Why you should study this course
Mental health nursing is a values-based profession working with children, young people and adults of all ages with a variety of mental health problems and from numerous cultures and backgrounds. These specialist nurses are usually based in hospitals or work in the community, for example, in community services, in-patient facilities, specialist forensic mental health services, residential care and patients’ own homes.
- This course aims to develop your knowledge of mental health, various disorders and innovative nursing care approaches. It is designed to equip you with the knowledge and competence to understand the experiences of people with mental health problems and to assist and facilitate their journey to recovery.
- A key element of this course is that all your placements will be relevant to mental health - we do not use ‘generic’ placements. You will gain hands-on experience with real service users under supervision from qualified practitioners, spending 50% of your time on clinical practice placements. These will take place in a range of healthcare environments within the NHS in hospitals and community placements, at private hospitals and independent care providers. In the past we have also been able to offer specialist placements to services such as Broadmoor high security hospital to students with an interest in this area of work. While the placements on this course are all sourced by the university, please note that additional costs may be incurred in this regard, for example, travel costs, accommodation and visa costs depending on your specific circumstances^.
- While the course has a clear focus on mental health nursing, a key benefit of our curriculum is the notion of collaboration across all areas of health and social care. Your studies will be complemented with significant insights into a range of potential challenges to health and wellbeing throughout the lifespan, such as learning disabilities, complex care and life-limiting conditions. These collaborative elements, which you’ll study alongside students from our other health-related courses, have been developed in response to the need to produce professionals who are effective communicators, caring and compassionate, with good relationship-building skills.
- Throughout your studies, in groups and individually, you will undertake profession specific health and social care related projects and case studies. These may, for example, include an appraisal of the role of the nurse in ethical and legal decision-making, considering service improvement bids or complex care planning and delivery via the multi-disciplinary team. You will also participate in a group poster presentation demonstrating your understanding of research underpinning patient care.
What you'll study
This course aims to develop your knowledge of mental health, various disorders and innovative nursing care approaches. It is designed to equip you with the knowledge and competence to understand the experiences of people with mental health problems and to assist and facilitate their journey to recovery.
You will gain hands-on experience with real service users under supervision from qualified practitioners, spending 50% of your time on clinical practice placements in a range of healthcare environments within the NHS in hospitals and community placements, at private hospitals and independent care providers.
As nursing students are increasingly required to work towards becoming autonomous practitioners, you will be supported in taking a leadership role in decisions regarding patient care within multi-professional settings. You will routinely have frequent and intense contact with patients and will be trained to be competent in recognising changes in patient condition so that appropriate action can be taken.
This curriculum has been developed as a spiral curriculum with assessment at its core. A spiral curriculum is when the same topics are studied throughout the duration of study but each time they are encountered they increase in complexity and reinforce previous learning. Placing equal value on practice and theory, undertaking 800 hours of both per year, you should study a wide range of subjects, including anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, psychology, sociology and research methods. You’ll become immersed in learning about the needs of populations, individuals, related health and nursing services with an emphasis on using research to enhance and improve services.
The collaborative curriculum, which you’ll study alongside students from our other health-related courses, has been developed in response to the need to produce professionals who are effective communicators, caring and compassionate, with good relationship building skills. It recognises the importance of inter-professional working within the health and social care workforce and comprises five core modules in the areas of: the foundations of communication and professionalism; the social determinants of health and wellbeing; evidence informed practice and decision making; working together to lead service improvement; and enhancing practice through evaluation and research.
Year one
The first year is designed to give you a thorough introduction to the key skills and knowledge you will need to provide effective, compassionate care based on the latest thinking in Mental Health Nursing.
Modules
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The Scientific Foundations of Nursing Practice - 20 credits
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Fundamental Skills for Person- and Family-Centred Practice - 20 credits
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Study Skills for Evidence-Based Practice - 10 credits
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The Foundations of Evidence-Informed Practice - 10 credits
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Health and Wellbeing in the Community - 20 credits
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Introduction to the Foundations of Nursing Practice (Practice 1) - 20 credits
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The Foundations of Nursing Practice (Practice 2) - 20 credits
Year two
In the second year you will gain more experience of mental health nursing practice and develop an understanding of the importance of evidence-informed decision-making in service user care.
Modules
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Ethical and Legal Decision-making in the Context of Nursing - 20 credits
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Developing the Management of Care Across the Lifespan (Practice 3) - 20 credits
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Assessing Needs and Planning Care Across the Lifespan - 20 credits
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Therapeutic Interventions in Mental Health Care - 20 credits
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Managing Care Across the Lifespan (Practice 4) - 20 credits
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Facilitation and Teaching of Learning in Practice - 10 credits
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Developing Evidence-Informed Decision-Making in Nursing - 10 credits
Final year
Your degree culminates with a literature review related to one aspect of nursing practice, for which you will be required to write a 5,000-word report. Past students have covered topics as diverse as the link between childhood trauma and adult mental health, suicide prevention in adolescent care, cannabis and psychosis, effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of depression.
Modules
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Leadership and Management for Healthcare Professionals - 20 credits
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Coordinating, Leading and Managing Complex Mental Health Care - 20 credits
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Coordinating Inter-professional Health and Social Care (Practice 5) - 20 credits
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Specialist Care in Mental Health Nursing - 10 credits
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The Autonomous Practitioner (Practice 6) - 20 credits
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Evidence-Based Project - 20 credits
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Transition to the Accountable Practitioner - 10 credits
