Masters (Coursework)
Due to the global effects of population growth and the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people living with chronic conditions is on the rise. As a result, the demand for nurses in all specialised fields is expected to rapidly increase.*
La Trobe's Master of Nursing lets you match your study to your career aspirations. Enhance your knowledge and skills in specialist areas by choosing from a range of clinical and non-clinical subjects.
If you're a registered nurse working in Australia, you'll have access to a wide variety of specialisations. Enjoy a flexible, blended learning approach that combines face-to-face workshops with online study that you can fit around your work commitments and access from anywhere. For a clinical specialisation you will also undertake advanced clinical training in your own hospital's relevant work setting.
If you're looking to pursue a career as nursing educator, academic or manager, you'll have access to our online non-clinical specialisations. Develop advanced knowledge of nursing research along with the critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills you need to thrive as a nursing researcher, educator or leader.
You'll graduate ready to effectively plan, implement and evaluate practice in your specialised context, make high-level independent judgements, and function effectively as a member of a multidisciplinary team.
Our clinical specialisations include:
Acute care
Learn how to recognise, respond to, and manage patients with acute conditions and evaluate care delivery to improve patient outcomes.
Cardiac care
Gain the skills to care for cardiac patients, while exploring topics like electrocardiography, acute respiratory failure, and the assessment and management of arrhythmia and acute coronary syndromes.
Critical care
Examine nursing requirements for critically ill patients across a range of clinical settings and understand how to anticipate and respond to changes in your patient's condition.
Emergency care
Learn how to develop a plan of care for emergency patients, employ appropriate nursing interventions based on identified clinical priorities, and evaluate patients' response to treatment.
Intensive care
Discover how to care for patients with life-threatening conditions, observe and assess their physical and mental functions, and carry out specific medical treatments.
Medical imaging
Understand patient care in the context of medical imaging and explore the procedural considerations regarding imaging modalities, airway management, conscious sedation, and potential complications encountered with medical imaging.
Neonatal care
Gain the skills and knowledge to care for low- and high-risk neonates and their families in settings such as neonatal intensive care units.
Neonatal special care
Learn how to care for patients in neonatal special care. Understand how to conduct comprehensive assessments in time-critical environments and develop appropriate nursing care plans for complex scenarios.
Perioperative practices
Develop the skills and knowledge to ensure a safe surgical and anaesthetic experience for patients in pre-operative, intraoperative and post-operative environments.
Our non-clinical specialisations include:
Public health
Understand the complexity of health care systems around the world and consider the connection between health and politics, economics and social structures.
Leadership
Develop your leadership skills and prepare to take on roles across both clinical and management positions. Develop your abilities as a facilitator, teacher, mentor and clinical supervisor.
Health administration
Understand the role of epidemiology and biostatistics in public health and explore the function of human resource management. Understand contemporary approaches to quality and safety in health care and evaluate the success of different health service organisations.
The qualification awarded on graduation is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) as Level 9 - Masters Degree.
Please note, the following course structure is indicative and subject to change depending on your course location, offer year or how you tailor your course with specialisations, majors, minors and electives. Structures for the following year are not normally finalised until October, so the sample provided is based on the most recently approved structure. For more information, please refer to the La Trobe University Handbook.
To qualify for the award of Master of Nursing , students must complete a total of 240 credit points across 2 years.
Year 1 requires the completion of 120 credit points including:
Year 2 requires the completion of 120 credit points including:
This is a StudyFlex course
Whether your course is considered on campus, online or a mix of both, a StudyFlex course provides:
Learn more about StudyFlex
Core subjects are required subjects in your course. You need to complete these subjects to attain your degree.
Subject name Subject code Year Credit points ACADEMIC INTEGRITY MODULE LTU0AIM 1 0 ADVANCED HEALTH ASSESSMENT NSM4001 1 15 CRITICAL NURSING ESSENTIALS NSM4CNE 1 15 CLINICAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT NSM5CQI 1 30
Core choice subjects are one or more subject groups you need to select in your course. Core choice subjects may be specific to your course, major, minor, specialisation or other learning requirements.
Students to select one learning pathway from the list below.
Pathway
For more information on these please refer to the La Trobe University Handbook.
A specialisation is a sequence of related subjects studied in your course. In some courses, you need to complete at least one specialisation to attain your degree.
Students to select one specialisation
Specialisations
For more information on these please refer to the La Trobe University Handbook.
The Handbook contains detailed course information designed for enrolled students, including course structures, electives and options. The delivery of this course can vary between campuses.
To view other campus handbook course details, please select relevant campus in the drop down.
Depending on your specialisation, you could be eligible for a range of clinical or non-clinical healthcare roles.
These may include: