La Trobe University
Master of Mental Health Nursing
- Delivery: Online
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 18 months
Create better health outcomes for individuals in a wide range of hospital and community settings.
Course overview
La Trobe's fully online Master of Mental Health Nursing expands your knowledge and skills in providing recovery-based care for consumers with mental health conditions. Developed in collaboration with Mental Health Clinical Services, you'll learn how to provide evidence-based mental health care in a range of health settings and build the specialised skills to work with groups ranging from children to the elderly and in areas such as addiction, eating disorders, depression and anxiety.
You'll begin by broadening your understanding of mental health and its impact on individuals, families and communities. Build your critical thinking skills and discover how to effectively assess and diagnose mental illness. From there, you'll enhance your ability to make high-level clinical decisions and apply therapeutic interventions that meet the needs of mental health consumers.
You'll develop your communication skills to work effectively with colleagues, consumers and their families. You'll examine a range of therapeutic approaches, including pharmacological and recovery-oriented therapies, working with people in crisis and using a problem-solving approach in the context of mental health care. Then, put your learning into your current clinical practice in your workplace.
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 $588 (CSP)
September, 2025
What you will study
To qualify for the Master of Mental Health Nursing award, students must complete 180 credit points across two years. Each subject is valued at 15 credit points unless otherwise indicated.
Core subjects
- Academic Integrity Module (0 credit point)
- Advanced Mental Health Nursing Practice
- Advanced Therapeutic Skills for Mental Health Nursing
- Comprehensive Mental Health Assessment
- Experiences and Perceptions of Mental Illness
- Mental Health Diagnosis
- Mental Health Nursing and Therapeutic Pharmacology
- Mental Health Nursing: Consideration in Treatment and Recovery
- Therapeutic Skills
- Constructive Practice Recommendations
- Critiquing Research Literature
- Quality Improvement Initiatives
- Translating Evidence To Practice
Entry requirements
Prerequisites
- Successfully Completed an Australian bachelor's degree in nursing (or equivalent).
- Applicants must be working as a Division 1 Registered Nurse in mental health and hold a current practising certificate with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) with no restrictions to practice.
- Specialisation - compulsory: Nursing
As you know, meeting minimum prerequisites does not guarantee a place offer. Entry into all La Trobe courses is based on competitive selection and limited places may be available.
Recognition of Prior Learning
Credit for previous study is the recognition of prior study or learning that can be counted towards a qualification. This can reduce the number of subjects required to complete your course. The amount of credit received depends on the level and relevance of your previous study and the number of subjects completed.
Outcomes
Career outcomes
Graduates may find employment in a variety of roles, including:
- Mental Health Nurse
- Clinical Nurse Manager
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Community Mental Health Nurse
Learning outcomes
- Analyse critically and apply advanced knowledge and skills to complex clinical nursing practice in mental health care.
- Critically reflect and select clinical assessments for specialist nursing mental health care.
- Synthesise complex information to inform clinical reasoning and enable complex problem-solving skills in practice.
- Locate and use evidence-based models of care, critically appraise strategies and apply them to meet the needs of mental health consumers.
- Develop and critically analyse advanced nursing plans supporting therapeutic relationships with mental health consumers, their families and carers, using co-constructive care and collaborative engagement.
- Critically reflect on communication effectiveness and appropriateness with colleagues, people accessing mental health services and the public in both professional and social contexts by professional ethical standards.
- Critically reflect and practice independently as a team leader or team member in mental health settings via professional, person-centred care and advocacy by professional, ethical standards.
- Critically reflect on effective learning strategies that are responsive to specialised practice.
Fees and CSP
Estimated fees in 2025: $4,707 (Commonwealth Supported Place)
Estimated fees in 2025: $27,000 (Domestic full-fee paying place)
The estimated fees are based on your first-year standard full-time study load of 120 credit points.
A student’s annual fee may vary by:
- The number of subjects studied.
- Choice of courses.
- Credit from previous study or work experience.
- Eligibility for government-funded loans.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Could you 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 only need to pay some of your tuition fees. The student contribution amount is 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 courses you're enrolled in.
- Depending 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.
FEE-HELP loans are available to assist eligible full-fee-paying domestic students with the cost of a university course.
