Mental Health Nursing - 2013 entry
BA (Hons)
- single
Typical A-level offer: grades BCC or equivalent
Overview
This course is run by the Department of Clinical Health Care
This rewarding and challenging course is offered at BA / BA (Hons) level for both pre-registration entrants and those who are taking the post-experience route.
Our course aims to develop you to become a skilled, sensitive, confident and responsive mental health nurse. It will help you develop your skills in therapeutic communication and your understanding of the uniqueness of individuals and the ways in which people experience mental health problems.
The core mental health modules focus on the investigation of psychological development and recovery from mental health problems, including the outcomes of these for individuals, families and the wider society. They also allow you to develop the clinical competence, knowledge and skills you will need to practise effectively and with confidence.
If you already have a relevant bachelor's degree but would like to pursue mental health nursing as a career, we offer a pre-registration master's course. There is also the option of studying mental health nursing in combination with adult nursing or children’s nursing in a four-year full time programme to gain qualifications and professional registration in both areas.
Why Brookes?
- The course is practice-based so that your learning is enhanced by the reality of practical experience.
- Oxfordshire is highly regarded for the quality of its mental health services and you will have the opportunity to work in the full range of hospital and community settings.
- We have been commended (the highest result that can be achieved) for the quality of our education by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
- A recent Quality Assurance Review conducted on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Council found the course to be good across all areas. The review team commended staff on their sound and productive relationships with service provider partners.
- We offer excellent teaching facilities. Our clinical skills suites have received extremely positive feedback from mentors and students and were highlighted by the Quality Assurance team as an example of good practice (2007).
Teaching, learning and assessment
In health and social care, no professional group works in isolation. At Oxford Brookes you will share your learning with students in areas such as midwifery, occupational therapy, social work and the many other health care subjects that we teach. This is a key component of the course as it is essential in developing your teamwork skills and your understanding of the other roles you will encounter in practice.
We offer a very friendly and supportive environment in which to learn, and we consistently receive very high satisfaction ratings for student support and learning resources in student surveys. All our courses adopt a student-centred approach to teaching and learning and are strongly focused on encouraging you to attain your full potential as a lifelong learner.
IT plays an increasingly important role in health care courses and an extensive range of learning resources can be accessed through 'Brookes Virtual', an online repository of lectures, handouts, information and learning exercises.
Various teaching and learning methods are used, including project work, experiential workshops, seminars, interactive lectures, role play and projective techniques, as well as tutorial support. Tutorial groups are used to further support learning.
Practice experience makes up half the course and will enable you to observe and participate in care, providing you with the opportunity to integrate practice and theoretical components and to develop and demonstrate the required competencies.
Mental health nursing theory is assessed through coursework, which includes case studies, case reviews, project reports, essays and seminar papers. The practice element is assessed through the use of clinical competencies which record course learning outcomes achieved during clinical placements and enable you to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council competencies to practise all essential skills for entry to the register. Simulated clinical examinations are also used.
Learning outcomes
When you have successfully completed the course, you will be able to:
- deliver high quality care to all, underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of nursing practice
- deliver complex care to service users in their field of practice using a range of standard or innovative techniques
- act to safeguard the public and be responsible and accountable for safe, person-centred, evidence-based nursing practice, demonstrating an ability to act autonomously
- act with professionalism and integrity and work within agreed professional, ethical and legal frameworks and processes to maintain and improve standards
- practice in a compassionate, respectful way, maintaining dignity and well being and communicating effectively
- act on an understanding of how people’s lifestyles, environments and the location of care delivery influence health and well being.
In detail
Department of Clinical Health Care Facebook page
Faculty of Health and Life Science Twitter feedCourse content
The course is practice-based and you will have the opportunity to work in the full range of hospital and community settings where people with mental health problems are supported or cared for.
During the course you will undertake both course-specific and multiprofessional modules.
- The core mental health modules allow you to develop your clinical competence, knowledge and skills. You will learn to communicate effectively and therapeutically, and develop your understanding of people with mental health problems.
- The multiprofessional modules introduce you to psychological, sociological, biological and cultural perspectives on health. A range of clinical work, with multidisciplinary teams of nurses, doctors, clinical psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists, will help you to integrate theory with practice and achieve your learning goals.
You will also explore current developments in mental health nursing from a basis of professional practice, self development and age-related care. If you are following the BA (Hons) course, you will also complete a dissertation. This will be an enquiry into an aspect of mental health nursing you wish to explore in depth.
The post-experience route is BA with credit exemption for Year 1 and individual APEL, as appropriate. In other years, you will undertake a core year of practice and study following a pre-course learning period. If you are already a registered nurse on parts 1, 5, 8, 12, 14 or 15 of the NMC register, this route will enable you to attain a second registration and an academic award.
Courses are regularly reviewed, so the module list you are offered may vary from that shown here. For some modules (Partnerships I, II and III) you will be taught alongside students on other health care courses to enable you to develop your understanding of multiprofessional working within health and social care.
Note: although there is some scope for flexibility, module choice is restricted in the pre-qualification course owing to the demands of the professional requirements for registration.
Year 1
The course explores a wide range of issues relevant to mental health nursing practice. Modules include:
- Introduction to Person Centred Care (double)
- Professional Practice Experience I
- Partnerships I: Using Evidence in Professional Practice
- Applied Social Science for Health and Social Care
- Development of the Human Body and Mind
- Life Science for Health Care Professionals
- Developing Person Centred Care (double)
Years 2 and 3
Compulsory modules include:
- Professional Practice Experience II, III, IV and V
- Mental Health Nursing with Adults of Working Age (double)
- Mental Health Nursing with Older Adults
- Partnerships II: Developing Effective Working Practices
- Partnerships III: Managing Collaboration
- Biological Basis for Human Behaviour
- Child and Family Mental Health
- Legal and Ethical Issues in Mental Disorder Services
- Forensic Mental Health Nursing in All Age Groups
- Psychological Approaches within Mental Health Nursing
- Consolidation of Mental Health Practice (double)
- Research Awareness and Critical Appraisal (compulsory for BA/BA Hons)
- Nursing Dissertation (double, compulsory to achieve honours)
Optional modules (one module may be counted for pre-qualification students; up to five may be counted for post-qualification students) include:
- Abnormal Psychology
- Personality and Individual Difference
- Positive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour (Theory)
- Health and Social Care Elective
- Independent Study
Work placements
A wide variety of clinical placements will be undertaken in each year of study, in both community and in-patient settings. These areas will reflect different age groups and the specialities available in the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Work with adults across the age range, children and families, longer-term support of adults, and specialist settings such as forensic work, complex needs, eating disorders and research may all be experienced. Placements will also offer the opportunity to experience care in larger urban areas as well as in rural communities.
Most placements will offer full-time experience in practice while others will be in parallel with study in the university.
We offer a range of support mechanisms, both within the university and the placement area, to support you through your programme of study. While on placement, you will be supported by a named member of staff known as a mentor, as well as a link lecturer from the university. Students find the placement experience both stimulating and well-supported.
We have a dedicated Practice Education Unit that provides administrative and academic support for placement learning/practice education for all its pre-qualifying courses.
Study abroad
Some students can add an optional acceptable module, the Health and Social Care Elective. This is a self-organised and self-funded placement anywhere in the world lasting a minimum of two weeks.
Free language courses for students - the Open Module
Free language courses are available to all full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students who are studying any course on our Headington (including Marston Road), Harcourt Hill or Wheatley Campuses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.
Key facts
Department
Department of Clinical Health Care
Professional accreditation
The course meets the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards of education and the requirements for the professional award.
Course length
Full-time: 3 years; 5 years by mixed mode. Post-qualification: 15 months with individual credits
Part-time: 7 years maximum (limited part-time places available)
Teaching location
Headington Campus, Marston Road
Start date
September 2013
UCAS code
B702 BA/NB
Fees / funding
Funding and scholarships
You can read our financial help leaflet here.
For general sources of financial support, see funding for Undergraduate students from the UK and EU.
Apply / Entry reqs
Typical offers
A-level: grades BCC or equivalent
IB Diploma: 24-28 points, minimum 8 at higher level
Advanced Diploma: Advanced Diploma at grade C, including GCSE Science at grade C
Screening
All applicants will be screened for fitness for practice and a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check will be made.
Specific entry requirements
GCSE: 5 passes at grade C or above, including Mathematics, English Language and a science subject
PLUS one of the following:
- the total equivalent of 3 A-levels, grade BCC
- a 12-unit vocational A-level in Health and Social Care at CC grade, plus an A-level at grade C
- a 6-unit vocational A-level in Health and Social Care at C grade, plus 2 A-levels at grade C
- Advanced Diploma at grade C, including GCSE Science at grade C
- Access to Higher Education with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3, including 12 credits at level 3 in Science, and 15 credits at level 2. (If your' GCSE grade in Maths is below C, you will have to include 12 credits at level 2 Maths.) You must achieve 24 merits in your level 3 credits
- International Baccalaureate 24-28 points, minimum 8 at higher level.
For post-experience BA:
- NMC registration parts 1, 5, 8, 12, 14 or 15.
- a secondment to the course may be possible for adult, learning disability and children's nurses working for the local NHS Trusts or the armed forces.
- applicants need to have been working in an NHS clinical area that gives them experience of clients with mental health needs for at least six months before enrolling on the course.
Please also see the university's general entry requirements.
English language requirements
Please see the university's standard English language requirements.
Full-time students should apply for this course through UCAS.
Part-time/post-experience: apply direct to the university.
This course is not available to non-EEA students unless you have an immigration status which allows you to study part-time in the UK.
Conditions of acceptance
When you accept our offer you agree to the conditions of acceptance. You should therefore read those conditions before accepting the offer.
Credit transfer
Oxford Brookes operates the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). All undergraduate single modules are equivalent to 7.5 ECTS credits and double modules to 15 ECTS credits. More about ECTS credits.
Student experience
Why Oxford is a great place to study Mental Health Nursing
Oxfordshire is highly regarded for the quality of its mental health services and you will have the opportunity to work in the full range of hospital and community settings where people with mental health problems are supported or cared for.
Specialist facilities
We have excellent teaching facilities, including a 280-seat lecture theatre, fully networked computer rooms and dedicated clinical skills suites. Our simulation resources include a well-equipped movement laboratory.
We also have excellent library resources, accessible both through the web and through a range of locally based facilities on university and NHS sites.
Support for students studying Mental Health Nursing
There is a good range of support mechanisms for students, including:
- academic advisers, who will facilitate your academic development
- student support co-ordinators, who provide a drop-in service for questions about any aspect of student life, covering both academic and personal welfare.
The university’s support services include Upgrade, which provides advice on study skills such as planning and writing essays, assignments and dissertations, research, and preparing for exams. They also give advice on statistics and maths.
There is a dedicated Student Disability and Dyslexia Service, which provides support for students with disabilities including sensory and mobility impairments, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties, mental health problems and medical conditions. The service's staff offer advice and support on a range of issues, including physical access, funding, alternative assessment arrangements and liaison with teaching staff to ensure that they are aware of your requirements.
General support services
Supporting your learning
From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.
Personal support services
We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.
Accommodation
At Brookes we understand that when you live away from home it's important to be somewhere that you feel comfortable and safe.
After graduation
Professional accreditation
The course meets the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards of education and the requirements for the professional award.
Career prospects
Employment prospects are excellent after course completion. All our courses aim to prepare you to be lifelong learners and there is a wide range of courses available at Oxford Brookes for continued professional development (CPD).
Further information about nursing careers is available here.
Graduate profiles
- BA/BA (Hons) (pdf - 80Kb)
