The Graduate Diploma in Primary Health Care Nursing is tailored specifically for registered nurses working or intending to work in primary health care. This program will assist you to develop the specialist knowledge and skills required to practise effectively within complex primary health care settings. The program focuses on the health needs of individuals, families and communities and providing accessible and equitable health care. You will explore the foundational principles and practices of primary health care. You will learn about chronic disease prevention and management, including relevant evidence-based decision-making processes and practices, concepts of self-management and coordinated, quality care. There will be an emphasis on determinants of health, community needs assessment, community participation, health promotion models, health education and health literacy and how these inform and underpin primary health care in the community. You will explore ways in which you can enhance your understanding of primary health care educational and policy-based perspectives within the context of your own knowledge and personal practice. This will enable you to make a significant contribution to the development of your own practice, the practice of others, inter-professional delivery of evidence-based care and evidence-informed policy. Completion of the Graduate Diploma program can be used as credit towards a Masters degree in the discipline or a pathway into the Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner). Future study options Completion of the Graduate Diploma in Primary Health Care Nursing can be used as credit towards the Master of Primary Health Care Nursing. Graduate opportunities Nurses who work in primary health care are today at the front line in caring for people with increasingly complex health needs. They are pivotal to the health of patients, their families and communities. Primary health care is becoming one of the main health models in Australia and internationally and there will be many career opportunities for nurses with postgraduate qualifications in primary health care. A suitably educated primary health care focused workforce is already in short supply. With the rising incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases and multi-morbidities, confounded by an ageing population, the need for an appropriately prepared primary health care workforce is greater than ever.