About Mental Health Nursing Bsc (hons) in Coventry University

If you hope for a rewarding career, a Mental Health Nursing degree can train you to help the 1 in 4 of us now expected to need treatment.

Mental health nursing is a value-based and very rewarding profession working with children, young people and adults of all ages with a variety of mental health problems and from numerous cultures and backgrounds. These specialist nurses are usually based in hospitals or in the community, for example, in GP surgeries, prison health, community health care or residential centres and patients’ own homes.

This course is designed to help equip you with the hands-on clinical and care skills to prepare you to practise autonomously and compassionately, providing person-centred and compassionate care and support for service users to be physically safe and emotionally secure.

Ranked 4th for Nursing and Midwifery in The Guardian University Guide 2020, Coventry offers a Clinical Skills Centre with up-to-date equipment and simulators. This course benefits from the highest levels of student satisfaction – 96% overall in the National Student Survey (NSS 2018).

See the facilities available in our brand new Alison Gingell Building. 

Why Coventry University?

An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.

Course information

In modern health and social care settings nursing students are increasingly required to work towards becoming autonomous practitioners, taking a leadership role in decisions regarding patient care within multi-professional settings. They routinely have the most frequent and intense contact with patients and must be competent in recognising changes in patient condition so that appropriate action can be taken.

This curriculum has been developed as a spiral curriculum with assessment at its the core. A spiral curriculum is when the same topics are studied throughout the duration of study but each time they are encountered they increase in complexity and reinforce previous learning. Placing equal value on practice and theory, undertaking 800 hours of both per year, you should study a wide range of subjects, including anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, psychology, sociology and research methods. You’ll become immersed in learning about the needs of populations, individuals, related health and nursing services with an emphasis on using research to enhance and improve services. 

The course focuses on integrated care for children and young people in a variety of settings. You should learn to value the needs of children and their families through their ongoing involvement in the curriculum. You should develop skills in communication, health assessment, professional practice, evidence based practice, knowledge of public health and policy, and legal and ethical issues.

The collaborative curriculum, which you’ll study alongside students from our other health-related courses, has been developed in response to the need to produce professionals who are effective communicators, caring and compassionate, with good relationship building skills. It recognises the importance of inter-professional working within the health and social care workforce and comprises five core modules in the areas of: the foundations of communication and professionalism; the social determinants of health and wellbeing; evidence informed practice and decision making; working together to lead service improvement; and enhancing practice through evaluation and research.

Career prospects

The National Health Service (NHS) has estimated there are around 35,000 mental health nurses within today’s NHS and the demand for these specialist nurses has increased with number of people in contact with NHS mental health services surging by as much as 40%.

During your three years on the programme you will undertake six placements in a range of service settings, working with and alongside qualified mental health nurses, and therefore potential local and regional employers. 

If you graduate successfully from this course, you can apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which enables you to practise immediately if successful. 
As well as helping you to find suitable work placements and give you advice on how to get the most out of them, the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences’ Employability and Placements Unit can support you when you are ready to begin your professional career for the time you are registered as a Coventry University student. 

Coventry University is committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The University's Careers and Employability team provide a wide range of support services to help you plan and prepare for your career.

100% of employed students were in a professional or managerial role 6 months after graduating

Where our graduates work

Some of our graduates find employment as qualified nurses in the NHS with a growing emphasis on community settings, in acute hospitals, military nursing or within the private and independent healthcare sector, in private hospitals, nursing or care homes. As your career progresses, a number of options are open to you as a lecturer or specialist practitioner, advanced nurse practitioner, consultant nurse or manager. You could specialise as a primary mental health worker and work with children, adolescents or women, for example.

Recent graduates have gone on to work in such settings as child and adolescent mental health services, regional forensic units, early intervention psychosis, older adult care, acute in-patient care and traumatic brain injury units.

Portfolio

Additional information: Caring experience, either paid or voluntary is essential. You will also be required to attend a selection event, which provides detailed information about the course and assesses numeracy, literacy and aptitude as part of the selection process. Satisfactory health clearance and criminal records disclosure required. Skills in digital and technological literacy are considered vital and there is opportunity to develop these throughout the course.

English as a Foreign Language This course requires an IELTS of 7.0 overall, with no component lower than 6.5. Pre-Sessional English is available if required.

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