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Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education
98% of our Nursing graduates are in graduate-level employment (Guardian, 2024)
100% of Health graduates went into highly skilled employment or further education (HESA, 2023)
£5,000 a year available with the NHS bursary.
About the course
If you have a degree in a health social care or health science-related subject and have the dedication to study and work full time then this course will enable you become a registered nurse in two years.
On this Master’s course you develop the practical skills knowledge attitudes and behaviours needed to nurse adults with mental health issues professionally and compassionately.
You study in an academic setting and work in clinical practice environments enabling you to gain the necessary knowledge and skills on successful completion to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a mental health nurse.
Why choose this course?
- Study through innovative teaching methods with a professionally experienced research-active academic team
- Engage in a service-improvement project that helps you develop the skills to make a real change to the quality of service provision in practice
- Benefit from University facilities that include up-to-the-minute simulation labs so you can experience real-life scenarios in a safe and supported environment
- Our strong links with healthcare providers in Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire and Berkshire mean you can secure a local practice placement
- Benefit from the increased opportunities that come with being a Master’s graduate in a rapidly expanding area of nursing
- The School of Nursing Midwifery and Health works closely with the University’s Institute of Health Research (IHR) which is renowned for the global impact of its research
The NHS Constitution brings together details of what staff patients and the public can expect from the National Health Service. It sets out the principles and values that guide how the NHS should act and make decisions. The NHS Constitution states that the NHS 'aspires to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism'. Applicants are expected to demonstrate their understanding and application of these values throughout the selection process. View the Constitution here
Nursing and midwifery students will be eligible for additional support of at least £5,000 to help with living costs with funding from the NHS. The funding will be given to new and continuing degree-level students.
The funding comes as part of the government’s pledge to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 over the next five years.
You will receive at least £5,000 a year, with further funding available for eligible students:
- £1,000 for specialist disciplines
- £2,000 for childcare costs
- Exceptional Hardship Fund of up to £3,000.
The funding will not have to be repaid by recipients. You will also be able to continue to access funding for tuition and maintenance loans from the Student Loans Company.
What will you study?
Essentials Of Mental Health Nursing
This unit will develop your knowledge and skills to promote optimism, recovery and inclusion as a foundation for empowering service users, carers and families through their experiences. You will learn how to conduct an effective assessment, address service user’s withdrawal, isolation and debilitation. Emphasis is placed on the engagement of service users and their carers, as this provides the foundation for working therapeutically and for conducting effective assessment. The unit explores a range of structured and unstructured assessment strategies which provide a baseline for subsequent intervention.
The unit explores: ‘What is mental health?’ and acknowledges the nature and characteristics of mental illness and the needs generated by various mental illnesses.
Introduction To Mental Health Nursing Practice
This unit will familiarise you with working under supervision in nursing teams to deliver care to people using skills and knowledge from the course.
The unit addresses the central question of how mental health nurses respond to the needs of service user with mental illness.
Health, Life And Social Sciences For Nursing
The unit will enable you to develop knowledge related to life, health and social sciences to inform your delivery of holistic care and promote the well-being of individuals across the life-span.
The unit addresses the central question: How theoretical knowledge informs the bio-psycho-social approach to caring for an individual.
Professional Values And Governance In Nursing And Healthcare
This unit aims to enable you to have a critical awareness of the structure, function and governance of the NHS, and critical insight into the development and influence of healthcare policy on nursing practice. You will examine the professional regulation of nursing and the professional values, ethics of the nursing profession, and how these contribute to risk management.
The unit addresses central questions relating to the values informing nursing practice, how nursing and healthcare are regulated, and how the quality of healthcare delivery assured?
Medicines Management And Pharmacology In Mental Health Nursing
This unit will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to safely administer medicines in accordance with professional standards and legislation, make appropriate decisions in relation to medicines and educate Mental Health patients with ill-health about the pharmacological aspects of their care.
The unit addresses what a Mental Health nurse must know and do to fulfil the professional standards in relation to the law, safeguarding, consent, pharmacology and medicines administration and optimisation. This is in line with the NMC Future nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses (NMC 2018).
Assessment And Decision Making In Mental Health Nursing
This unit will provide you with the skills of assessment and decision making in a constantly dynamic environment, where a critical awareness of the needs of the service user and their family is essential. It considers the acute and often complex nature of some mental illnesses and provides a framework in which to assess, support and intervene when the individual and their significant others are in a crisis.
The unit addresses the central question of how mental health nurses support people who are in crisis and/or have complex needs, employing evidenced based approaches, ensuring a positive outcome for the service user.
Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice
This unit will develop your nursing skills and competence and further your knowledge of mental health nursing
The unit addresses the central question: how do mental health nurses exercise knowledge and skills to assess, plan deliver and evaluate care?
Preparation For Mental Health Nursing Registered Practice
This unit will enable you to meet practice requirements of the final progression point.
The unit addresses the central question: what is the role of the mental health nurse in leading and developing care?
Research Methodologies For Healthcare
This unit will provide you with systematic knowledge and critical awareness to analyse the health and social care evidence base that informs nursing practice. Key research methods and methodologies, how to implement a research project and take account of ethical and regulatory considerations, will also be examined.
As practitioners, this unit addresses the specific question of how knowledge for nursing practice is generated.
Improving Care: Principles Of Clinical Leadership
This unit will enable you to understand the principles of leadership, management and change so that you begin to develop the key skills to lead change, work effectively in teams, supervise and manage others to promote best practice. The unit addresses the central question: How can leadership and management shape and influence nursing care?
Nursing Dissertation
The unit enables you to conduct an extended scholarly enquiry that is focused on healthcare practice in order to contribute to the knowledge base for healthcare. You will contribute to the systematic knowledge base underpinning Healthcare practice by completing a master’s dissertation project.
As practitioners, this unit addresses the specific question of how research and research governance shape and inform contemporary practice in your field.
How will you be assessed?
The assessment strategy for this course is closely aligned to the teaching and learning strategy which is designed to have: immediate professional relevance to ensure safe and effective practice; foster active learning be learner-centred in approach and draw on expertise-by-experience. The choice of assessments is determined by their fitness for purpose i.e. to evidence achievement of unit learning outcomes at Master's level (Level 7).
You will be assessed across a range of practice settings and learning environments throughout the course. To enhance your understanding and experiences of assessment practices you will encounter a wide range of formative and summative assessment methods including those that enable you to undertake practice-focussed tasks that have the potential to influence care delivery. Many of the assessment tasks are designed so that you can tailor them to your professional interests experience and development needs. They are also designed so that you can rehearse ways of thinking and acting that are professionally relevant.
Examples include: written assignments ranging from reflective pieces to case studies and academic essays as well as assessed practice within your placements. Assessments are also designed to support you integrating learning in theory and practice and in demonstrating that integration. The assessments culminate in a choice of dissertation projects: a literature review a research proposal or a service development project.
You will be assessed in practice through the use of a Practice Assessment Document which outlines the skills and competencies required as a registered nurse. These assessments are recorded and confirmed by a Practice Assessor alongside your own self-reflections on your progress. Service users and carers also contribute to your assessments.
During each of your placement allocations you will have a nominated Practice Assessor in accordance with the NMC Part 2: Standards for student supervision and assessment (NMC 2018). They conduct assessment to confirm that you have achieved the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes for practice learning. You will also have a nominated Academic Assessor who is responsible for confirming your achievement of the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes in the academic environment for each part of the course.
Together the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor evaluate and recommend a student for progression for each part (year) of the course in line with course standards and local and national policies. As there is no break at the end of each Part in which to complete any assessment referrals in practice students on the course will be able to retake a referred practice assessment in the next placement. This will be at the 6 week point and only for the learning outcomes/assessments outstanding.
Careers
The course opens the way to a challenging and rewarding career as a registered mental health nurse in a range of healthcare environments including community hospitals and residential settings and can provide a route to specialised clinical practice management or education. On completion you are likely to progress into the following areas of practice:
- in-patient care
- crisis intervention
- community mental health nursing
- specialist areas of practice
- residential care settings
The course is also the first step in a process of lifelong learning and professional development. The University of Bedfordshire offers a wide range of courses for continuing professional education which will complement your chosen post-qualifying area of practice.
If you would like to continue with your studies the University has a range of postgraduate and doctoral studies including courses to gain specialist practitioner or medical education qualifications.
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The fee for this MSc for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £18,500.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Scholarship Available
The University of Bedfordshire is proud of its alumni and is delighted to offer a tuition fee discount for those who choose to continue or return to the University for on campus Postgraduate level studies.
We offer a 20% discount on full and part-time Masters courses to those who were successful in completing an Honours Degree with the University of Bedfordshire, DMU’s Bedford campus or the University of Luton.
International
The international fee for this MSc for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £31,000
For more information, please see international fees, or contact internationalnursing@beds.ac.uk
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email international@beds.ac.uk
