What you will study
The first year is divided into two parts. In part one you will undertake a bridging module introducing you to the foundations of nursing and healthcare. In part two you will look at the context of nursing within a variety of client groups within your specific field of nursing.
In your second year (part three) you will learn about the analysis and application of research and evidence base and the complexities of nursing at an individual and organisational level as well as preparing for your transition to registered nurse.
Year 1 modules (parts one and two)
Year 1 introduces the foundations of nursing and healthcare, and their various client groups.
Core modules
Foundations of life sciences for graduates
15 credits
This module is a core requirement for all students on the MSc Nursing course. It explores the foundations of human anatomy and physiology, including the body's systems, mechanisms for maintaining homeostasis, genomics and human development across the lifespan. Selected pathophysiology will be introduced in relation to commonly encountered health conditions and students will also begin to develop their knowledge of pharmacological concepts relating to nursing. This will provide students with key underpinning knowledge which will facilitate the exploration of person-centred assessment and care later in the programme.
Establishing the fundamentals of nursing care
30 credits
This module is a core requirement for all students on the MSc Nursing course. It introduces students to the fundamental principles of nursing and person-centred care, the determinants of health and well-being, compassionate communication and contemporary health policy. It enables the student to develop critical knowledge, skills and professional attitudes for the delivery of safe and effective person-centred care of individuals and their families or carers across a variety of settings. Students will begin to establish a sense of their nursing field identity but also that of other fields in order to promote effective interdisciplinary and integrated care.
Assessment and care process in the acutely ill person
30 credits
This module enables students to build on anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology knowledge acquired in semester one to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to assess and deliver safe and effective care when a person is acutely ill. It will equip students to recognise people who are acutely ill and at risk of deteriorating, undertake timely structured assessments, interpret clinical data and use situational judgement to escalate findings, prioritise care needs and to plan, deliver and evaluate evidence-base, person-centred care as part of the interdisciplinary team.
Collaborative working for health and well-being in adults with long term conditions
30 credits
This module develops students' knowledge and understanding of long term conditions and the lived experience of adults from a bio-psycho-social perspective. Students will consider critically the political agenda and the socio-economic issues impacting on the management of long term conditions. This will enable students to consider critically the role of the community care nurse in promoting self-management, shared decision making and hospital avoidance. It will incorporate professional accountability, social inclusion, partnership and interdisciplinary working, patient involvement in the provision of care, leadership and quality assurance in nursing, all of which are essential elements of nursing proficiency.
Introduction to professional practice
15 credits
This module will prepare the student for their role in practice. The focus is to introduce a range of nursing procedures to enable students to provide skilled, evidence-based, person-centred care to people at any stage of life who may have a range of physical, mental, cognitive or behavioural health conditions. It is a generic module where all fields of nursing are engaged with core nursing procedures as identified by the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC, 2018).
Developing professional practice
30 credits
This module will develop the skills taught and practised in the introduction to professional practice in Year 1. Students will be able to assess, plan and rationalise the nursing care they provide for people in health and social care and community settings. The emphasis will be on holistic person-centred care covering physical, psychological, social and cultural care. It will look at evidence-based, person-centred care being delivered inter- and intra-disciplinary.
Year 2 modules (part three)
Year 2 examines the analysis and application of research and evidence, and the complexities of nursing at individual and organisational levels.
Core modules
Safe and effective quality care in adult nursing
30 credits
This module will provide the adult nursing student with the theoretical knowledge and skills required for their future role as a qualified adult nurse when contributing to risk monitoring, quality care provision and optimised service improvements. The student will learn to manage and prioritise clinical actions, participate in clinical audit activities for quality and service improvements and learn to avoid compromising quality care using evidence-based knowledge and experience from practice. Regulations essential for maintaining safety at work and in different care environments will be covered. Students will learn about collaborative interdisciplinary working, whilst collectively developing effective improvement strategies. Some sessions will be shared across fields as they are core for all fields.
Coordinating the care of adults with complex health care needs
30 credits
This module will provide the adult nursing student with the underpinning knowledge and skills required for their future leadership role in coordinating and managing the complex nursing and integrated care needs of people at any stage of their lives, across a range of organisations and settings.
The student will build on their knowledge of partnership and collaborative working and complexities of physical care through resource management, finances and patient involvement, all of which are essential elements of nursing proficiency.
Leadership in adult nursing
30 credits
Navigating the transition from student to a professional practitioner who is skilled at leading teams is critically important to the delivery of safe, effective and high quality health care. This module is designed to prepare the student for professional nursing practice by expanding their knowledge and skills to enable them to be an accountable and compassionate leader within the health and social care system. It focuses on leadership, team working, and performance management and enables adult nursing students to reflect on their transition to registered practice and build the evidence base for a career development portfolio. Some sessions will be shared across fields as they are core for all fields.
Advancing professional practice
30 credits
This module advances the skills taught and practised in Year 1 in order to prepare students for their transition to working as a registered nurse. The module focuses on the assessment and management of patients with complex health care needs, working in partnership with other health care professionals. Students will integrate their clinical and communication skills with evidence based knowledge to become clinically proficient and confident nurses. It is a generic module where all fields of nursing learn with and from each other.
