Nursing/Registered Nurse: Mental Health Nursing

Would you like to improve the lives of individuals experiencing mental illness? Our Mental Health Nursing degree prepares you to become a skilled and highly sought-after mental health nurse.

You will immerse yourself in our student nurse community and take full advantage of our on-campus clinical skills and simulation facilities, which provide the opportunity to develop your skills and confidence in a safe and supportive environment. This includes using digital simulation as well as our simulated ward areas, high-dependency care areas, home spaces, and cutting-edge immersive simulation room.

Alongside this, you will spend equal time on clinical placement in a variety of settings, including inpatient hospital care, dementia care, community, and specialist mental health provision. You will care for individuals across the lifespan who are experiencing different mental health conditions, and our unique campus locations mean you will gain wide-ranging experience working with diverse patient groups in both rural and city areas.

Our academic team are experienced practitioners with a wide range of clinical backgrounds and academic interests. As well as delivering theoretical teaching based on the latest evidence and research, they will support you throughout your degree to ensure your student experience is fulfilling and enjoyable.

The NHS Learning Support Fund, offering at least £5,000 per year, is available to eligible students.

Course overview
Mental health nurses provide support and care to vulnerable individuals across all stages of life. Our Mental Health Nursing degree combines essential nursing values with contemporary knowledge, communication and interpersonal skills to help you start your dream career in mental health nursing.

You'll learn through a mix of lectures, workshops, guest speakers, and interactive discussions, gaining insights from academics and professionals with real-world expertise. You'll also develop your clinical skills through scenario-based experiences in mock hospital wards, computerised simulations, and our interactive immersive room.

Upon completing this course, you will be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, enabling you to practise as a mental health nurse. This degree opens doors to diverse career opportunities in settings such as inpatient and community services, and specialist centres of excellence like eating disorders, memory assessment, drug and alcohol, and forensic and prison services.

If you have completed an FdSc Nursing Associate programme, you can enter directly into the second year of this degree, allowing you to qualify as a mental health nurse in just two years.

On this course you will...

• Work alongside individuals experiencing mental illness, long-term conditions, and significant psychological wellbeing concerns, providing time and support to help them recover.

• Use high-quality simulation facilities alongside your practice experience and academic lectures.

• Undertake placements in a wide variety of settings, covering child, adult and older people nursing, within both inner-city and rural locations.

• Learn from experienced practitioners with clinical experience in a wide range of clinical backgrounds and academic interests.

• Hear first-hand accounts of stories in healthcare from individual lived experiences.

• Achieve a professional qualification as a registered mental health nurse, alongside a varied experience of practice areas with which you can consider your future career options.

You will spend 50% of the programme in clinical practice being supervised and assessed by clinical staff. The theoretical input is delivered by expert teaching staff and is based on the most up to date contemporary evidence and research, using modern teaching methods and technology. The programme will equip you to deliver safe and effective care to the highest standards and ensure you practice with compassion and confidence. You will be taught to work with clients to make complex decisions regarding their care using evidence of new technology while delivering a wide range of services.

Year one

• Applied Biological Sciences for Health

• Professional Practice and Accountability

• Developing Evidence Based Practice

• Introduction to Communication and Interpersonal Skills

• Concepts of Health and Social Policy

• Introduction to Mental Health Nursing

Year two

• Pharmacology and Medicine Therapeutics

• Living with Long Term Conditions Across the Lifespan

• Learning from the Lived Experience

• Communication and Relationship Management in a Therapeutic Context

• Contemporary and Complimentary Approaches to Mental Health

• Developing Mental Health Nursing Skills

Year three

• Clinical Decision Making and Complex Care

• Contemporary Issues and Change Management in Professional Practice

• Public Health

• Leading and Managing Health and Social Care

• The Art of Mental Health Nursing