First year:
You’ll gain a grounding in core proficiencies, including knowledge of mental health problems and therapeutic communication. You’ll be able to practise your skills in a safe environment, using our simulation facilities. Trained actors or mental health nurses will portray patients.
In the first year, the simulations will be about experiencing different scenarios and will give you a chance to reflect. This will help prepare you for your clinical placements.
For some modules, adult, child and mental health nursing students learn together. These include one module exploring professional and legal matters, and another on mental and physical health through the lifespan.
Second year:
You will focus on applying psychotherapeutic interventions. We will build your confidence through simulation exercises. Scenarios could include dealing with someone in extreme distress or with a personality disorder and the use of de-escalation techniques.
The therapies include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling skills, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and family behaviour therapy. You will be trained in motivational interviewing and solution-focused therapy as well.
We will also cover human factors which affect patient safety and you’ll practise your prescribing skills using simulations. You will undertake several clinical placements during the year.
Third year:
You will begin to apply your therapeutic knowledge to more challenging and complex situations. It will involve more advanced interventions. There will also be a focus on developing your leadership skills to help prepare you for becoming a qualified nurse.
You will complete a research project. Students are also encouraged to work with staff on additional research and have the chance to become co-authors on published papers.
Alongside your core placements, you will have the opportunity to do an elective placement. Some students go abroad for this or link it the specialist area in which they want to work.
The course operates on a modular basis. Each credit taken equates to a total study time of around 10 hours. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 360 credits for the degree as a whole. Your overall grade for the course and your degree classification are based on the marks obtained for modules taken at levels 5 and 6.