An online Masters in Nursing is a path to a brighter career. Popular specialisations include advanced nursing, advanced practice, emergency nursing, management, and nurse education.
A Masters in Nursing online is the easiest and cheapest way to do advanced studies. You can gain a valuable degree with minimal time away from work or family. Work full-time, study part-time online and earn a masters in 2 years.
A Masters of Nursing is a potential game changer in terms of your career. You can go beyond the ordinary technical and practical concerns of the profession. Advanced studies are a pathway into high-responsibility roles, specialist nursing jobs, and management and leadership positions.
Masters Specialisations
Advanced Nursing
A Master of Advanced Nursing is a Master of Nursing program that may be relatively specialised. But the difference between advanced and other nursing masters may be slight. A Master of Advanced Nursing and Master of Nursing can both be considered advanced degrees for nurses.
UTS Online Master of Advanced Nursing
The Master of Advanced Nursing is designed for nurses who want to drive better outcomes for person-centred care. Through this course, you’ll develop advanced clinical, leadership and interpersonal skills that you can apply immediately into your healthcare setting. You can tailor your studies by choosing to complete a general pathway or specialise in Acute Care, Chronic and Complex Care, Quality and Safety, or Leadership and Management. This course is delivered part-time, 100% online and influenced by strong healthcare industry partners, making it one of the most contemporary and comprehensive courses of its kind.
Advanced Nursing Practice
A Masters of Advanced Nursing Practice program is designed to extend the clinical capabilities of registered nurses. The course builds nursing competencies. You gain skills and knowledge for assessing, planning and implementing healthcare services. You may also learn to diagnose and evaluate care in a more specialist capacity.
JCU Online Master of Nursing (Advanced Practice)
The Master of Nursing program at James Cook University Online is suitable for any experienced Registered Nurse. The Advanced Practice major develops your ability to deliver comprehensive care in clinical settings. To qualify for the major, you need to do these subjects: Advanced Health Assessment, Quality Use of Medicines in Practice, Applied Health Assessment and Advanced Practice, and Diagnostic Reasoning for Advanced Practice. The 12-subject program is 100% online and gives you the option to start with a graduate certificate (4 units) or graduate diploma (8 units). You can potentially finish the accelerated (year-round) course in under 2 years while working full-time.
Emergency Nursing
A Master of Emergency Nursing or Masters in Acute Care are for nurses who work in emergency departments or other settings where time is of the essence. Patients may present with life-threatening conditions or other problems requiring urgent treatment, such as burns, fractures, concussions, abdominal pain, fever or open wounds.
UTS Online Master of Advanced Nursing (Acute Care)
The 100% online Master of Advanced Nursing is designed for nurses who want to drive better outcomes for person-centred care. Through this course, you’ll develop advanced clinical, leadership and interpersonal skills that you can apply immediately into your healthcare setting. Subjects included in the Acute Care major are Nursing-Sensitive Indicators in Acute Care, Comprehensive Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning, and Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration.
As a registered nurse in Australia, you have a clear path to specialising in mental health. You can complete a Master of Mental Health Nursing program accredited by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. That would make you eligible to become a credentialed mental health nurse.
You should have a work connection to mental health practice while studying for your masters online.
Mental health nurses may work as registered nurses within the mental health field. But they also take on other roles such as mental health nurse, case worker, nurse coordinator, liaison clinician, and health services manager... READ MORE
Nursing Education
A Master of Nursing Education prepares nurses for senior roles in nurse education and training, continuing education, and staff development in healthcare. The program expands your knowledge in the art of teaching and promoting learning. You gain instruction skills to help guide and train nurses and other health services professionals.
JCU Online Master of Nursing (Education)
Education is available as a major in the Master of Nursing program at James Cook University Online. For this specialisation, you need to complete the following subjects: Principles of Education for the Health Professional, Teaching in Practice Settings, Clinical Coaching, and Contemporary Healthcare Education. The masters in nursing education program is 100% online and designed for registered nurses who may be working full-time. The 12-subject program takes just under 2 years of part-time study. All resources are accessible 24/7 through an online learning platform.
Nursing Management
A Master of Nursing (Management) course is ideal for experienced nurses who are interested in managing and leading in healthcare. Some of the roles a graduate would be well positioned to do include manager of a nurse unit, nursing coordinator, health services manager, or health facilities manager. The specialisation is available as a major in online nursing postgraduate programs.
JCU Online Master of Nursing (Leadership and Management)
As part of the popular Master of Nursing online program at James Cook University, you can specialise in Leadership and Management. To qualify for the major, you need to do these four elective subjects: Leading and Managing in Health, Ethics and Health Management, Business and Finance for the Health Manager, and Conflict and Dispute Resolution in Healthcare. The nursing masters is 100% online and open to registered nurses. By doing a new subject every 2 months, you can complete the 12-subject program in just under 2 years. Most participants balance online study with a full-time job.
UTS Master of Advanced Nursing (Leadership and Management)
The Master of Advanced Nursing is for nurses who want to drive better outcomes in person-centred care. Students develop advanced clinical, leadership and interpersonal skills that you can apply immediately into your healthcare setting. To specialise in Leadership and Management, you do subjects such as Leading Health and Social Care, Health Systems and Change, and Collaborative and Integrative Mental Health Care. This course is delivered 100% online and is influenced by strong healthcare industry partners, making it one of the most contemporary and comprehensive courses of its kind.
What You'll Study (Course Structure)
Masters in Nursing courses are often specialised, so what you will study is course dependent. However, most postgraduate programs cover general topics such as clinical governance, management and leadership, persuasive communication, and research methods.
To give you an idea of the course structure for a 12-subject masters, here are example subjects from several majors. Some of these form a four-subject Graduate Certificate in Nursing course.
JCU Online
Advanced Practice
Advanced Health Assessment
Applied Health Assessment and Advanced Practice
Diagnostic Reasoning for Advanced Practice
Quality Use of Medicines in Practice
Education
Clinical Coaching
Contemporary Healthcare Education
Principles of Education for the Health Professional
Teaching in Practice Settings
Leadership and Management
Business and Finance for the Health Manager
Conflict and Dispute Resolution in Healthcare
Ethics and Health Management
Leading and Managing in Health
UTS Online
Acute Care
Nursing-Sensitive Indicators in Acute Care
Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
Quality and Safety in Medicines
Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration
Chronic and Complex Care
Ageing: Health, Illness and Decline
Collaborative and Integrative Mental Health Care
Diabetes Pathways
Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
Quality and Safety
Leading Health and Social Care
Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
Quality and Safety in Medicines
Research in Health
Learning Outcomes
A good Masters of Nursing will have you graduating as a confident, capable healthcare professional. The experience will allow you to accomplish many specific learning outcomes but also become more competent in areas such as the following.
Advanced communication skills
Knowledgeable communication, with strong command of terminology and concepts. A respectful and person-centred approach to communicating with different audiences.
Evidence-based practice
Able to evaluate the quality of nursing research when applying research in clinical practice to improve health outcomes. A reflective and critical thinker.
Lifelong learner
Skilled in identifying and capturing opportunities for continued professional development.
Management and leadership skills
Knows the principles of good management and able to bring broad and multiple perspectives to leadership tasks.
Career Opportunities
With nursing being a large employment sector, earning a nursing master's degree creates many career opportunities. Postgraduate education supports movement into specialist, management and nurse educator roles. Examples of jobs you may qualify for include clinical nurse specialist, clinical nurse consultant, nurse trainer, nurse unit manager, and nursing director.
A masters opens up new prospective career paths. Anything beyond ordinary jobs for registered nurses may become available to you with an advanced degree. Here are examples of specialist and high-level roles that a master's degree may support or enable.
If you love a challenge, you can go for management roles within nursing. To support your career goals, a Master of Nursing is the degree to go for. You can specialise in Leadership and Management or another field that will help you be promoted to a leadership position.
According to Your Career, nurse managers manage health service units in hospitals, aged care and community health facilities. They supervise nursing staff and manage financial resources to enable the provision of safe, cost-effective care. They may also monitor quality, clinical standards and the professional development of nurses.
A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who is experienced in their clinical specialty and educated at a master's level. The NP is also endorsed by the Nurses and Midwives Board of Australia to deliver patient care in advanced and extended clinical capacities.
By gaining extra clinical and academic education, you extend what you're able to do professionally. You're able to assess patients and diagnose health problems to a greater extent than is ordinarily allowed. For example, nurse practitioners may work in primary health care supporting GP-led general practice teams.
According to NSW Health, extra elements of professional practice include being able to:
- do advanced health assessments
- commence and interpret diagnostic investigations such as imaging and pathology
- diagnose health problems
- implement therapeutic regimens in collaboration with patients, health professionals and families/carers
- prescribe medications
- initiate and receive appropriate types of referrals.
A mental health nurse is specialised in the care of people experiencing mental illness or distress. They may work with clients suffering from conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. A key part of the job is to promote well-being generally, including in terms of psychological, emotional and physical health.
Mental health nurses need to understand mental health conditions, how symptoms can be managed, and how to adjust care for the needs of individual clients. They work in many health care settings, including hospitals, aged care and mental health facilities. To qualify in this field, you need a graduate diploma or masters in mental health nursing.
A nurse educator supports learning for nurses in the workplace and generally makes sure that nurses keep up to date with advances in their profession. A nurse educator may design, plan, instruct and assess education and learning in hospitals and other health care facilities. They also encourage, plan and facilitate professional development and clinical education.
Education is important in this area of nursing since it's essentially all about further education of nurses. A Master of Nursing with a specialisation in Nursing Education is highly advantageous for a career in this field.
Entry Requirements
For Masters in Nursing programs, common entry requirements are: a Bachelor of Nursing degree or equivalent qualification AND registration as a Registered Nurse (Division 1) or Registered Midwife AND a year of clinical experience.
For specialist study streams, you may also have to currently work in a relevant health setting. Enquire to find out the detailed requirements for any of the online programs listed.
Note that very different requirements apply for Master of Nursing (graduate entry) programs. Entry to practice Masters of Nursing degrees are unavailable online. The main admission requirement for these nurse training courses is a bachelor degree in any discipline.
Tuition fees for Master of Nursing courses in Australia are in the order of $2,670 to $2,850 per subject. The total course cost for a 12-subject degree is in the order of $32,040 to $34,200.
FEE-HELP government loans are available to Australian students to cover tuition fees. Loans are paid back gradually based on your future taxable income.
International students are eligible to do many Master of Nursing programs in Australia. English language proficiency requirements apply.
Fully online courses are unavailable to international students on a Student Visa however.
Completing a Master of Nursing does not allow you to become a registered nurse in Australia. Eligibility for registration would require you to do an APHRA-approved bridging course.
Your previous studies may be recognised with credit towards your online postgraduate course. Prior learning needs to meet course requirements.
Generally, you need to receive an offer of enrolment first. You may then be eligible to apply for recognition of studies you completed with another institution. A determination may be reserved for students who have accepted an enrolment offer. It's a good idea to speak with an Enrolment Advisor early in the process to find out where you stand.
When you study online for a Master's in Nursing, you'll typically study as part of a virtual class. In other words, you'll do subjects together with classmates who you'll be able to connect with online.
Accelerated online courses are structured so that you study part-time and only do one subject at a time. Each subject is completed over a 6-7 week study period. You'll then have a short break before moving on to the next subject. Studying online this way, you're able to complete six subjects in a year.
A dedicated student success advisor will be available to help with any of your non-academic questions and issues.
Assessment does not include exams typically. Instead, you'll be assessed as you go using assignments, projects, quizzes, etc.
Distance learning is designed to fit within your busy lifestyle. Live online sessions may be available but won't be compulsory. Lectures and other instructional sessions are recorded and available at your convenience.
