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Key details
Duration
Locations
Entry requirements
View full entry requirementsCredit points required
80Course code
Overview
The Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) is an online course designed for experienced registered nurses who want to build their professional practice capability and seek endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner in line with the Standards of Practice set by Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. This course will enhance your knowledge and advanced practice skills in a range of areas including:
- expanded practice
- professional autonomy and accountability, and
- clinical leadership.
The course builds on the knowledge you will have already gained through postgraduate studies and professional experience. It has a focus on person-centred care that is culturally responsive, to be applied within primary health care or any other healthcare settings where a Nurse Practitioner provides care.
Intensives (on campus)
While this is an online course, you are required to complete two on-campus intensives. Each intensive is one-week long and takes place early in Semester 1 each year with Year 1 at CDU's Sydney Campus and Year 2 in Darwin. Exact dates are confirmed during the course and students are responsible for the costs of attendance (including travel and accommodation).
Clinical requirements
In this course you are required to undertake a minimum of 300 hours supernumerary integrated professional practice (IPP). Further details are available in the Clinical Requirements SNNP01 Assessment Pack for the professional practice units.
Clinical Support Team (CST)
Chosen Clinical Support Team members and the clinical mentor (CM) must be employed at a minimum of 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) to enable consistent supervision and assessment in practice; casual staff are not eligible as CST members.
The nurse practitioner (NP) student will be working closely with their team to expand and further develop their clinical skills, decision-making, critical thinking, diagnostic reasoning, patient management, and professional practice.
It is desirable that the members of the CST have at least one of the following: educational training, experience supervising previous NP students, or experience of supervising registrar or medical students as outlined in the CST agreement form.
Professional recognition
Graduates of the course are educational wise eligible to apply to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia for endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner. See the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia website for further details regarding regulatory requirements.
Credit transfers and advanced standing
Pathways
Pathways for Higher Education to Higher Education
For information about credit transfer available to students with complete or incomplete study at this or other Institutions refer to Pathways for Higher Education to Higher Education
Credit transfer
For further information on credit transfer and how to apply visit ASK CDU
Credit transfers and advanced standing
Credit transfer
For further information on credit transfer and how to apply visit ASK CDU
Fees
Commonwealth supported places
Commonwealth Supported places are available in this course to students who meet one of the following residency requirements:
(a) be an Australian citizen, who will complete some of your course of study while resident in Australia; or
(b) a New Zealand citizen; or an Australian permanent visa holder; or an eligible former permanent humanitarian visa holder; who studies the entire course while living in Australia.
Further information about fees and charges can be found at Fees and Payments.
Why study Nursing and Midwifery at CDU?
Future-proof your career in healthcare with a postgraduate nursing or midwifery degree at CDU. Delivered by passionate and expert lecturers, your learning will be guided by evidence, innovation and patient-centred care.
- #2 in Australia for postgraduate nursing starting salary (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate nursing employment outcomes (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate learner engagement in nursing
- Choose to study online, on campus, part-time or full-time as it suits you
Why study Nursing and Midwifery at CDU?
Find a rewarding career in healthcare when you study nursing or midwifery at CDU. Our graduates have the academic knowledge and hands-on experience to confidently enter the workplace and deliver evidence-based care to their patients.
- Gain practical experience through placements and state-of-the-art clinical simulation suites located around Australia
- #2 in Australia for postgraduate nursing starting salary (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate nursing employment outcomes (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate learner engagement in nursing
Why study Nursing and Midwifery at CDU?
Future-proof your career in healthcare with a postgraduate nursing or midwifery degree at CDU. Delivered by passionate and expert lecturers, your learning will be guided by evidence, innovation and patient-centred care.
- #2 in Australia for postgraduate nursing starting salary (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate nursing employment outcomes (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate learner engagement in nursing
- Choose to study online, on campus, part-time or full-time as it suits you
Why study Nursing and Midwifery at CDU?
Find a rewarding career in healthcare when you study nursing or midwifery at CDU. Our graduates have the academic knowledge and hands-on experience to confidently enter the workplace and deliver evidence-based care to their patients.
- Gain practical experience through placements and state-of-the-art clinical simulation suites located around Australia
- #2 in Australia for postgraduate nursing starting salary (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate nursing employment outcomes (GUG 2024)
- #3 in Australia for postgraduate learner engagement in nursing
What will I study?
This course consists of eigth core units building on the foundation of specialist knowledge and skills, evidence-based practice, cultural safety and introductory pharmacology acquired at previous studies at undergraduate and furthermore at postgraduate level. The core units address the NMBA (2021) Nurse Practitioner Standards for Practice and encompass acquisition of knowledge and skills, critical thinking, shared decision making and complex problem solving required for advanced and extended clinical practice as well as clinical leadership.
Course structure
A candidate must successfully complete units totalling 80 credit points as detailed below. All units are valued at 10 credit points unless indicated.
| Unit type | Credit Points | Specific requirements |
| Core Units (6 units) | 60cp | Compulsory Core units totalling 60 credit points as per the list of units detailed below: NUR510 Foundation of Nurse Practitioner Practice NUR511 Assess, Examine, Investigate & Diagnose A NUR512 Assess, Examine, Investigate & Diagnose B (available from 2021) NUR513 Nurse Practitioner Integrated Professional Practice 1 NUR515 Pharmacotherapeutics for Independent Prescribers (available from 2021) NUR614 Nurse Practitioner Integrated Professional Practice 2 |
| Specialist Electives (2 units) | 20cp | Specialist Elective units totalling 20 credit points selected from the list of available units detailed below: Students must undertake either: HEA550 Nursing and Midwifery Professional Leadership (available from 2022) OR MAN506 Organisational Behaviour (no longer available from 2022)(replaces MAN509 from 2021) AND either NUR516 Critical Evaluation of Treatment Modalities OR PHM525 Indigenous Health Research |
| Electives (0 units) | 0cp | There are no elective units available in this course. |
| 80cp | Total Credit Points |
Course Rules (unless otherwise indicated in the above course structure)
- See the Higher Education Course Rules (Award Requirements) in the Units and Courses Policy.
Course Changes from 2022
HEA550 Nursing and Midwifery Professional Leadership replaces MAN506 Organisational Behaviour from 2022.
Study plan
Students Commencing in Semester 1
The Recommended Study Plan provided below is suitable for a student commencing in semester 1 and enrolling in a standard part time load.
| Legend: | CO = Core Unit | SE = Specialist Elective |
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 | ||
| Year 1 | |||
| NUR510 Foundation of Nurse Practitioner Practice | CO | NUR513 Nurse Practitioner Integrated Professional Practice 1 | CO |
| NUR511 Assess, Examine, Investigate & Diagnose A (includes a one-week intensive) | CO | HEA550 Nursing and Midwifery Professional Leadership (from 2022)or MAN506 Organisational Behaviour (pre-2022) | SE |
| Year 2 | |||
| NUR515 Pharmacotherapeutics for Independent Prescribers | CO | NUR614 Nurse Practitioner Integrated Professional Practice 2 | CO |
| NUR512 Assess, Examine, Investigate & Diagnose B (includes a one-week intensive) | CO | NUR516 Critical Evaluation of Treatment Modalities or PHM525 Indigenous Health Research | SE |
CDU Specialist Elective availability
| Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
| HEA550 Nursing and Midwifery Professional Leadership NUR516 Critical Evaluation of Treatment Modalities PHM525 Indigenous Health Research |
Students Commencing in Semester 2
There is no Semester 2 intake for this course.
Entry requirements
Quota
This course is a highly competitive course with a limited number of places. This means that although you may meet the minimum entry requirements for the course, you may not be ranked high enough to receive an offer. Subquotas are in place for First Nation and NT Resident applicants.
Admission criteria
Applicants must:
- hold current and unrestricted registration as a registered nurse with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- have completed a graduate certificate or higher degree in their nursing clinical field
- provide a curriculum vitae demonstrating a minimum of two-years of full time equivalent (FTE) employment as a registered nurse in a specified clinical field and a minimum of an additional two-years FTE of recent advanced nursing practice in the same clinical field.
- provide evidence from an approved health care organisation that support the applicant and the clinical requirements, including supervision and clinical support for a minimum of 300 hours of supernumerary integrated professional practice during the course.
Essential requirements
Students may be required to undertake a Criminal History Check and Working with Children Check prior to undertaking supernumerary integrated professional practice.
English language requirements
To gain entry into Charles Darwin University, all Higher Education applicants must satisfy the University's English Language Proficiency Requirements for their chosen course of study. International applicants will be required to supply evidence of this at the time of application.
The minimum English language requirement for this course is met by either undertaking previous education from an English-speaking country or undertaking one of the following English language tests and obtaining the minimum requirements listed below.
| CDU English for Academic Purposes 4 (ZEAP40) | Successful completion of EAP004 English for Academic Purposes 4 |
| IELTS Academic Module | A minimum overall score of 6.5 with no band less than 6.0. |
| Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) | A minimum overall score of 176, with no skill below 169. |
| Common European Framework Certificate of English Proficiency | A minimum overall grade of C1, valid for three years from the date of the test to the date of commencement at CDU. |
| Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic module | A minimum overall score of 58 with no score lower than 50. |
| TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) | A minimum overall score of 79 with a minimum writing score of 21. |
* All tests are valid for two years from the date of the test to the date of commencement at CDU, unless otherwise specified.
* Where applicable, international applicants must also satisfy the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) English language requirements for student visa applications.
Do you have a question regarding English requirements at CDU? Please email: international@cdu.edu.au.
The people-first approach to flexibility and supportive learning environment at CDU meant I could find a balance with study, work and family life.
Nikki
CDU student
It’s a two-way education, educators here listen to us as much as we listen to them, so classroom experiences are amazing. I’ve also made a lot of friends through our regular group assignments or projects.
Farhana
CDU student
The people-first approach to flexibility and supportive learning environment at CDU meant I could find a balance with study, work and family life.
Nikki
CDU student
It’s a two-way education, educators here listen to us as much as we listen to them, so classroom experiences are amazing. I’ve also made a lot of friends through our regular group assignments or projects.
Farhana
CDU student
Course details
Accreditation
This course is accredited by the University in accordance with the Higher Education Standards.
Inherent Requirements
There are inherent requirements for this course. Students must read and understand the requirements for this course.
Australian qualification framework
This course is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9.
Additional information
Contact details
For further information about the course, enrolment procedures, closing dates and other administrative issues please contact Student Central on:
You make CDU
Together we are a positive force for change in our communities and the world.
Learn about nursing at CDU
Reeya is from Nepal studying a Bachelor of Nursing at CDU. Hear more about her experience of studying, living, working and playing in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
You make CDU
Together we are a positive force for change in our communities and the world.
Learn about nursing at CDU
Reeya is from Nepal studying a Bachelor of Nursing at CDU. Hear more about her experience of studying, living, working and playing in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
How to apply
There are many ways to apply to CDU. The method you use depends on your course type, where you live and whether you are a new or returning student to CDU.
Remember to apply early for your best chance at securing an offer to study with us.
To apply, all applicants must complete the attached Application Forms and submit them alongside all supporting documentation to NursePractitioner@cdu.edu.au.
Please note, only applications submitted to the above email address are currently accepted, SATAC applications are closed.
Applications for 2024 open on the 7th of August 2023 and close on the 31st of December 2023. Please note that applications after this date are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
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