Graduate Certificate in Mental Health

On completion of this program students should be able to achieve the following learning outcomes:

1. Utilise evidence based knowledge and skills in the planning of respectful, safe, effective and holistic care for the patient with a mental health illness;
2. Integrate evidence based models of decision making with the health professional standards of practice and legislation in the planning of patient centred care within the mental health context;
3. Use evidence based models of clinical reasoning to facilitate clear effective communication and confident negotiation skills;
4. Harness interprofessional collaboration to provide excellent patient care and achieve common goals;
5. Model responsible and professional behaviours to colleagues and students in order to provide safe, culturally appropriate and socially just care within a medico-legal framework for mentally ill patients;
6. Deconstruct one’s own biases as a means of applying and building professional expertise in the care of mentally ill patients;
7. Reflect on practice to facilitate awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition in order to establish a mechanism for lifelong learning;
8. Conduct research retrieval and enquiry to debate contemporary mental health challenges on the global stage, incorporating philosophical, technical and social justice perspectives.

• Clinical Nurse Ward based nursing (Adult, CAMHS, Older Adult, Drug and Alcohol)
• Community Health nurses
• Nurse educators L2
• Drug & Alcohol Services
• Pris
• Defence
• Private Hospitals
• Perinatal Mental Health
• Counsellor
• GP practice   
• Volunteer work Worldwide NGOs

Higher education

To be eligible for admission to the Graduate Certificate in Mental Health applicants must hold a recognised Bachelor Degree in Nursing, and must have a current licence to practise as a registered nurse, or practitioner with an Australian regulatory authority or full membership of an appropriate Australian or Professional organisation. 

English Proficiency Requirements

Defined as the successful completion of secondary education or a Bachelor’s degree in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada or the Republic of Ireland.

Students who have English as an Additional language and are admitted on the basis of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assessment, or an equivalent English language proficiency assessment, are only admitted if they have attained n overall IELTS (or equivalent) score of 7.0, with no individual band score below 7.0.

All English language tests are valid for two years from the date of completion

Applications for Advanced Standing and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be considered and reviewed on a case by case basis by UNDA's Student Administration.

The Graduate Certificate in Mental Health has been devised and developed following extensive consultation with the professions to address a shortage of practitioners in acute mental health areas. The interdisciplinary program was designed both to upskill the existing workforce and to attract and train appropriate registered nurses and allied health staff for existing and newly created positions in this expanding area of practice. This program encompasses the skills required for triage, assessment, intervention, liaison and emergency care through a blended learning approach structured to provide students with the practical knowledge, theory and ethics essential for the challenging acute-response environment.

Recommended Study Pattern

Three core subjects:

• NURS4024 Contemporary Mental Health Practice
• NURS4025 Interpersonal Communication
• NURS4027 Role of the Mental Health Practitioner in Acute Psychiatry

One elective subject chosen from the following options:

• NURS5006 Professional Role Development
• NURS6007 Introduction to Perinatal and Infant Mental Health
• NURS5017 Emotional Intelligence

Award Requirements

To be eligible for the award of Graduate Certificate in Mental Health students must complete 3 mandatory subjects and 1 elective subject.