In this unit, students critically reflect on the lived experience of mental illness. The students' learning journey begins by examining past institutional abuse of people with mental illness and the continuing effects of stigma across social and diverse cultural contexts. Students analyse the evolution of the mental health consumer movement, focusing on consumer rights, autonomy, self-determination, collaborative decision-making, and strength-based models to support recovery from mental ill-health. Students also interrogate how to support consumers who have complex mental illness or who exhibit challenging behaviours, within a consumer-centred, recovery-oriented framework. Students will also debate the challenges that arise when balancing the diverse needs of consumers and carers in relation to confidentiality, privacy, and disclosure.

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This unit examines biopsychosocial and cultural perspectives of mental illness. This includes the links between serious mental illness, physical health conditions, complex comorbidities, and disability. Students will interrogate the correlation between lower levels of physical health, mental health, and socio-economic indices for people experiencing chronic physical conditions and mental ill-health. Students will also cross-examine the ethical dilemmas and cultural perspectives of mental ill-health for people with diverse experiences, backgrounds, and lifestyles. This includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, LGBTQIA+ peoples, veteran groups, and people from metropolitan, regional, rural, and remote communities across Australia. Students will also evaluate the value of care coordination and care planning approaches for people with complex health and sociocultural needs.

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In this unit, students examine the experiences of trauma among people from diverse populations, cultures, and age groups and its impact across the lifespan. Students will analyse the way people, with the lived experience of trauma, report feeling stigmatised, discriminated against and misunderstood. These impacts include emotional dysregulation, substance misuse, self-harm, and suicidal behaviours. Students will also appraise the eight foundational principles of trauma-informed care and practice that focus on modelling interpersonal relationships, working with cultural differences, advocating for consumer control and choice, inspiring hope, supporting recovery, and integrating care. The unit requires students to critically reflect on their practice through a trauma-informed lens and interrogate the importance of recovery-oriented practice when caring for people who have experienced trauma.

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This unit will further develop students' professional knowledge and expertise in the effective coordination and delivery of specialised mental health care. Students will focus on understanding mental health disorders and how to effectively care for a person experiencing mental health issues or illness. Students will also gain a deep understanding of the philosophy and theory underpinning mental health care, its values and the specific skills to maintain therapeutic relationships and assist in person-centred health care that promotes recovery and resilience. The unit includes a critical review of psychology, to support a greater understanding of mental health disorders across the lifespan and cultural awareness when supporting patients’ mental health and well-being. Students will also critically review models of self-care when delivering mental health care services across a range of settings. The unit will prepare students to provide evidence-based mental health care in a range of health settings.

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This unit examines the major concepts and principles of community health promotion including self-care, continuity of care, primary health care, health promotion, illness prevention, community assessment, family assessment and home care. Health promotion is a proven dynamic in disease prevention and maintenance of community health. In this unit you will review the major health issues impacting on national and global health. Australian and World Health Organisation (WHO) health priorities and strategies for optimising community health will be critically reviewed. You will reflect on the role of the nurse in community health promotion within areas of specialisation. You will examine communities with diverse and specific health requirements and health literacy needs to understand how to optimise the success of health promotion strategies. This unit also examines the major concepts and principles of cultural safety and the knowledge and skills required of the nursing profession to work ethically with diverse people and communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Students will examine a health problem in relation to a specific community and design strategies of community health promotion in a specialised area of your choice.

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This unit develops the knowledge and skills of students to ethically support diverse older person who are experiencing symptoms of mental illness, by employing person-centred approaches to delivering care. Students critically analyse the notion of ageism and how the lived experience of ageism can affect people's mental health in later life. Another learning focus is the comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment of the older person with complex comorbidities. Students also investigate and differentiate between depression, delirium, and dementia; together with rates of suicide in older populations, and debate the treatment options best suited for the older person who experiences symptoms of mental illness.

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This unit explores the competencies registered Nurses need to work within inter-professional teams to provide coordinated care for clients with complex needs. The unit investigates strategies for working together effectively; making informed health care decisions and ensuring continuity of care for clients. This unit provides students with essential skills in utilising available resources effectively, health coaching and consultation, and the development of care plans that meet complex care needs. Students will further their skills in client advocacy and anticipatory care management, assessment of risk factors related to decline in a community context and determination of available alternatives for managing risks and balancing the needs and desires of clients. Key themes of the unit include exploring and practising the collection and management of client information across the continuum of services and how to negotiate potential service providers for best care package for client needs, including the management of subcontracted services.

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This unit investigates evidence-based research and its application in the healthcare setting. Students will develop and refine their skills in searching and critically reviewing and evaluating available nursing and healthcare research and evidence. Students will also learn to use critical appraisal tools to evaluate qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research. By examining systematic reviews to clarify how evidence is synthesised, students will critically appraise literature and identify gaps in current knowledge to design and develop research proposals and/or projects.

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