Graduate diploma · university
Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing
A Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing is a one year full-time course, often studied part time, for registered nurses who want to specialise in mental health care.
- How long it takes
- 1 year
- full time
- Level
- Graduate diploma
- University
- Leads on to
- Mental Health Nurse
- $114,000 median pay, In demand
- Taught by
- 2 providers
- NSW, VIC
Is this course right for you?
What the Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing asks of you, and what you might want to check first.
Before you start
Each provider sets its own entry requirements, so check the ones you are considering.
Where this course can take you
Jobs this qualification is a recognised route into, and the study that can follow it.
Jobs you can do with it
Mental Health Nurse
Mental health nurses assess and treat people living with mental illness, combining clinical care and medication with the day-to-day support that helps someone stabilise and recover.
What else you need
For nurses who already hold general registration; the course builds specialist mental health practice but does not itself confer nursing registration. Credentialing and role requirements are set by employers and professional bodies.
Median pay$114,000
In demand
Pay is the median for everyone in the job, and “In demand” means the job is on the national shortage list.
Where you can study this course
There are 2 places you can study this course. When you compare them, check they teach it the way you want to study, how far you'd be from a campus, what it will cost you and what past students say about the teaching and support. They're listed by how often people search for them, and none of them pays to be here or to move up.
- Website for The University of Sydney (opens in a new tab)
The University of Sydney
The University of Sydney, NSW
4.5from 2,084 Google reviews
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Bundoora Campus, Plenty Road, Bundoora Vic 3083, VIC
What you’ll learn
The main topics covered in the Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing.
- Mental health assessment
- Therapeutic communication
- Recovery oriented practice
- Mental health law and ethics
- Acute and community mental health care
Questions to ask before you enrol
Providers run this course differently, so the answers change from one to the next.
- When is the next intake, and how many are there each year?
- What is the total cost, including materials, checks and any placement costs?
- Can I study part time or online, and how does that change the length?
- Do the units count towards a higher qualification if I go on to study further?