Nursing (Mental Health) BSc(Hons)

Course structure

You will be based at the Falmer campus, with clinical placements taking place at locations across Sussex including Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, Haywards Heath and Worthing.

Our state-of-the-art clinical skills and simulation suite allows students to simulate practice in the classroom. There is a 50:50 split between theoretical, classroom-based learning, and practice learning opportunities.

You’ll share learning with other health specialisms, allowing you to benefit from interprofessional collaboration, sharing knowledge and expertise.

In each year of the course you engage with both theory and practice learning. The course alternates between academic terms and blocks of practice. Theory sessions in academic terms take place at the university. You will attend Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, with Wednesday often being an independent study day. Practice placement blocks are 24 or 32 hours per week and vary in length from 4–12 weeks. Your communication and interpersonal skills will be developed throughout.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.

Year 1

In year 1 you will explore the nature of nursing, and develop your clinical and communication skills, which will be assessed in both the university and practice settings. You will also study the biological and behavioural sciences that inform nursing practice.

Modules

• The Nurse as a Professional: An Introduction

  This module will introduce you to the development of your own study skills and facilitate your independent learning. A range of study strategies applicable to writing an academic essay will be offered.

  In conjunction with the above, the module enables you to explore nursing as a profession by reviewing nursing theory and its principal influences. These include historical, political, professional philosophical and ethical influences.

• Human Qualities in Nursing

  This module will introduce you to the key concepts of human qualities in nursing including relationships, resilience and skilled interpersonal communication. The module will enable you to reflect on the use of self in nursing and will offer academic support in relation to the development of intra-nurse skills, building resilience and to enhance existing interpersonal communication skills.

• Introduction to Human Structure and Function Applied to Nursing

  In this module you will develop a fundamental knowledge of human structure and function. This will enable you to apply this knowledge in order to gain an understanding of the clinical experiences encountered in Year 1.

• Psychosocial Studies in Nursing

  This module will introduce you to a range of ideas from the psychosocial traditions that will enable you to develop an understanding of nursing and its context.

• Professional Nursing Practice Year 1

  This module will introduce you to the knowledge and skills required for professional nursing practice. The module content includes the theory and practice of care, compassion and communication, organisational aspects of nursing care, infection prevention and control, nutrition and fluid management and medicines management. You will integrate learning from practice and university in the development of your professional nursing practice in order to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards for Pre-Registration Education (NMC 2010).

Year 2

In year 2 you will continue to share some modules with students from other related disciplines, for example public health and research, and one option module, eg arts and health, global health and international exchange modules. You will also study modules specific to mental health nursing and continue to develop your clinical skills in practice settings.

Modules

• Public Health for Nursing Practice
• Appreciating the Research Process in Nursing
• Values in Everyday Mental Health Nursing Practice
• Key Concepts and Theories Underpinning Care in Mental Health Nursing
• Professional Mental Health Nursing Practice Year 2

Options*

• Introduction to Global Health
• Extended International Nursing
• International Nursing
• Student Community Engagement
• Arts and Health
• Developing Clinical Research Nurse Careers
• Exploring Spiritual Health Needs in a Multicultural Society
• Emergency First Aid (Nursing)

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Final year

In your final year you will continue to specialise in the field of mental health nursing, and will focus on more complex patient and client needs. You will also undertake a dissertation and begin to develop management and leadership skills as you prepare to enter professional practice. 

Modules

• Leadership
• Dissertation
• Therapeutic Interventions in Mental Health Nursing
• Enhanced Practice in Mental Health Nursing
• Professional Mental Health Nursing Practice Year 3

Facilities

Study abroad

Staff profile

Jessica Mills

Course leader

Jessica has great enthusiasm for nursing and for her subject area of acute clinical practice. She is renowned for the many innovative and fun methods that she uses to teach students.

Jessica started her nursing education at the University of Brighton, in 1998. The novel European nursing course that she undertook meant that she learnt Dutch and worked for 6 months as a student nurse in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Following her graduation she commenced a rotational post in Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre.

Next, Jessica embarked upon critical care training and subsequently became a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Within this time she completed her Practice Teacher qualification and then continued to gain her Teacher status with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Jessica has successfully studied for a masters degree at the University of Brighton. This gave her the opportunity to join the School of Health Sciences in 2011.

Interview and numeracy assessment

If you are invited to interview, we will need to see your certificates that allow you to meet our academic entry requirements for the course you have applied for. If you need copies of exam certificates, please contact the appropriate examination board. Schools do not usually keep copies of exam certificates. However they should have a record of your results and we will accept a certified letter from your school, listing the grades that you achieved.

When will I hear the result of the interview?

Normally, you should hear within two to four weeks of the interview date. However, during busy admissions phases and when public holidays fall in this period it may take a little longer.

What can I expect in the maths and English test?

Nurses need to be able to calculate medicines, nutrition, fluids and to apply number skills to other areas. This is now a requirement of the Nursing and Midwifery Council for all prospective nursing students.

On the day you come for interview, you will be set assessments that test your maths and written English skills. The tests last for 30 minutes. Calculators are not permitted in the maths test.

We recommend the following website to brush up your skills: www.open.edu/openlearnworks.

See a sample numeracy assessment paper (pdf 54Kb).

Course fees

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

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-time 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 DBS checks, 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 check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Falmer campus