Course overview

By choosing our mental health degree nursing course you will be taking the first step towards a career in nursing. You will be entering a registered graduate profession with the potential for future career opportunities at local, regional, national and international levels.

Interpersonal skills and communication are the central focus of mental health nursing as you need to be able to connect with people in a meaningful way. As a mental health nurse, you play a vital role in the assessment of needs and the implementation of an appropriate plan of care to promote recovery from mental health problems. You will usually work within a multiprofessional team helping to care for people across all ages who are experiencing some challenges to their mental wellbeing. Your involvement will also extend to working with service users? carers and families.

What do mental health nurses do? One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime, and mental health nurses play a vital role in the management and recovery of those needing care. Along with general skills of communication, mental health nurses also develop specialist skills required when working with vulnerable groups, such as how to interact with people hearing voices, and working with children and young people with mental health issues. The unique nature of mental health nursing also poses significant legal and ethical responsibilities which are not to be found in other areas of healthcare.

To be effective as a mental health nurse, you will have to learn to work in partnership with mental health users and as a member of a multidisciplinary team. In this way, you enable clinical practice to reflect the diversity of the belief systems and cultural expectations of people who use mental health services.

We believe that every individual should receive high quality nursing care that promotes health and wellbeing, and provides support when health is compromised. Our degree nursing course will promote your strengths and aspirations to become a registered nurse who can deliver and co-ordinate evidence based essential care, work in partnership with interprofessional health and social teams, voluntary agencies, community groups, statutory organisations, service users, carers and significant others, and lead and respond to the changing health care system.

Our degree nursing course will require you to work with interprofessional teams in these settings to become competent at the skills and knowledge required to deliver high quality nursing care. You will also be required to successfully undertake a range of theoretical and practice assessments.

Choosing the right field (discipline)

We recommend that before applying you research all fields of nursing thoroughly and try to gain some experience in a care setting before deciding which field to undertake. You can find out more from NHS Careers, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Nursing.

It may be possible to change field before commencing on the course, provided places are available, this may require you to be re-interviewed. Once commenced on the course it is very difficult to change field.

Module guide

All modules are compulsory and you must successfully complete each year before progressing to the next.

Assessment

A range of assessments are used including exams, essays, presentations, care studies, and practice assessment.

Hours of study

Our degree course is 50% theory and 50% practice. Your studying involved in the theory element occurs both on-campus and in an online virtual learning environment. Your practice element occurs in a range of clinical settings. Teaching on-campus can occur during the hours of 9.00am - 7.00pm, Monday to Friday. Whilst out on placement you will be expected to work the same shifts as your mentor. This will include early, late and night shifts as well as weekends and bank holidays.

Your course is 43 weeks per year, and holiday entitlement is usually nine weeks: four weeks in summer, three weeks in winter and two weeks in spring. Holiday dates are set at the beginning of the course and are non-negotiable. They may not coincide with school holidays. Nursing students are not permitted to take holidays outside the identified holiday dates. You are advised to cancel previously arranged holidays or start at the next available intake.

Facilities

As a Faculty student, you'll enjoy exceptional facilities, giving you the hands-on experience you need for the workplace. We have state-of-the-art simulated clinical skills laboratories at our Chelmsford, Fulbourn and Peterborough campuses. Our clinical skills facilities are fitted with equipment that mirrors real life clinical situations, letting you observe and then practise techniques before taking your skills into patient/client care settings.

Practice Learning

The course requires you to undertake clinical placements where opportunities are provided to enable you to develop skills and knowledge through supported practice learning.. These placements may be in a hospital or community setting. When placed in the practice area you will be supervised and assessed by qualified mentors, who are skilled practitioners familiar with current practices and professional body requirements.

Placement sites if you are studying in Essex are:

• North Essex Foundation Trust
• South Essex Foundation Trust

Placement sites if you are studying in Cambridgeshire are:

• Cambridge and Peterborough Foundation Trust

If selected for interview you will be asked to complete a practice allocation preference form and to return this prior to interview. If you are subsequently offered a place then our admissions team will use this information in determining the allocation of your placement area. Every effort is made to ensure we allocate your 1st or 2nd choice of placement but in exceptional circumstances this may not always be possible.

Links with industry and professional recognition

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) set Standards for Pre-registration Nursing Education. All courses that result in entry to the NMC register must work to these standards as well as those set by Anglia Ruskin.

All Anglia Ruskin courses are provided in partnership with NHS Trusts and other key stakeholders from the healthcare services within Cambridgeshire, Essex, North London and Peterborough.

Work placements

Your practice learning experiences occur over a wide geographical area, as you learn about nursing both in the community and hospital settings. You will be expected to arrange your own transport to these practice placements, at times that reflect the shift patterns worked.

Associated careers

Career Progression:

Registered mental health nurses can work in a variety of care settings and different specialist teams. These include acute in-patient care and assertive outreach, home treatment and early intervention services and community mental health teams.

UCAS Tariff points:	200
Additional Requirements:	Non-Academic Conditions: CRB Checks required, Interviews, NHS Bursary eligibility required, Occupational Health clearance required GCSE(s) Required: 3 GCSE Grade C or above incl: English & Maths. GCSE Science grade C or above desirable .IELTS 7.0 for international students

Entry requirements listed are for September 2013 entry. Entry requirements for other intakes may differ.

Please note

• After the September 2013 intake the UCAS points for entry will increase to 200-240. Please see the bottom of the page for further information
• All tariff points must come from A levels or equivalent. Points from AS levels cannot be counted towards the total tariff points required for entry to this course

Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

Other acceptable qualifications

• BTEC National Diploma in a Health & Social Care or Science related subject with 200 UCAS points (MMP grade)
• 14-19 Diploma in a Health & Social Care or Science related subject with 200 UCAS points
• 30 level 3 credits at merit level from an Access to Higher Education Diploma (science or health based preferred) available from colleges of further education. Please ensure that Level 2 in Literacy and Numeracy are included if you do not have GCSE English, Mathematics or Science at grade C or above. This will cover all the entry requirements, provided the full course is successfully passed
• NVQ Level 3 (in addition to the 3 GCSEs) +120 UCAS points
• Advanced GNVQ/AVCE in a health and social care or science related subject with merit grade.
• OU Credits will also be accepted in lieu of A Levels (60 credits would be expected in health or science subjects) including 3 GCSEs including English and Mathematics at grade C or above (GCSE Science grade C or above desirable)
• 200 points from Irish Highers plus B3 in English and Maths at ordinary level
• For Scottish qualifications 200 UCAS points should be achieved from Highers (NQF level 3) or Advanced Highers (NQF Level 4)
• National Literacy and numeracy tests at Level 2 or 3 will be accepted in lieu of GCSE Maths and English (but not instead of a GCSE)

From the above information we will calculate requirements for International, European and Welsh Baccalaureate equivalents so that they are all equitable. We will also accept tariff points from other qualifications on the UCAS tariff such as the Cambridge Pre-U (subject requirements will be assumed to be the same as for A Level).

If you do not meet the entry requirements, we would recommend you contact your local further education colleges, to ascertain which suitable courses they offer.

Applying

All applications must go via UCAS. We only accept applications between September and 15 January for the following intake year. Late applications will only be considered if places are available. You must be at least 17.5 years to start this course. This is a requirement of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

International applicants

Due to restrictions in the availability of placements in the NHS (UK National Health Service) we cannot accept nursing applications from international students unless you have, and can produce evidence of, 'Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK' and have lived in the UK for three years or more for reasons other than education prior to the course. Residents of the EEA (other than UK) may not have to pay course fees but will not usually be eligible for a bursary.

Interviews

If your application is shortlisted you will be invited to attend an interview at our University. This will comprise of a talk about the course, numeracy test, literacy test, a group interview and an individual interview. You will also be expected to send scanned copies of your original educational certificates and ID documentation prior to interview and bring the originals to a pre-course day prior to starting the course.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) formerly Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)

An enhanced level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure is a check with police forces and local authorities in the UK to ascertain whether or not you are suitable to work with certain groups of vulnerable people. These checks are required to be carried out on all prospective students to ensure the safety of our client group.

Further information on DBS disclosure will be sent at a later date if you are successful and firmly accept your place at Anglia Ruskin University.

DBS re-checks: As a nursing student on the BSc Honours degree you will be required to undergo DBS screening each year.

March and September 2014 intake

• All applicants will be required to have 3 GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths (Science desirable)
• National literacy and numeracy tests at Level 2 or 3 will be accepted in lieu of GCSE Maths and English (but not instead of a GCSE)
• 200-240 UCAS points will be required from A levels
• A grade of Merit, Merit, Pass or Merit, Merit, Merit will be required from BTECs in a Health and Social Care or Science related subject
• Access to Higher Education Diploma - applicants will be required to successfully pass the full course with 30 level 3 credits at merit