Course Overview
The Graduate Diploma in Correctional Nursing provides you with the essential knowledge to enhance your registered nursing career providing care for people who are, or have been, incarcerated or detained. You will have the opportunity to explore the complex interplay between incarceration, health and wellbeing. You will acquire knowledge of contemporary leadership and human resource practices to support career progression, being a change agent, as well as the practical application of correctional nursing knowledge.
Career Information
The Graduate Diploma in Correctional Nursing prepares registered nurses to work with people who are, or have been, incarcerated in a range of settings including but not limited to correctional centres, detention centres, or hospitals and health services that provide care. The knowledge and skills gained from this course provide the theoretical and practical underpinnings for quality nursing care, transferable to any nursing context where nurses work with marginalised populations.
| Duration | 5 years maximum |
|---|---|
| Credit Points that Must be Earned | 48 |
| Number of Units Required | CQUniversity uses the concept of credits to express the amount of study required for a particular course and individual units. The number of units varies between courses. Units in postgraduate courses normally consist of 6 points of credit or multiples thereof (e.g. 12, 18, 24). |
| Expected Hours of Study | One point of credit is equivalent to an expectation of approximately two hours of student work per week in a term. |
| Course Type | Postgraduate Award |
| Qualification (post nominal) | PGradDipCorrNurs |
| AQF Level | Level 8: Graduate Diploma |
| Course Fees |
Indicative Year - 2026
|
Admission Codes
|
Domestic Students Tertiary Admission Centre Codes (TAC) Codes |
Not Applicable |
|---|---|
|
International Students CRICOS Codes |
Not Applicable |
Domestic Availability
-
Hyperflexible Annual Term - 2027
-
Hyperflexible Annual Term - 2026
Overseas Availabilities
-
Hyperflexible Annual Term - 2027
-
Hyperflexible Annual Term - 2026
To be considered for entry into this course, you must demonstrate the following:
- Current unconditional Registered Nurse (Division 1) registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).
The English language proficiency requirements listed below are those specified by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) as required for initial registration.
As an applicant for the Graduate Diploma in Correctional Nursing, you are required to demonstrate your English Language competency by holding current and unconditional registration as a Registered Nurse (Division 1) with the Australian Health Practitioners Agency (Ahpra).
Each application will be assessed individually.
Be Different
- Indicative Year - 2026
- Domestic Full Fee Paying – Indicative First Year Fee - $18,400
Higher Education
Awards and Accreditation
| Interim Awards | CL69 - Graduate Certificate in Correctional Nursing |
|---|---|
| Exit Awards | CL69 - Graduate Certificate in Correctional Nursing |
| Accreditation |
|
Residential School Requirements
No Residential School for this course.
Practicum/Work Placement
| Not applicable |
Predicted Enrolments
| Year | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| First Year | 5 |
| Second year | 10 |
| Third Year | 15 |
- 1. Appraise the complex nature of health and wellbeing in the correctional setting, including the professional roles and responsibilities of the multi-disciplinary team
- 2. Investigate the links between health and wellbeing and criminality, and how health and wellbeing impact on engagement with the criminal justice and corrections systems
- 3. Justify the role of the correctional nurse to enhance prisoner health and wellbeing, improve health outcomes and facilitate systems improvement
- 4. Critique leadership strategies to strengthen the correctional nurse's role in creating sustainable practices.
| Course Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Qualifications Framework Descriptors | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1. KNOWLEDGE Have advanced knowledge within a systematic and coherent body of knowledge that may include the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills in a new or existing discipline or professional area | ||||
| 2. SKILLS Have cognitive skills to review, analyse, consolidate and synthesise knowledge and identify and provide solutions to complex problems | ||||
| 3. SKILLS Have cognitive skills to think critically and to generate and evaluate complex ideas | ||||
| 4. SKILLS Have specialised technical and creative skills in a field of highly skilled and/or professional practice | ||||
| 5. SKILLS Have communication skills to demonstrate an understanding of theoretical concept | ||||
| 6. SKILLS Have communication skills to transfer complex knowledge and ideas to a variety of audiences | ||||
| 7. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to make high level, independent judgements in a range of technical or management functions in varied specialised contexts | ||||
| 8. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to initiate, plan, implement and evaluate broad functions within varied specialised technical and/or creative contexts | ||||
| 9. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILL Be responsible and accountable for personal outputs and all aspects of the work or function of others within broad parameters | ||||
- Complete the core structure
| Number of units: 8 | Total credit points: 48 |
|---|
| Number of units: 8 | Total credit points: 48 |
|---|
The Graduate Diploma in Correctional Nursing is offered online via CQUniversity's hyperflexible mode, Be Different. The hyperflexible mode allows you to work independently through the units at your own pace within an overarching timeframe for course completion.
| Available units | ||
|---|---|---|
| Students must complete the following compulsory units: | ||
| NURS28001 | Jail Craft | |
| NURS28002 | Understanding Offenders | |
| NURS28003 | Optimising Health in the Correctional Setting | |
| NURS20178 | Alcohol and Other Drugs | |
| DFVP20001 | Domestic and Family Violence Practice: Key Concepts and Perspectives | |
| NURS29016 | Integrated Healthcare in Corrections | |
| NURS29015 | Correctional Nursing and Global Priorities | |
| NURS28012 | Leadership in Healthcare | |