Nurse Practitioner
BSc(Hons)
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Course summary and entry requirements
Course duration
Full-time: 1 year (max 3 years)
Part-time: 2-3 years
Professional accreditation
The course offers students an academic award and a professional qualification as a specialist practitioner in adult, mental health or children's nursing. Specialist practice is the exercising of higher levels of judgement, discretion and decision making in clinical care. The standards for qualification as a specialist practitioner are set and approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
About the course
The Nurse Practitioner is an exciting course developed in partnership with local Trusts in response to the changing workforce development agenda. The course is aimed at meeting the educational needs for those supporting or undertaking new roles in the community and other relevant settings, such as:
- community matrons
- new primary nurse or nurse practitioner roles
- new and existing community specialist nurse roles
- new mental health nurse roles (eg assertive outreach, crisis resolution)
- new nursing roles to support the expanding out of hours and unscheduled services provision.Typical entry requirements
The entry requirements listed here are for students starting their course in 2013. Individual offers may vary
For non-native speakers of English:
IELTS 6.0 overall, and 6.0 in writing.Degree and/or experience:
Candidates for all pathways should:
- hold current and appropriate registration with the NMC (parts RN1 or RNA, RN3 or RNMH, RN8 or RNC)
- have a minimum of six months post-registration experience
- spend a minimum of 15 hours a week in practice. -
Course content
Course structure
The course is delivered over 32 weeks per year - 50 per cent is taught and the rest of your time is spent in practice to meet the NMC requirements for Specialist Practice. Module assessment is based equally on course work and on clinical practice. The focus of the work is normally related to the student's field of practice. Students are also required to collate their evidence of achievement for clinical practice in the form of a portfolio and to map their evidence against the NMC Standards for Specialist Practice. Students are also encouraged to map their evidence against other key competency frameworks that are relevant to their specific roles, for example, RCN Nurse Practitioner Competencies, Knowledge and Skills Framework and National Service Frameworks.
Areas of study
Students are able to choose from a wide range of modules enabling them to tailor their study to the specific needs of their role. Each student is supported by the course leader in identifying an individual learning package to meet their personal and professional development needs.
All students must complete an assessment skills module relevant to their field of specialist practice:
- Physical Assessment in Adults
- Mental Health Assessment (under development)
- Practice Skills Development - Work-based Learning (Children's Nursing).All students must also complete Project Development through Work-based Learning: Specialist Practice, which is designed specifically to support the development of specialist practitioners. This module facilitates students to plan and implement a practice development, and is in place of the traditional research and dissertation modules required for degree level study. The module requires students to engage in inter-professional learning and service development.
In order to further support the development of the NMC's core competencies for Specialist Practice, students can select relevant modules from the undergraduate CPD module choices pack, which includes modules from the Professional Practice and Community Specialist Practice degrees.
Syllabus
Core modules
Project Development Through Work-based Learning: Specialist Practice
Pathway-specific assessment module
- Physical Assessment in Adults (Adult pathway)
- Mental Health Assessment (Mental Health pathway)
- Practice Skills Development (Children's Nursing pathway)Options
Students select relevant modules from the undergraduate module choices framework. Examples include:
Leading Change in Practice Development
Clinical Decision Making
Health Promotion: the Challenges
Independent and Supplementary Prescribing
Delivering Innovative Care in Diabetes
Positive Approaches to Continence
Advanced Respiratory Care
Living Positively with Chronic Illness and Disability
Psychopharmacology for Mental Health Nurses
Legal and Ethical Aspects of Mental Health
Mental Health Service Users Perspectives on Mental Health Practice
People and Dementia
First Contact in Primary Health Care
Current Trends in Rheumatology Practice
Advancing Practice in Childhood Protection
The Philosophy and Practice of Palliative Care for Children, Young People and Families -
Fees and costs
The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2012-13. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.
The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.
What's included in the fee?
When costs such as health or criminal record checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.
You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply please check with the school that provides your course using the contact details on the left of this page for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.
Our website www.brighton.ac.uk/money provides advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.
BSc(Hons) Nurse Practitioner
Please contact us directly for exact tuition fees for this course. -
Location
Location
Falmer (some optional modules based in Eastbourne and Worthing) -
Career opportunities
Graduates will be able to work at a more senior level of clinical practice and be equipped to work towards advanced level practice. The course prepares practitioners to be able to work in a specific field of care, as well as to apply a broader range of generic skills. Students will be in a good position to apply for posts where they are required to practice with a high degree of autonomy with minimal supervision or direction and lead new nurse-led service developments.
01273 644037
Email c.l.cossu@brighton.ac.uk