Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Practice

The course provides the opportunity for nurses to extend their nursing knowledge in an area of specialty nursing and to develop a level of clinical competence consistent with proficient specialty practice. Students develop a depth and complexity of knowledge that enhances their specialty nursing practice in a variety of contexts and nursing roles.

Enrolment in the Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Practice (PDNP) is dependant on meeting the registration and clinical experience requirements outlined in the Admission Requirements section. You must also have the support of your current employer to facilitate completion of specialty clinical competencies.

If you do not meet the registration and clinical experience requirements of this course, you may be eligible for the theory only Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing . In this course, clinical components are replaced with additional elective subjects. Please contact the School for further details.

As a graduate of the PDNP you will have:

• the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to understand the practice of providing holistic nursing care to individuals experiencing a complex range of disturbances to health and wellbeing that require complex specialty nursing interventions
• an understanding of the professional issues impacting upon specialty nursing and the wider nursing profession
• a beginning understanding of the international context and sensitivities of the specialty area
• a capacity to engage where appropriate with issues in contemporary society that impact on and are impacted by specialty nursing practice
• an appreciation of the ways in which evidence based practice guides specialty practice and how specialty knowledge equips the student to offer leadership in the specialty area
• an appreciation of the design, conduct and reporting of research as it relates to the development of evidence based practice
• a capacity to articulate knowledge and understanding of specialty practice in oral and written presentations
• a capacity to manage competing demands on time, including self-directed project work
• demonstrated clinical competencies in a workplace, assessed by clinical experts, at a proficient level as benchmarked against Australian specialty practice competencies

The PDNP is comprised of 100 credit points of coursework subjects. You will complete a mandated evidence-based subject and a range of clinical and theory coursework subjects.

Course structures for the specialty areas can be found at the School of Nursing website: http://www.nursing.unimelb.edu.au/courses/SAP/pdnp.html

Students may take up to 12.5 points of approved subjects from other disciplines. Students commencing in semester 2 undertake an altered course plan due to subject availability.

Please visit the School of Nursing website for Admission Requirements:

http://www.nursing.unimelb.edu.au/courses/SAP/admission.html