Nursing Science Registered Nurse (Mental Health) BSc (Hons)

You will be introduced to fundamental concepts of ‘health’ and ‘ill-health’, as a preliminary step within the evolving concept curriculum. You will develop an understanding of evidence-based practice, evolving in complexity over three years. You will explore fundamental concepts to becoming a self-aware, compassionate and knowledgeable mental health nurse. You will explore your values and beliefs, exploring the concepts of resilience, recovery/ discovery, diversity/ sameness, collaboration, assessment and formulation. The way health and ill-health are understood will be considered through evaluation of several concepts including: sociological, psychological and biomedical perspectives. Key concepts surrounding the aetiology of distress will be explored and will include the ‘stress-vulnerability model’, the ‘power, threat, meaning framework’ and ‘attachment theory’. Crucially, we will explore the qualities both the providers and recipients of care bring to the relationship and the key concepts of mutuality and reciprocity and the impact this has on care delivery.

Practicing as a safe and knowledgeable nurse requires familiarity with clinical and professional literature to explore competing theories of practice. It also requires the nurse to be able to interpret and reason with the ‘evidence-base’ and supply a sound rationale for practice (expressed in both written and verbal formats). Evidence-based practice requires nurses to understand a scientific evidence-base whilst demonstrating respect for diversity and the individual’s interpretation of experience, how people live in their communities, what people value, believe and discover what it means to be human. You will explore the delivery of care within the context of co-production.

This module will enable you to apply the biosciences and social sciences to understand determinants of health- social, psychological, behavioural, environmental and biological factors. You will develop an understanding of the functioning of the body at different levels (cell, tissue, organ, system) and how the mind and body interact and influence one another. This knowledge will assist you in delivering safe, holistic, and person-centred care.

This module builds on the knowledge gained in semester 1 and considers the importance of holistic assessment.

In this module you are offered opportunities to learn about supporting people with mental health distress and how to apply this knowledge to offer high quality and safe care to service users and their families. You will study the following;

• Physical systems of the body and the reciprocal impact on mental health
• The psychological aspects of traumatic life events and the reciprocal impact on physical health

Topics you will cover include:
• Anatomy and physiology
• Deterioration in physical and mental health
• Drugs and medicines interactions within living systems
• Holistic assessment, planning, delivering and evaluating care
• Introduction to consent and legal frameworks within mental health services
• Introduction to Functional Analysis of Care Environments (FACE) risk and narrative risk assessment
• Diabetes
You will explore the experiences of people with a mental distress and their families through meeting with ‘Experts by Experience’ and practitioners specialising in mental health.

This practice module will provide you with a unique opportunity to develop skills and knowledge directly relevant to your current practice placement experiences. The practice module will both support your learning while you are in practice and provide an environment, within university, to consolidate the skills and knowledge necessary to progress effectively. By using a concept curriculum approach, the nursing practice module will support you to learn how to become an accountable professional, lead and manage nursing care, and work in teams.

During the first year, you will learn the fundamental skills that are necessary for safe, effective and professional practice.

During the majority of your first year clinical placements you will return to university for two days a week to reflect on your experiences. You will learn together with your peers and examine theoretical concepts such as professionalism, interprofessional learning, medicines management and safeguarding that will enhance your practice. Seminars and workshops will focus on a range of subjects that will enhance your professional nursing practice. Innovative teaching and learning strategies will be used to enhance your learning, This will include the use of digital educational resources to support your learning in relation to concepts such as medicines management.

You will learn how to develop your Ongoing Record of Achievement (ORA) and how to reflect on your personal and professional development. You will learn about the importance of patient centred and recovery focussed approaches and will be asked to reflect on feedback given by Experts By Experience (EBE). These skills are the start of your development as an evidence-based practitioner.

The content of Nursing Skills 1 will be informed by the proficiency standards outlined in Annex A and B in ‘Future Nurse: standards of proficiency for registered nurse’ (NMC 2018).

The module will introduce the concept of safe nursing practice and the proficiencies nurses need when undertaking the physical assessment of people of all ages. You will learn how to observe and assess people of all ages in terms of symptoms and signs of physical ill health. You will learn how to take, record and interpret a patient’s vital sign and use communication tools to support verbal and written reports. These skills and proficiencies will be supported by opportunities to participate in simulated education utilising a range of specialist technology and taught by experts. These nursing skills are directly relevant to your practice learning and include nursing procedures that are necessary for safe and effective patient care. Before your first placement you will complete a number of mandatory requirements, which will enable you to practice with confidence and ensure patient safety. The learning opportunities in this module are designed to support you to develop knowledge, which will inform the attainment of communication and relationship management skills and nursing procedures as identified as Part 1 in your Ongoing Record of Achievement (ORA).

Nursing Skills 2 will build on the concept of communication and safe and effective practice which you have been introduced to in the previous skills module. You will further develop your communication and clinical skills relevant to your practice placement experiences. You will continue to learn a range of skills, such as recognition of the deteriorating patient, that are necessary for safe, effective and professional practice. You will have the opportunity to participate in simulated education utilising a range of specialist technology, including human patient simulators, and taught by a specialist module team of lecturers in nursing, midwifery and health.

You will consider and develop your nursing skills, acting with integrity, applying the principles of The Code (NMC, 2018). You will demonstrate your ability to practise in a holistic, individualised, person centred, non-judgemental, caring and sensitive manner, acknowledging the diverse needs of a contemporary society. You will continue to develop your understanding of team working and its importance in nursing practice. You will learn about the importance of person-centred care and effective communication skills. These learning opportunities will continue to help you gather evidence of your abilities and confidence and will inform your attainment of communication and safe and effective practice as identified as Part 1 in your Ongoing Record of Achievement (ORA).

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.