Deakin University
Graduate Certificate of Critical Care Nursing
- Delivery: Online
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 12 months
Enhance your skills as a registered nurse to provide exceptional care for critically ill patients.
Course overview
Deakin University’s Graduate Certificate of Critical Care Nursing is designed for registered nurses seeking to extend their capability in complex critical care environments. The course supports nurses caring for critically ill patients across areas such as emergency departments, intensive care and high dependency units.
You will examine physiology, pathophysiology and evidence-based critical care while strengthening your ability to assess patients, interpret complex clinical data and respond to rapidly changing conditions. Learning also covers advanced treatment modalities, patient safety, person-centred care, interdisciplinary communication and clinical decision-making.
Online learning is integrated with clinical practice through your ongoing employment. You must independently secure employment for at least 24 hours per week in an appropriate critical care setting at a collaborating Australian hospital, with access to suitable clinical supervision. Both the theoretical and clinical components of each credit-bearing unit must be passed.
Completed online over one year of part-time study, the course can support advanced practice, education, leadership and management responsibilities in critical care nursing. Graduates may also apply to continue into Deakin’s Graduate Diploma of Critical Care Nursing.
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
From $592 (CSP)
July, 2027
What you will study
To earn the Graduate Certificate of Critical Care Nursing, you must successfully complete units totalling 4 credit points, as detailed below. Unless otherwise noted, each course is worth 2 credit points.
Core units
- Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing
- Critical Care Nursing
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
To be eligible for this course, applicants must meet all of the following requirements:
- Hold current registration as a registered nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, with no conditions or restrictions.
- Have independently secured ongoing employment for at least 24 hours per week in an appropriate critical care setting at a collaborating hospital in Australia.
- Have access to appropriate clinical supervision within their employing hospital.
Selection also considers academic merit, work experience, participation and regulatory requirements, availability of places and the applicant’s likelihood of success. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
Supporting documents
Applicants must submit a completed Applicant Declaration form confirming:
- Their employment in an appropriate critical care setting.
- The employing health service’s awareness of the course’s clinical requirements.
- Access to appropriate clinical supervision and assessment.
- The health service’s support for the duration of the course.
The declaration identifies relevant settings as including intensive care, high dependency and emergency departments. Deakin may verify the information provided with the nominated health service.
English language proficiency requirements
To meet the English-language proficiency requirements for this course, applicants must provide evidence of at least one of the following:
- Bachelor's degree from a recognised English-speaking country.
- IELTS overall score of 6.5 (with no band score less than 6.0) or equivalent.
- Other evidence of English language proficiency.
Contact the university or visit its website for further information about accepted tests, qualifications and equivalent scores.
Recognition of Prior Learning
You may be eligible for recognition of prior learning if you have previously studied or have relevant work experience. This will help reduce the number of units you need to study to finish your course. Contact the university for more information.
Outcomes
Learning outcomes
- Demonstrate safe psychomotor skills and clinical practice commensurate with critical care nursing theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practice and person-centred care.
- Demonstrate communication skills to develop and implement plans of care to ensure the delivery of quality, safe nursing care to patients in the critical care setting.
- Evaluate information using digital technologies to effectively disseminate relevant critical care information to patients and/or the multidisciplinary team.
- Identify and evaluate complex data from multiple sources to inform clinical decision making in the critical care setting.
- Apply specialised nursing knowledge and skills to routine and complex problems in the critical care setting to optimise patient outcomes.
- Demonstrate professionalism, accountability, reflection, and personal autonomy as a critical care nurse.
- Establish and maintain inclusive, collaborative professional relationships with all members of the multidisciplinary team.
- Display accountability for, and sound professional judgement in behaviours that uphold ethical principles of practice within diverse social, cultural, and environmental contexts.
Career outcomes
The Graduate Certificate of Critical Care Nursing allows you to meet that demand in a variety of roles across advanced practice, leadership, management and education in regional, rural or metropolitan hospitals, including:
- Critical Care Nurse
- Associate or Unit Manager
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Clinical Nurse Educator
Fees and CSP
Indicative annual fee in 2026: $2,369 (Commonwealth Supported Place)
Indicative annual fee in 2026: $14,700 (Full-fee paying place)
Indicative annual fees are based on your first year of study.
A student’s annual fee may vary by:
- The number of units studied.
- Choice of units.
- Credit from previous study or work experience.
- Eligibility for government-funded loans.
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 courses.
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.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Contact the university directly to confirm.
HECS-HELP loans are available to CSP students to pay the student contribution amount.
FEE-HELP loans are available to assist eligible full-fee-paying domestic students with the cost of a university course.
