Graduate Certificate of Health (Acute Care Nursing)
Enhance your nursing expertise with our Graduate Certificate in Health (Acute Care Nursing), offering postgraduate specialisation in Emergency, Critical Care, and Medical-Surgical Nursing. This course will deepen your knowledge and skills in advanced patient assessment, advanced diagnostic interpretation, complex nursing management, and clinical leadership in acute care nursing environments.
Course essentials
Entry requirements
Credit
A full-time study load is 120 credits a year (usually four 15-credit units each semester). 120 credits equal one equivalent full-time student load (EFTSL). Each credit point equals about 10 hours of learning, so a 15-credit unit means roughly 150 hours.
Study mode
Study modes tell you how teaching and learning will be delivered for your course and include where and when classes can be scheduled, what you'll do and the tech you'll use.
Duration
Start dates
Locations
Berwick (flexible)
Gippsland (flexible)
Course overview
This course will prepare the post-registration nurse for advanced clinical practice within the Emergency, Critical Care/Intensive Care and Medical Surgical Nursing
environments. This innovative program has a strong regional focus and prepares the post registration nurse with the theoretical and practical knowledge and skills to work in specialised acute care clinical areas.
Delivered part time over one year, this course utilises a blended model of learning with online learning content/activities, on-campus workshop days and industry practical assessments to support nurses to achieve a deeper clinical knowledge and skills relevant to their clinical area of practice.
Students will start the degree by completing core units focusing on advanced pathophysiology and health assessment in the first semester and then complete their
specialisation units of Emergency, Critical Care or Medical Surgical Nursing in the second semester. Within the chosen speciality units, students will apply their acquired advanced pathophysiological and health assessment knowledge to the care of acute patients through nursing assessment, implementation and management.
Students will also utilise advanced critical thinking skills and interpretation of patient data in the analysis and evaluation of therapeutic interventions used to treat complex health conditions.
Students will also explore the role of the Registered Nurse in providing quality patient and family centred care, clinical nursing leadership, effective communication, supported by clinical governance frameworks. All speciality units are underpinned by their relevant peak organisational bodies standards (including Registered Nurse Standards of Practice, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses [ACCCN], and The College of Emergency Nursing Australasia [CENA]).
Enrolments for this course are open for students who hold current AHPRA registered nurse qualification and are currently working within a relevant acute care nursing area to their stream. Students are required to be working within their clinical area
for the duration of the Graduate Certificate of Health (Acute Care Nursing) course at a minimum EFT of 0.6 and submit the Employer Letter of Support on enrolment signed by their designated manager.
IT requirements
To do this course you’ll need a fast and reliable computer and access to high-speed internet. Expect to use about 5GB of data per month for every unit you’re doing. Find out more about the minimum IT requirements for studying with us.
Got questions?
Call us on 1800 333 864, start a live chat or submit an enquiry.
Student support
The support we offer is second to none. Need academic help? No problem. Extra access or financial assistance? Let’s see what we can do. View our student services.
The fine print
The commencement of all courses is subject to available funding and enrolment quotas.
Everything in this course overview is correct at the time of being published. However, the University reserves the right to alter any course, procedure or fee. Please check for changes before you apply or enrol.
Federation University uses Victorian and Commonwealth Government funding (for eligible students) to deliver training.
School department
Nursing
Course co-ordinator
Michael Barbagallo
Career paths
Successful completion of the Graduate Certificate of Health (Acute Care Nursing) will enhance your professional standing and provide you with advanced level of skills and knowledge in your relevant specialisation area. Students who complete a Graduate Certificate of Health (Acute Care Nursing) may progress in the future to clinical leadership roles (including Clinical Nurse Specialist, Clinical Nurse Educator, Nurse Unit Manager), and advanced practice roles. Students can also continue into the Masters of Health course at Federation University. Additionally, the Graduate Certificate of Health (Acute Care Nursing) can assist in the direct entry pathway into the Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) course at Federation University.
Fees and scholarships
Tuition fee information
Commonwealth Supported Places are subsidised by the Australian Government. The tuition fee is called the student contribution amount. The indicative fee above is based on a typical first-year enrolment for this course and should be used as a guide only. For 0.5 EFTSL (60 credit point) courses the certificate fee is displayed. Your fee will depend on the units you chose, your study load, the time it takes to complete your course and any approved credit you receive.
How it's calculated
The government sets the fee each year. The amount depends on the discipline area and band of each unit. 2026 annual student contribution amounts for 1 EFTSL (equivalent full-time student load) range from $4,738 (Band 1) to $17,399 (Band 4). The sample course structure below link to the EFTSL, Band and fee for each unit or you can use our unit search to find these details.
Other fees
You will also need to pay the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
Fee assistance
If you're eligible for a HECS-HELP loan, you can defer the payment of all or part of your student contribution fee. If you’re also eligible for a SA-HELP loan, you can defer your SSAF payment too. You won’t have to start paying either loan back until your income reaches the compulsory repayment threshold.
Scholarships
There’s a range of scholarships and grants available. Find out what you can apply for.
Course details
Start dates
Semester 1, 2027
1 March 2027
Locations
Ballarat (flexible)
Berwick (flexible)
Gippsland (flexible)
Information
- Our Mt Helen, SMB, Camp St and Gillies St campuses are located in Ballarat.
- Flexible delivery means you'll be doing some of your classes online and some, like labs, on campus.
Contact hours
Contact hours can vary depending on requirements, however typical contact hours for full-time study are around 25-30 hours comprising of on-campus classes, online learning and self-directed study.
Sample course structure
Here’s what the course structure could look like. It’s just an example (so don’t use it for enrolment). Interested in the details? You can find current course structure or select a single unit name below to find out what it’s about and how much it costs.
- Advanced Pathophysiology for Acute Care Nursing15 credit pointsHEAAN6602
- Advanced Health Assessment for Acute Care Nursing15 credit pointsHEAAN6603
Elective
Entry requirements
Entry requirements (non year 12)
An applicant must have successfully completed a three year Bachelor of Nursing level qualification (or equivalent) and are employed in at least 0.6 EFT in a relevant clinical setting.
The candidate’s ability to demonstrate current registration with AHPRA as a Registered Nurse and a minimum of 0.6 EFT current and ongoing employment in an appropriate clinical setting.
Applicants must supply a current resume with their application.
And have completed the Acute Care Nursing Letter of Support
If you’re only applying for this course, do it via direct application.
Ready to fill out your application?
You'll need this code:
Direct application
Federation University code
- Direct application
- Yes
- Federation University code
- HN4
Successful completion of the Graduate Certificate in Health will enhance your professional standing and provide you with advanced level skills and knowledge for application as a clinical leader in the nursing practice and knowledge community.
Hear from our students
So as I love serving people and helping them, I take Bachelor of Nursing and I'm pursuing nursing as my career. That only provides us with so many opportunities. They have contact with such good hospitals and agencies if you want to work for your placements and stuff. And they provide us with so much material and support to improve our skills through our nursing. Even in the uni, in the building, we have rooms are like literally hospital rooms where we have beds and all the equipments with dolls which do make sounds and they have pulse and everything. So it is so creative and so alive that we get to improve our skills so much. Ballarat is like the most happy, friendly little town in all of the Victoria I've been in Melbourne. But people over here are genuinely really sweet and nice to you. They're really friendly and they're just walking in the morning and someone is passing by and they'll just say, they'll smile and they say good morning to you, which is so sweet. Like it never feels that you're somewhere different. You're just you feel homely. I've heard a lot about Federation University. So back when I was applying for multiple universities, I was suggested Fed Uni by my agent and they suggested Fed Uni because it has so many campus. They support, support us so much and it is so multicultural. They're like so many people coming from so many different countries. So last year they hosted the Bollywood night for the Indian students. Being an Indian, I was so happy that they're hosting such an event. They keep on hosting events which are like for every culture and everyone gets to enjoy and feel at home, which is the best part. So the Bollywood night was the one for me. I'll be pursuing nursing as my career and I want to become a registered nurse, work here for the people and serve them and just enjoy life for some time.