Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing

Graduate Certificate

Advances in technology, evidence-based guidelines and acuity of illness have the most significant impact on nurses working in the contemporary critical care environments.

Key details

Degree Type

Graduate Certificate

Study Mode

Online

Intake Months

Jan, Jul

About this course

Advances in technology, evidence-based guidelines and acuity of illness have the most significant impact on nurses working in the contemporary critical care environments.

Studying critical care nursing at ACN will provide you with the opportunity to explore concepts related to best practice nursing and person-centred delivery of care in critical care environment. Our course is written by specialist nurses and student learning is supported by a team of clinical experts, working in education and clinical settings.

The specialty electives allow students to further contextualise their learning to specific area of clinical practice interest from ICU to emergency and cardiac nursing.

Graduate certificate in Critical Care Nursing is approved by TEQSA at AQF level 8 and is aligned to Australian Critical Care College of Nursing practice standards. On completion of the course, the students are able to achieve graduate outcomes which will inform their professional practice as well as their nationally and internationally recognised post graduate qualifications.

Entry requirements

Admission to a graduate certificate course is based on academic merit and selection. In addition, applicants must satisfy any prerequisites or additional requirements specified for particular courses, including ACN's general eligibility criteria.

All applicants seeking admission are required to:

hold a Bachelor of Nursing or registered nurse* equivalent qualification
hold current registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA); or the equivalent registering authority in your country of origin
meet the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia English language skills registration standard (nursing and midwifery) - please refer to the AHPRA website to download the standard
have a minimum of one year of postgraduate experience; and
be currently employed in the clinical area of specialisation*

*For some GC units of study, consideration may be given for applicants who are not registered nurses on an individual basis.

Study locations

Online

What you will learn

This course is designed for registered nurses wishing to further their education in the practice of critical care nursing. It enables students to:

Develop a sound theoretical base for specialist nursing practice in a dynamic, complex and demanding critical care environment
Apply specialist level of clinical skills and abilities to optimise person-centred care delivery for critical ill people
Analyse complex clinical problems using critical thinking, evolved reasoning informed by national and international best practice guidelines
Discuss legal, ethical and cultural concepts related to providing holistic healthcare in a safe and cohesive critical care environment
Evaluate critical care leadership and mentoring processes which enable dissemination of knowledge, enhancement of skills and participation in collaborative research and lifelong learning
Critically analyse own role in fostering reflective practice and effective communication for continuous improvement of standards and quality in critical care

Graduate outcomes

Graduate satisfaction and employment outcomes for Nursing courses at Australian College of Nursing (ACN).

83.2%

Overall satisfaction

79.7%

Skill scale

67.6%

Teaching scale

89%

Employed full-time

$87.2k

Average salary

Data source