropic medications, including metabolic syndrome and other conditions caused by medication-induced obesity.

In order to support consumers living with mental health challenges, nurses must be resilient and able to thrive in spite of the demands and stress of working in this challenging environment. You’ll enhance and support your nursing practice to manage the dynamic and challenging experiences of working in the mental healthcare environment; safeguarding your personal mental health through recognising, navigating and preventing burnout.

Course work stream:

• 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.

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• 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.