The Graduate Certificate of Australian Nursing (EPIQ – Education Program for Internationally Qualified Nurses) is designed for internationally qualified registered nurses who wish to practise as a registered nurse in Australia.

This course is a program of academic and clinical studies that prepares candidates to gain registration within Australia through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Graduates at this level will attain advanced theoretical and technical knowledge and skills for professional and highly skilled work and/or further learning. The course provides credit towards further post graduate studies.

The course is responsive to contemporary nursing practices and provides content and clinical experiences in:

• Contextual nursing and health: Australian health care system, primary health care, mental health, acute and complex care, chronic disease management, palliative care, aged care, pharmacology, Indigenous studies.
• Professional practice: professional, legal and ethical studies, knowledge development and accountability for practice.
• Critical thinking and analysis: reflective practice, self-appraisal, professional development, evidence and research for practice.
• Coordination of care: leadership and care management, co-ordination, organisation and provision of nursing care of individuals /groups, planning, implementation and evaluation of care, health informatics.
• Collaborative and therapeutic practice: establishing, sustaining and concluding professional relationships with individuals/groups. Provision of independent and interdisciplinary health care.

The course provides graduates with the opportunity to engage in health leadership and management, education, research opportunities and a broad spectrum of clinical nursing specialties, delivering acute and chronic disease management in clinical settings such as; paediatrics, community and primary health care and education; as a practice nurse in GP clinics, mental health, child and adolescent, aged care, perioperative care, Indigenous health, rural and remote area health care, emergency departments and critical care.

Professional Placement

Compulsory supervised workplace experiences reflect the current registered nurse standards for practice, major health priorities and contemporary nursing practices. The eight-week placement enables candidates to consolidate theoretical learning and build upon their professional practice.