University of Notre Dame Australia
Graduate Certificate in Nursing Online
- Delivery: Online
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 6 months
- Course Type: Graduate Certificate
Advance your nursing practice through flexible online study, developing evidence-based clinical knowledge and leadership capabilities while tailoring your learning to your professional interests.
Course overview
The University of Notre Dame Australia's Graduate Certificate in Nursing is a fully online postgraduate qualification designed for Registered Nurses who want to broaden their knowledge, strengthen their clinical practice and upgrade their professional qualifications. With flexible online delivery, the program enables you to balance study alongside your professional and personal commitments.
Throughout the program, you will build advanced knowledge across areas including acute care, mental health, governance, education, evidence-based practice, professional development, management and leadership. A broad range of elective courses allows you to tailor your studies to your professional interests or workplace needs while strengthening your critical thinking, problem-solving and evidence-based decision-making skills to support high-quality patient care.
On successful completion, you will graduate with the Graduate Certificate in Nursing. The qualification also provides a pathway to the University of Notre Dame Australia's Graduate Diploma of Nursing and, with further study, the Master of Nursing (Coursework).
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
12th July, 2027
What you will study
To earn the Graduate Certificate in Nursing, you must successfully complete units totalling 100 credit points, as detailed below. Unless otherwise noted, each course is worth 25 credit points.
Core units
- Evidence-Based Practice
Elective units
Select two courses from the following:
- Advanced Health Assessment
- Clinical Governance
- Professional Role Development
- Management
Additional Electives units
Select one course from the following:
- Advanced Health Assessment
- Clinical Governance
- Deteriorating Patient Acute Care
- Professional Role Development
- Emotional Intelligence
- Management
- Learning and Facilitation in Health Professional Education
- Reasoning and Clinical Innovation
- Contemporary Issues in Health Professional Education and Leadership
- Coaching and Supervision in Health
- Counselling Skills for the Professions
- Introduction to Perinatal and Infant Mental Health
- Nursing Leadership Development Strategies
- Patient Care, Quality and Best Practice
- Contemporary Palliative Care Nursing Practice 1
Entry requirements
Applicants for this course must meet all of the following:
- Hold a current license to practice as a Registered Nurse (Div. 1) with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia or provisional registration, whichever is applicable at the time of commencement.
- Nursing or other appropriate degree or the equivalent.
Outcomes
Career outcomes
With a Graduate Certificate in Nursing, you can pursue career prospects as a clinical nurse specialist and specialist in clinical nursing. Also, a nurse educator and a supervising nurse.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Graduate Certificate in Nursing, graduates will be able to:
- Develop leadership qualities to support staff development and professional competence.
- Critically reflect on practice and own learning and develop skills for lifelong learning.
- Examine the multidisciplinary team's role in providing coordinated clinical care to patients with varied health conditions.
- Examine clinical governance frameworks related to quality nursing management and practice.
- Use current evidence and research to inform patient assessment, clinical decisions and best practice.
Fees and CSP
Indicative annual fee in 2026: $2,368 (Commonwealth Supported 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.