Adelaide University
Graduate Certificate in Nursing
- Delivery: Face to Face
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 12 months
Learn specialised skills to improve your performance in clinical practice.
Course overview
Adelaide University’s Graduate Certificate in Nursing is your opportunity to learn specialised skills and enhance your delivery in clinical practice.
This highly customisable qualification reflects the diversity and needs of the modern nursing workforce. Choose a specialised path with set career outcomes in growing areas of key industry need. Or choose from over 40 different electives to customise a degree that meets the specific needs of your current and future roles.
Regardless of your path, you’ll be better prepared to meet challenges and become a leader in the healthcare system. Use your enhanced skills to influence and inform your workplace and better understand your role within Australia’s healthcare system.
This qualification is designed for working professionals, fit study around your life with online and part-time study options. Engage in self-guided learning, face-to-face workshops with your peers and collaborative work opportunities within your existing workplace.
You’ll graduate with the skills to step into much-needed advanced clinical practice roles and make a difference in your role.
CSP Subsidised Fees Available
This program has a limited quota of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP). The indicative CSP price is calculated based on first year fees for EFT. The actual fee may vary if there are choices in electives or majors.
Key facts
What you will study
To qualify for the Graduate Certificate in Nursing, the student must complete 24 units comprising:
Either:
- 24 units from discipline courses
- 24 units for electives
- 24 units for one specialisation
Unless otherwise indicated, each course is worth six units.
Complete exactly 24 units from the following:
- Epidemiology for Advanced Practice
- Oncology Nursing (12 units)
- Perspectives in Mental Health Practice (12 units)
- Perinatal Mental Health for Health Professionals (12 units)
- Skills for Recovery Practice in Mental Health (12 units)
- Best Practice in Adolescent Mental Health (12 units)
- Best Practice in Older People's Mental Health (12 units)
- Foundations of Teaching and Learning in Health Education (12 units)
- Implementing Teaching and Learning in Health Education (12 units)
- Allergy Nursing (12 units)
- Nephrology Nursing (12 units)
- Perioperative Nursing (12 units)
- Introduction to High Acuity Nursing and Midwifery (12 units)
- Palliative Care Nursing (12 units)
Entry requirement
To be eligible, an applicant must have achieved the following minimum entry requirements and demonstrate they fulfill any prerequisite and essential criteria for admission. In cases where there are more eligible applicants than available places, admission will be competitive with ranks based on the entry criteria.
- A completed bachelor degree (AQF level 7) or higher from a recognised higher education institution.
- Hold or be eligible to hold registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).
Recognition of Prior Learning
You may be able to get credit for your course based on prior formal, non-formal or informal learning. To apply, you will need to provide supporting documentation outlined by the university. Contact the university for more information.
Outcomes
Career outcomes
Nursing is a rewarding, challenging and constantly changing profession. By embracing further study, you can shape a lifelong career that grows with you.
By upskilling with a Graduate Certificate in Nursing, you’ll be able to meet patient needs when and where they matter most. Depending on your chosen electives, you’ll feel confident to work in a wider variety of nursing roles or can move into a specialised practice area.
You may find yourself working in a public hospital emergency department, ready to stabilise patients on the cusp of life and death. You could work in a community mental health clinic, counselling patients and equipping them with coping mechanisms to reduce risk or you could work in a private surgery practice, keeping watch over patients having life-changing elective surgery.
Fees and CSP
Estimated annual fee in 2026: From $2,369 (Commonwealth Supported Place)
All costs are calculated using current rates and are based on a study load of 24 units (normally four courses) per year.
Student annual fees may vary in accordance with:
- The number of courses studied per term.
- The choice of major or specialisation.
- Choice of courses.
- Credit from previous study or work experience.
- Eligibility for government-funded loans.
You may also need to pay the student services and amenities fee.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Contact the university directly to confirm.
Commonwealth Supported Places
The Australian Government allocates a certain number of CSPs to the universities each year, which are then distributed to students based on merit.
If you're a Commonwealth Supported Student (CSS), you'll only need to pay a portion of your tuition fees. This is known as the student contribution amount – the balance once the government subsidy is applied. This means your costs are much lower.
Limited CSP spaces are offered to students enrolled in selected postgraduate programs.
Your student contribution amount is:
- Calculated per the course you're enrolled in.
- Dependent on the study areas they relate to.
- Reviewed and adjusted each year.
HECS-HELP loans are available to CSP students to pay the student contribution amount.
