Nursing (Pre-registration - Mental Health) | MSc

Teaching and Learning During COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic has meant that at Lincoln we are making changes to our teaching and learning approach and to our campus, to ensure that students and staff can enjoy a safe and positive learning experience here at Lincoln.

From autumn 2020 our aim is to provide an on-campus learning experience. Our intention is that teaching will be delivered through a mixture of face-to-face and online sessions. There will be social activities in place for students - all in line with appropriate social distancing and fully adhering to any changes in government guidance as our students' safety is our primary concern.

We want to ensure that your Lincoln experience is as positive, exciting and enjoyable as possible as you embark on the next phase of your life. COVID-19 has encouraged us to review our practices and, as a result, to take the opportunity to find new ways to enhance the Lincoln experience. It has challenged us to find innovative new approaches to supporting students' learning and social interactions. These learning experiences, which blend digital and face-to-face, will be vital in helping to prepare our students for a 21st Century workplace.

Of course at Lincoln, personal tutoring is key to our delivery, providing every student with a dedicated tutor to support them throughout their time here at the University. Smaller class sizes mean our academic staff can engage with each student as an individual, and work with them to enhance their strengths. In this environment we hope that students have more opportunities for discussion and engagement and get to know each other better.

Course learning outcomes are vital to prepare you for your future and we aim to utilise this mix of face-to-face and online teaching to deliver these. Students benefit from and enjoy fieldtrips and placements and, whilst it is currently hard to predict the availability of these, we are working hard and with partners and will aspire to offer these wherever possible - obviously in compliance with whatever government guidance is in place at the time.

We are utilising a range of different digital tools for teaching including our dedicated online managed learning environment. All lectures for larger groups will be delivered online using interactive software and a range of different formats. We aim to make every contact count and seminars and small group sessions will maximise face-to-face interaction. Practicals, workshops, studio sessions and performance-based sessions are planned to be delivered face-to-face, in a socially distanced way with appropriate PPE.

The University of Lincoln is a top 20 TEF Gold University and we have won awards for our approach to teaching and learning, our partnerships and industry links, and the opportunities these provide for our students. Our aim is that our online and socially distanced delivery during this COVID-19 pandemic is engaging and that students can interact with their tutors and each other and contribute to our academic community.

As and when restrictions start to lift, we aim to deliver an increasing amount of face-to-face teaching and external engagements, depending on each course. Safety will continue to be our primary focus and we will respond to any changing circumstances as they arise to ensure our community is supported. More information about the specific approaches for each course will be shared when teaching starts.

Of course as you start a new academic year it will be challenging but we will be working with you every step of the way. For all our students new and established, we look forward to welcoming you to our vibrant community this Autumn. If you have any questions please visit our FAQs or contact us on 01522 886644.

Welcome to MSc Nursing (Pre-registration - Mental Health)

Mental health nurses support patients with a wide range of issues including anxiety, depression, addiction, and eating disorders. They work in a settings such as in hospitals or the community and help people manage their illness and improve their lives.

This Master's degree enables graduates from a range of backgrounds the opportunity to transfer their skills to become a registered nurse (mental health). The course is aimed at graduates of relevant degrees who aspire to qualify for eligibility to apply to the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register.

The course is underpinned by the Nursing and Midwifery Councils's (NMC) core values and aims to promotes critical thinking skills and the spirit of inquiry.

Over the past few decades the nurse’s role has developed due to the changing context of health and social care, resulting in a wide range of new roles and services. Registered nurses (mental health) hold a significant role in terms of leading and coordinating care provision for people across the lifespan; aware of complex mental, physical, cognitive, and behavioural care needs of those they look after.

This Master's degree aims to develop registered nurses (mental health) who prioritise people by providing safe and effective care, educating those in their care through the use of technology, promoting health literacy to prevent ill health, and supporting healthy choices and lifestyles. The course has been developed to raise the professional values and social conscience of students to prepare them for future healthcare roles.

Nurses translate evidence-based knowledge to improve healthcare delivery while maintaining and emphasising the ethics of person centred care. Modules on this course have been designed with this in mind and aim to stimulate innovation, improve quality, manage risk, and identify areas for productive change.

The University of Lincoln, together with our practice partners, share a vision to prepare students to become dynamic nurses that are fit for practice in rapidly changing and challenging care environments.

How You Study

Collaboration is a key part of this Master's degree and students are encouraged to learn with and from other healthcare professionals. Students can work in collaboration and partnership with academics, practitioners, service users, and other students. The course aims to empower students to become nurses that are resilient, caring, reflective, and lifelong learners to facilitate knowledge of other roles and services, inter-agency cooperation, and the confidence to work across professional boundaries.

Student as Producer

Research-engaged and evidence-based learning and teaching is at the core of the student learning experience on this course. Student as Producer is a model of teaching and learning that encourages academics and undergraduate students to collaborate on research activities. It is a programme committed to learning through doing.

The principles of Student as Producer are discovery, collaboration, engagement, and production.

Discovery

Students can learn through their own research. Independent learning is promoted on each module through both directed and self-directed study, enabling students to contextualise the taught content to their field of practice and promoting independent study as a process students can use throughout their professional career.

Collaboration

Interprofessional working is an important part of the course. Students can work together to develop their knowledge and understanding and students can collaborate amongst professional peer groups and staff. Students are seen as partners in the production and dissemination of knowledge.

Engagement

Students can develop their confidence and identity as a member of a professional community. Students can transfer and apply their learning to nursing practice, fully engaging with reflection, and the proactive identification of their own learning needs.

Production

The course focuses on the production of professionally relevant and innovative learning outputs that can be applied and implemented within nursing practice, as well as focusing on the achievement of academic learning outcomes. 

Students undertake a range of modules on the course.

First year modules:

Essential Interprofessional Practice
Assessing Needs, Planning and Coordinating Care
Providing and Evaluating Care
Leadership and Supervision in Nursing Practice

Second year modules:

Applied Health Improvement
Service Evaluation for Clinical Practice
Service Transformation
Being an Accountable Professional Registered Nurse (Mental Health)
Managing Complex Care.

By the end of the programme students must be able to demonstrate competence against the Future nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses. These include being an accountable professional, Promoting health and preventing ill health, assessing needs and planning care, providing and evaluating care, leading and managing nursing care and working in teams, improving safety and quality of care and, coordinating care.

Work Placements

Work placements are designed to prepare students to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing clinical environment, whether this be a hospital, GP surgery, or community healthcare setting.

Study Abroad

In the second year, students have the opportunity to undertake an elective placement either overseas or in the UK. Placements can enable students to focus on an alternative healthcare context and offer the opportunity to gain an insight into, and experience of, working alongside colleagues from a range of disciplines.

Please note, students are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and general living costs while on placement or studying abroad.

What You Need to Know

We want you to have all the information you need to make an informed decision on where and what you want to study. To help you choose the course that’s right for you, we aim to bring to your attention all the important information you may need. Our What You Need to Know page offers detailed information on key areas including contact hours, assessment, optional modules, and additional costs. For research programmes this includes research fees and research support fees.

Find out More

An Introduction to Your Modules

Master's Level

Applied Health Improvement (Core)Assessing needs, planning and coordinating care (L7) (Core)Being an Accountable Professional Registered Nurse (Mental Health) (L7) (Core)Essential Interprofessional Practice (Core)Leadership and Supervision in Nursing Practice (Core)Managing complex care (L7) (Core)Providing and evaluating care (L7) (Core)Service Evaluation for Clinical Practice (Core)Service Transformation (Core)

Module Overview

Health improvement is a term used to describe the work done with individuals and communities to enable and encourage healthy lifestyle choices to be made regardless of health and social circumstances. It is one of the three key domains of public health practice. This second year module has been designed to extend students’ knowledge of public health policy and practice and provide the opportunity to explore how psychological, social, behavioural and environmental factors influence health, illness and healthcare and how these shape the advice given to patients to improve their own health and the health of others around them. Students will be encouraged to question the ethical basis of and effectiveness of health improvement practice in the current health and social care context from global, national and local perspectives.

Module Overview

This modules is designed to develop the knowledge and skills needed to undertake a detailed clinical history within a variety of settings within students' chosen fields. By the end of this module students should be able to interpret a number of investigations and assessments, document and communicate their findings, and apply their knowledge of pathophysiology, signs and symptoms and interventions recommend a person-centred evidence based plan of care. Students will be supported to develop the skills necessary to communicate the plan of care. Students can how to coordinate the delivery of care for people with a range of physical and mental health needs, and people with learning disabilities across the lifespan.

Module Overview

This second year module will help you to focus on the transition from student nurse to a Registered Mental Health Nurse in your chosen field of practice. You will be supported to develop the skills you will need to become more resilient and able to deal with the difficult decision you will have to make in every day care situations, particularly in light of political and economic constraints. You will have the opportunity to reflect on your learning and develop a portfolio that will help you towards meeting the requirements of registration and revalidation, and identify your future career goals. The learning outcomes in this module reflect The Code: Professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2015, updated 2018).

Module Overview

Healthcare professionals share key skills and characteristics around the legal, ethical and values base of professional practice. This first year inter-professional module has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop essential knowledge and understanding about the structure and function of health and social care in the UK; the role of different professional groups and how they can work together to maximise the care experience for service users and their families and the legal, ethical and professional body frameworks that govern practice. The module will also support students in making the transition to Masters level study and assist them in the development of key skills such as critical evaluation, reflection and using evidence to underpin practice.

Module Overview

This first year module explores aspects of leadership and management in healthcare, alongside practical skills for facilitating practice learning and supervising students in a range of learning environments. Students can gain an understanding of management and leadership theory and how human factors can impact upon organisational culture, service delivery, and clinical practice. Students can learn how to function effectively as a member of a team, motivating and supporting their colleagues. Students can collectively explore the skills required for critical and constructive reflection as a registered professional, preparing for lifelong personal and professional development. This will include practicing coaching and mentorship techniques, to support and facilitate the development of others on the programme; reflecting the culmination of their engagement in peer to peer education and buddying throughout the programme.

Module Overview

Care is becoming more multifaceted with increasing co-morbidities and an increase in the health and care complexities experience by some people, and whilst there are advances in treatments and technologies, there is a need to prioritise the care we provide in an increasingly complex care environment. The aim of this second year module is to help students explore the needs of people with complex health needs across the lifespan, including coping with long-term illness and disability. Students will be expected to explore care delivery for individuals and groups of people, and building on the leadership theories learnt in year one to employ the skills of decision-making and delegation within a team or organisation. This is synonymous with the ability to make clinically sound decisions based on best evidence within complex and rapidly changing clinical environments. It is intended that by the end of this module students will have developed their confidence to lead and manage these complex care situations and decisions.

Module Overview

This first year module aims to help further develop the skills and knowledge in order to provide holistic care and evaluate the care that nurses and their teams provide to people to meet their health and wellbeing needs. By the end of this module students should be able to document and evaluate the effectiveness of care provided to people requiring treatment for physical and/or mental health conditions. This includes re-establishing treatment goals and prioritising the provision of care; facilitating shared decision-making on discharge or transition to other services. Students can also develop their skills to safely judge the use of medicines for people in their care, including therapeutic uses, effects, and modes of action, and students should be able to calculate medicines correctly.

Module Overview

This second year module provides students with the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills required to systematically evaluate an area of service delivery within their field of professional practice. The module will support students to critically examine current research and audit practices in order to conduct a literature review to find alternative ways of working to improve patient outcomes. Students are then expected to prepare a business case proposal for change within their professional area.

Module Overview

This second year module provides the students with the chance to develop the knowledge and skills required to systematically propose a service transformation project in order to improve service delivery and patient safety within their area of professional practice. This module aims to enhance the students’ underpinning knowledge, project management, leadership, and problem solving skills in order to undertake a process of service improvement within the delivery of health and social care. The main focus of the taught content is to ensure that care standards, quality assurance mechanisms, improvement methodologies, process and strategies are fully considered and incorporated into the project.

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

Fees and Scholarships

Postgraduate study is an investment in yourself and your future, and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found on our course fees pages.

Course Fees

There are more ways than ever before to fund your postgraduate study, whether you want to do a taught or research course. For those wishing to undertake a Master's course, you can apply for a loan as a contribution towards the course and living costs. Loans are also available to those who wish to undertake doctoral study. The University offers a number of scholarships and funded studentships for those interested in postgraduate study. Learn how Master's and PhD loans, scholarships, and studentships can help you fund your studies on our Postgraduate Fees and Funding pages.

Programme Specific Funding and Bursaries

From September 2020, new and returning postgraduate nursing and midwifery students, and some students in allied health professions, will receive a payment of at least £5,000 a year which they will not need to pay back. This is in addition to any financial support they receive through the Student Loans Company. For more information visit: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning/study-and-training/considering-or-university/financial-support-university.

Course-Specific Additional Costs

Please note, students are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and general living costs while on placement or studying abroad.

Entry Requirements 2020-21

Applicants should hold an honours degree at 2.2 classification or above.
Normally 3 GCSEs at grade 4 (C) including English, Maths and Science, or equivalent qualifications. These GCSEs must be obtained prior to submitting an application. Applicants who completed an Access to HE in Health and Social Care will be required to provide evidence of undertaking science units at level 3.
Evidence of experience in a practice setting to include 650 hours of care related practice experience to be completed by the 31 October 2020 for January 2021 entry. Please see below for more information.

Certificates and degree transcripts of all previous qualifications will need to be provided before any offers are confirmed.

Other requirements include:

IELTS 7.0 with no element below 6.5.
Successful performance at an interview.
Knowledge of contemporary health and social care issues, and the role of the Mental Health Nurse in providing healthcare.
Understanding of written material and can communicate clearly and accurately in written and spoken English.
“Settled residential status” in the United Kingdom in line with the requirements of the 1977 Immigration Act.
Resident in the United Kingdom for at least three years.
All students will be required to sign the subject-specific Fitness to Practise Code of Conduct on entry, details of which will be forwarded with an offer letter.
Satisfactory completion of an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (formerly the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).
Entry on to the course is subject to meeting the requirements of a profession specific occupational health screening.

Evidence of Experience in a Practice Setting:

This section of the portfolio relates to the evidence you need to provide to show that you have undertaken 650 hours of care related practice experience. This will ensure that you are able to meet the required 2300 hours of practice at the end of your programme which is a stipulation of the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council).

What do we mean by care related practice?

For the purpose of recognition of prior experiential learning (RPEL), practice can be defined as:

‘A place of work that specialises in providing services to people requiring physical or psychological support or care’.

Experience can be in the following:

A hospital, care home, or community setting and can include people of any age;
Undertaken on a paid or voluntary basis
Within an NHS, private or voluntary organisation.

A practice supervisor will be required to verify practice hours completion, but if you have already completed 650 hours of practice, for example as a healthcare assistant, you will not have to complete an additional 650 hours. However, you will still have to ask a practice supervisor to verify that you have completed the required number of practice hours.

You are responsible for ensuring all sections of this document are completed and signed by a practice supervisor. Examples of appropriate supervisors may include the following:

Line manager
Registered health or social care practitioner
Voluntary work coordinator/leader.

Applicants with Disabilities

We take seriously our obligation to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that all students with disabilities can successfully complete their studies. All applicants will be assessed on the basis of the criteria outlined here regardless of any disability. If you declare a disability we will invite you to work with us to explore how best we can support your studies.

Other information:

You must declare all spent and unspent criminal convictions including (but not limited to) cautions, reprimands, final warnings, bind over orders or similar and details of any minor offences, fixed penalty notices, penalty notices for disorder, ASBO’s or VOO’s.

Further information can be found at http://www.isa-gov.org.uk.

If you would like further information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are currently studying are acceptable, please contact the admissions team on 01522 886097, or email admissions@lincoln.ac.uk.

How to Apply

We will be looking for applicants committed to mental health nursing. To apply for this programme, please submit your application via the University of Lincoln’s postgraduate online application form. Please ensure that you include a personal statement with your application. As a guide, this should be around 47 lines (or 4,000 characters) and it should evidence details below.

This course is for graduates of relevant degrees who aspire to qualify for eligibility to apply to the NMC Register. We will be looking for applicants with a good knowledge of, and a commitment to, undertaking adult nursing as a profession. This must be clearly demonstrated through experience of health and social care, and knowledge of the profession in your application and at interview.

All relevant work experience that you have undertaken to date should be included and, most importantly, how this work experience influenced your decision to pursue a career in adult nursing.

You must be able to evidence a good understanding of the breadth of care delivered by nurses and scope of the nursing profession, preferably indicated by some form of interactive or observational work experience. You must demonstrate an understanding of how nursing can bring about excellent health and wellbeing through quality of care, as well as the importance of and engagement with essential values and behaviours that bring about high quality, compassionate care. In addition, you should be able to articulate realistic expectations of the programme and the demands of practice-based learning placements.

We do not accept references from the following:

Friends
Family members
Peers

Key Information

MSc Nursing (Pre-registration - Mental Health)

Key Information

Teaching and Learning During COVID-19

Select Year of Entry

Welcome to MSc Nursing (Pre-registration - Mental Health)

How You Study

What You Need to Know

An Introduction to Your Modules

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

Module Overview

How you are assessed

Fees and Scholarships

Programme Specific Funding and Bursaries

Course-Specific Additional Costs

Entry Requirements 2020-21

Facilities

How to Apply

Career and Personal Development

Postgraduate Events

Related Courses

Health and Social Care

Nursing Adult

Nursing Child