Graduate Certificate of Intensive Care Nursing

What you will study

To earn the Graduate Certificate of Intensive Care Nursing, you must successfully complete units totalling 4 credit points, as detailed below. Unless otherwise noted, each unit is worth 2 credit points.

Core units

• Core Principles of Critical Care Nursing
• Intensive 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 a relevant intensive care or high dependency 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 intensive care or high dependency 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.

English-language requirements

Applicants must provide evidence of at least one of the following:

• A bachelor degree from a recognised English-speaking country.
• An IELTS overall score of 6.5, with no band score below 6.0, or an accepted equivalent.
• Other accepted evidence of English-language proficiency.

Contact the university for further information.

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

Career outcomes

The Graduate Certificate of Intensive Care Nursing will allow you to meet that demand in a variety of roles across advanced practice, leadership, management and education including:

• ICU nurse
• Associate or Unit Manager
• Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Clinical Nurse Educator

Learning outcomes

• Demonstrate safe psychomotor skills and clinical practice commensurate with emergency 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 emergency care setting.
• Evaluate information using digital technologies to effectively disseminate relevant emergency care information to patients and/or the multidisciplinary team.
• Identify and evaluate complex data from multiple sources to inform clinical decision making in the emergency care setting.
• Apply specialised nursing knowledge and skills to routine and complex problems in the emergency care setting to optimise patient outcomes.
• Demonstrate professionalism, accountability, reflection and personal autonomy as an emergency 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.

Fees and CSP

Indicative annual fee in 2026: $2,455 (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.