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Mental Health Nursing (Professional Practice) (Top-up) BSc Honours

Learn in an active nursing research department and top-up your knowledge to degree level.
Code
B70D
Start
January 2024
Duration
18 months (over 3 terms)
Attendance
Part-time
Fees
£63 per credit (UK)*
Course leader
Lawrence Dadzie

*Please note this course is under review, and may be subject to change.

Get the skills to boost your career

A 2010 amendment by the Nursing and Midwifery Council now requires pre-registration nurses to have a minimum of degree level study. This means employers increasingly require mental health nurses from band five upwards to hold at least a degree qualification. Our course will help you top-up your knowledge and pursue a career in the mental health nursing field.

This 18 month top-up course has been designed specifically for qualified and registered mental health nurses who already hold a DipAdvanced, CertHE or DipHE qualification (who have engaged in credited CPD studies following qualification) who want to study for an undergraduate degree.

You’ll study many broad topics and practice approaches to build on your existing knowledge and to expand your skills. You’ll also get the opportunity to study clinical and professional practice-related inquiry methods that’ll help you engage in clinical and healthcare practice alongside organisational development.

This course will expand your skills, develop your clinical practice and boost your career opportunities in the field. After graduation, you can look forward to expanding your career into specialist and leadership roles or even undertake postgraduate studies. Your career options will include clinical manager, research nurse, clinical positions, and many more.

How you’ll practice your skills

You’ll undertake study projects where you’ll explore many different themes. Past projects have looked at service needs of patients with dual diagnoses in a community mental health forensic setting. Studying with other practising nurses will also go further in enhancing your learning.

We ensure you’ll receive career counselling guidance before, during and after your course, as well as support from senior staff.

Get the support you need

Our personalised approach gives you the support you need to succeed as a student. While you're an undergraduate or foundation year student, you’ll have a Personal Tutor directly related to your course. If you need support with academic writing, numeracy and library skills, we’ll be sure to provide it.

Course highlights

  • You’ll have the opportunity to study clinical and professional practice-related inquiry methods in order to engage in clinical and practice development
  • Expand your career opportunities and take on specialist and leadership roles, as well as undertake further postgraduate studies. Previous graduates have gone on to work as a research nurse and clinical managers among others
  • Dedicated support throughout your studies where you’ll have a Personal Tutor.

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What will you study on the BSc Mental Health Nursing (Professional Practice) (Top-up)?

This programme offers qualified practising mental health nurses the opportunity to study modules which will enable them to gain an honours degree. You will study two 30 credit modules as part of your degree: a professionally relevant work based/practice based enquiry module and a work based/practice based project module with a focus on personal and/or organisational professional practice development and change.

What will you gain?

As well as developing your critical thinking and decision making, you will also gain the ability to reflect and analyse your own performance. You will have research analysis and evaluating skills and will focus on the facilitation of learning and communication to a range of audiences including students, peers and clients.

Modules

  • Modules

    • Work Based Project (30 credits)

      This module will support you to undertake a real work-based project that is designed to develop or inform areas of your own or your colleague’s professional practice with service users/children, in a healthcare, social care or educational setting. You will plan, carry out and evaluate a project and critically discuss the learning gained, as well as the outcomes of the project for your area of practice. The focus of the project is negotiated and can be related to individual or team practice development and/or wider organisational development aims.

    • Practitioner Inquiry (30 credits)

      This module is designed to develop practitioner inquiry skills and understanding of inquiry methodologies in order to design a work-based project that has the potential to improve your own and others’ practice for service users. It will explore approaches to practitioner inquiry appropriate for your area of work/ practice and enable reflection upon your position as a practitioner researcher and the potential ethical implications that could arise during the project.

More information about this course

See the course specification for more information:

Optional modules are usually available at levels 5 and 6, although optional modules are not offered on every course. Where optional modules are available, you will be asked to make your choice during the previous academic year. If we have insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, or there are staffing changes which affect the teaching, it may not be offered. If an optional module will not run, we will advise you after the module selection period when numbers are confirmed, or at the earliest time that the programme team make the decision not to run the module, and help you choose an alternative module.

How is the BSc Mental Health Nursing (Professional Practice) (Top-up) taught?

As you will be a professional practitioner with significant prior learning, you will be taught via an adult learning approach. The modules use a variety of approaches that will encourage you to be responsible for your own learning and progress. It is recognised that individuals learn in different ways therefore a range of teaching and learning strategies are used. Scenario work, and pre and post sessional work are also important components of the modules that you will be required to engage in.

Assessment

Assessment aims to encourage reflection and autonomous but supported learning. You will receive ongoing support from the programme leader, who will also act as project supervisor.

  1. Standard entry requirements
  2. How to apply
  1. UK
  2. Additional costs

How can the BSc Mental Health Nursing (Professional Practice) (Top-up) support your career?

This programme will enhance your opportunities for career progression or further study, allowing you to pursue careers within healthcare education or research.

Although you will be in current employment, successful completion of the programme may rapidly expand your career opportunities into specialist and leadership roles, and allow you the opportunity to undertake postgraduate studies.  Career opportunities may include senior clinical positions, research nurse, or clinical manager.


We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.

Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.

Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.

At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.

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