Course description

Mental health?problems?currently affect one in four of the UK population. If you’re caring and compassionate, with exceptional communication skills and a real passion for helping people, this course is for you.?

• Our nursing programmes are approved against the NMC’s new Future nurse: Standards of Proficiency for registered nurses
• Upon successful completion of the programme, you will be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in your chosen field of practice.
• Gain essential practical experience on a range of placements in different healthcare and community settings.
• Benefit from some of the best university facilities of their kind, including our clinical skills suite and our state-of-the-art immersive suite.
• Learn from a highly experienced, enthusiastic and research-active team who provide full support to help you achieve your ambitions.
• You could be eligible for the NHS Learning Support Fund which, if you are eligible, could provide a grant for training, childcare costs and travelling to placements.
• This course prepares you for registration as a Mental Health nurse, enabling you to work with a range of client groups with acute, diverse and long-term conditions.

This programme is a holistic learning experience, enabling students to become emotionally resilient and transformational Registered Nurses of the future. This is a two-year, full-time programme and supports those with a prior degree (2:2 or above) to become a registered nurses at an accelerated pace. You will also need prior work experience in a service user context, allowing you to demonstrate the skills that underpin professional nursing registration. Your prior experiences will contribute to the learning opportunities within the course and together these will provide eligibility to apply for registration as a nurse with the NMC.

Students develop an in-depth and comprehensive understanding about their chosen field of practice and recognise the principles of nursing across all fields and across the lifespan.  Modules provide the foundation for students to develop a compassionate professionalism whereby they are trusted in the care they provide. Learning will be facilitated through a range of classroom-based activities, skills laboratories and by electronic means such as online learning, web-based training and technology-delivered instruction.?? 

A highly rewarding career choice

Mental health nurses support people?with depression, anxiety, dementia, bulimia nervosa, post-natal depression and a whole range of other conditions that can lead to unhelpful thoughts and ideas. They focus on people’s strengths and resources – helping them to overcome and cope with their problems and maximising their life potential.?

This course is built around the ethos that everyone has a right to evidence-based care, whatever their background and circumstances. It equips you to excel as a confident, versatile and capable mental health nurse.

Expertise to inspire you

You'll be supported by enthusiastic and dedicated academic staff who are immersed in their areas of practice and committed to supporting you at every stage of your studies. All academic staff are current NMC registered professionals with some continuing to work in clinical practice alongside their teaching role.  The academic team includes renowned professionals whose work features regularly in leading journals and books and who help shape national policies.
This course is mapped against the NMC standards to ensure that your learning is up to date and relevant. In delivering the programme, we respond to national changes such as the latest government policies. As a result, some of the information about the course may change.

Wide-ranging placement experience

A compulsory part of the course is practice learning which equates to 50% of the overall programme in line with the NMC standards (NMC, 2018). Students must complete a range of placements to meet the minimum hours requirement for practice learning and to support the application of theory to practice.
 
Practice learning is achieved through a variety of placement experiences to enable you to gain essential practical experience by participating in 24-hour care. Throughout, you'll benefit from the support of Practice Assessors and Practice Supervisors who will help you get as much out of the experience as possible.  
Students experience a wide variety of simulated learning activities throughout the programme to prepare for the real world of nursing. This also ensures students continually link theory to practice and feel supported for entering the clinical environment.

First class facilities

Our Derby campus offers outstanding facilities, including clinical skills suites built to professional standards, with replica wards, counselling rooms and treatment rooms fully equipped with the latest resources.
As health care is increasingly delivered by multi professional teams, we offer opportunities for you to learn with, and from, students from other disciplines. This is really important in preparing you to work in more flexible ways after graduation. By learning to work together, you can help achieve the best outcomes for patients and service users.

Students also participate in learning?that is specific to their field but is also co-taught across the four fields of nursing. There is opportunity for students studying at different academic levels to learn with, and from each other. This provides opportunity to meet the NMC standards whilst replicating professional relationships that students encounter in clinical practice.

How you will learn

So that you are fully prepared for your career, we ensure that your skills and knowledge match current working practices in health and social care. The practical abilities you develop on placement will be underpinned and extended by the knowledge you gain through lectures, tutorials, workshops and simulated practice activities.

We harness latest technology in all aspects of the course. Modules are linked to the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), so that you have 24-hour access to relevant resources both on and off campus. We also capture ‘live’ lectures via Panopto which you can view at times that suit you via the VLE.

In addition, our students benefit from access to a range online resources such as Clinical Skills Net, an online resource offering video tutorials in essential clinical skills. The anatomy and physiology content of the programme is supported in a similar way through Wiley PLUS.

Who you'll meet

You will be taught by qualified health professionals with extensive experience of nursing and leadership roles. They have proven, sustained track records in higher education teaching, with most holding Fellowships of the Higher Education Academy.

Our staff keep up to date with latest developments in the sector by undertaking continuing professional development as part of their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

How you'll be assessed

There are a diverse range of authentic assessments within the programme. Assessments are aligned to module learning outcomes and support students to build academic skill and professional development. Assessment feedback and feedforward mechanisms encourage dialogue, provide action plans, and utilise academic, student, and practice support staff where required. This ensures that students are fit for practice, purpose, award, and professional standing on completion of the award.  

Each assessment within the programme has the following underpinning characteristics:

• Each assessment has value and distinct relevance to professional nursing practice.
• They support development and progression through the programme.
• Each assessment focuses on supporting students to meet the NMC standards for registration.  
• They support the application of theory to practice.
• The assessment process is transparent, and students receive timely and constructive feedback to support their success.

Assessment of practice learning is recorded in the Practice Assessment Document (MYEPAD), which is designed to support and guide students towards successfully achieving the criteria set out in the Future nurse: Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses and Standards for Education and Training (NMC 2018).? The MYEPAD is a regionally validated document developed collaboratively with other local universities. The University of Derby continues to work in partnership to support a consistent approach to student supervision and assessment.