Course content includes an emphasis on mental health and cognitive issues impacting on health, reflects the changing and challenging role of healthcare and the diverse role of the registered nurse. Leadership studies is embedded throughout the course to enable you to play a crucial role in moving practice forward. The quality of our partnerships with placement providers and service users means you gain sector-standard practice and experiences.
Course structure
Year 1 core modules
Bio-psychosocial Approaches to Nursing Care and Decision Making
This module involves shared learning and teaching across all fields of nursing, to develop an understanding of the holistic issues that may influence and impact on the care and experience of people within different health care settings. You develop a broad understanding of the theoretical frameworks underpinning the discipline of nursing and identify and explore patterns and determinants of health, wellbeing and illness at a local, national and global level.
You identify and explore the knowledge base required to meet the fundamental mental, physical, cognitive and behavioural needs of people within their care. Research-informed teaching and learning will introduce you to the concept and process of evidence-based practice, which will enable you to take a critical approach towards nursing care.
Bio-psychosocial Development Across the Lifespan
You develop an understanding of human systems and the patterns and determinants of health, wellbeing and illness. This will include consideration of the altered and normal human biopsychosocial development. You develop an awareness of genomics, sociological, psychological development and their impact upon physical health, mental health, and intellectual impairments across the lifespan.
You will have an awareness of routine investigations which will then contribute to the development of your knowledge of commonly encountered physical and behavioural health conditions. You will understand the principles of pathogenesis, immunology, and evidence base for immunisation, vaccination and herd immunity, and establish an understanding of the principles of infection prevention and control.
Experts by Experience the Person's Voice
You develop an understanding of the centrality of the person receiving care and valuing and promoting reciprocity in every interaction. You will explore the philosophical basis and key concepts underpinning approaches to working with different people and service user groups. The biopsychosocial experience and impact of altered health and wellbeing, physical illness, cognition and/or treatment upon the person and family will be examined from the service user perspective.
You explore the balance of power within health and social care provision and relationships, and empowerment and the concepts of therapeutic alliances will be examined. The concepts of meaning, empathy, compassion, trust, connectedness and hope will be analysed and applied to practice.
Foundations of Nursing Proficiency: the Professional Basis of Care and Caring
This module will facilitate the development of fundamental knowledge and skills that pre-registration nurses must demonstrate when caring for people of all ages across care settings. The module content is linked to the Nursing and Midwifery Council platforms and proficiency statements combining theory and practice elements.
The module combines theory, practical skills and placement experience and incorporates the four fields of nursing across three semesters with students in mixed theory groups.Technology-enhanced learning is a key feature. Understanding the foundations of nursing proficiency and professional nursing practice will be developed through pre-reading, seminars and supporting of direct care through simulated workshops including role play, clinical skills development, simulation and the use of scenarios.
Introduction to Personal and Professional Effectiveness in Nursing Practice
This module will provide the foundations from which students from all fields of nursing will examine the role of the nurse as a leader and champion of high-quality, person-centred nursing care, professional practice and innovation. It enables you to explore the knowledge, values and skills required to develop your personal effectiveness and reflective practice. This exploration will be used as a professional platform to inform their leadership development.
You will be introduced to the theoretical concepts underpinning leadership and personal effectiveness including self-awareness, resilience and self-management, as well as the core professional values of nursing.
Year 2 core modules
Collaborative and Interdependent Working to Promote Health and Well-being
You build upon and apply the leadership and personal effectiveness knowledge and skills they developed in Stage 1 of the course. It focuses upon the nurse's role in collaborative and interdependent working with others, to influence and motivate. You explore how they can use their personal qualities and skills to contribute to, and promote a culture of high-quality person-centred care and a positive working environment. You develop your ability to articulate a shared vision and purpose to inspire others, engage the team and lead with care.
Developing Personal and Professional Effectiveness in Nursing Practice
You further develop your understanding from the first year module across all fields of nursing of the role of the nurse as a leader and champion of high-quality, person-centred nursing care, professional practice and innovation. It enables you to explore and critique the knowledge, values and skills required to develop your personal effectiveness and reflective practice. This exploration will be used to advance knowledge to inform your leadership development.
You develop skills to explore theoretical concepts underpinning leadership and personal effectiveness including self-awareness, resilience and self-management, as well as the core professional values of nursing.
Nurse as Investigator and Leader of Change
You build on the knowledge and skills developed in Year 1 in relation to the role, nature and use of evidence to support health and social care practice and service improvement. You develop your ability to critically appraise a range of evidence. You will explore how evidence is used to underpin national guidelines, decision-making and high-quality nursing practice within a clinical governance framework. To facilitate evidence-based practice and influence the improvement agenda you will apply leadership and change management concepts covered in other modules.
Promoting Learning Disabilities Nursing Proficiency: Developing Evidence-based Professional Care and Caring
This module will help you to meet the Stage 2 practice competencies and associated benchmarks, addressing the NMC (2010) Essential Skills Clusters second progression point.
You will develop the ability to assess and meet the fundamental physical and mental health needs of people with learning disabilities in a range of diverse settings.
The module will facilitate the application and development of your knowledge and skills needed to nurse adult clients. Understanding of professional nursing practice will be through shared key lectures with students on all fields of nursing and learning disability field-related workshops. You will engage in a variety of specific workshops which will focus upon clinical skills relevant to the range of diverse learning disability care settings.
Therapeutic Nursing in Learning Disabilities Nursing
You explore the nature and focus of therapeutic practice in learning disability nursing across service user journeys. You build upon your knowledge and understanding of altered pathophysiology, cognition and health/wellbeing. This will enable you to further develop your ability to formulate evidence-based, person-centred decisions within a biopsychosocial context.
The principles and impact of nursing care for patients with co-morbidity and associated physical and psychosocial conditions will be examined. You will explore the complexity of contemporary health and social care practice, this will include how services are delivered, resource management and the individual needs of people accessing nursing settings.
Final-year core modules
Enhanced Person-centred Assessment and Decision Making Skills in Learning Disabilities Nursing
You gain the knowledge, understanding and skills required to undertake enhanced holistic assessments of people accessing learning disability nursing services. You develop your ability to work in partnership with people across the lifespan in a range of primary, secondary and tertiary care environments.
You develop history taking skills to enable you to explore the presenting problems, precipitating factors, predisposing influences, perpetuating and protective factors relevant to the individual. The needs of the families and carers will also be considered within a person centred approach. Interpretation of assessment and evaluation data and how this informs evidence-based nursing diagnosis, liaison and referral to the appropriate member of the integrated team will be explored. The nurse’s accountability and scope of practice will be examined within the context of the NMC Code.
Enhanced Therapeutic Practice in Learning Disabilities Nursing
You explore complex therapeutic person-centred decision making within learning disabilities nursing practice. This enables you to further develop the knowledge and decision making skills required to proactively manage the health care needs of people accessing learning disabilities nursing services within primary secondary and tertiary care settings. It also equips you with the knowledge and skills required to promote evidence-based decision making and integrated team working when managing people’s complex care needs.
You will build upon your knowledge and understanding of altered pathophysiology, cognition, health and wellbeing. Therapeutic nursing practice and interventions including applied pharmacology and bio-psychosocial approaches to care will be examined throughout the module.
Enhancing Learning Disabilities Nursing Proficiency: Leading Evidence-based Professional and Caring Practice
You focus upon the quality improvement agenda and using a systematic approach to improving the safety, effectiveness and people’s experience of care. You will further develop your knowledge and understanding of the role of the nurse and evidence in relation to entrepreneurship in the context of service improvement. You consolidate, enhance and apply the skills and attributes you will need to enable you to develop and carry out a service improvement initiative in the workplace.
Nursing Improvement and Entrepreneurship
You focuses on enhancing skills and attributes to enable you to explore systematic approaches to develop the quality improvement agenda and improve the safety, effectiveness and people’s experience of care. The role of the nurse in this context will be explored. You will develop and propose a service improvement initiative in the workplace utilising enhanced knowledge and understanding of the tools, techniques and models linked to successful improvement initiatives in health care practice.
