Nursing

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Nursing

Summary

The Master of Science (MSc) in Nursing is a challenging post graduate qualification for nurses, midwives or health visitors from all fields of practice. This course will assist qualified staff to develop personally and professionally in a wide range of topics and issues including communication, health promotion, leadership, person-centred practice and research.

In the full-time mode, the MSc Nursing (general pathway) it is typically completed over one calendar year.

About

MSc Nursing (general pathway): This will allow students to build upon their existing knowledge, skills and values. This course will challenge students about their practice and offer different opportunities to enhance their knowledge, understanding and critical thinking through classroom and personal study. Nurses undertaking this option often self fund.

International applications from individuals who are qualified as nurses in their own country are particularly welcome for this course. As this course is for qualified nurses and it does not include registration as a nurse.

Teaching and learning assessment

Teaching, learning and assessment take a variety of forms across the suite of modules in this course. The strategies used are based on principles of adult learning such as self-direction and a capacity to draw upon experience. The course assumes that students have recent experience in practice.

Teaching strategies are selected by the nature of the intended learning outcomes. The learning experience is designed to encourage students to become active and motivated learners, who can seek information, question and analyse its validity and draw appropriate and logical conclusions. Students are encouraged to make connections between theoretical content and professional experiences and this facilitates their ability to move from understanding practice and applying skills taught, to questioning and critiquing practice, and ultimately to proposing and carrying out research or innovation that contributes to service/practice developments or enhancements.

Teaching methods on the course include:
Lectures that provide students with the necessary knowledge base to develop their insight into practice and thus inform skill development. Lectures also provide an excellent opportunity for experts to be invited in to teach students about current practice and developments in their field

Seminars that encourage students to take responsibility for leading discussions on practice based issues and reviewing the current literature in their field

Tutorial group work sessions enable students to examine a specific focus. Small group working is encouraged throughout the course to enable students to engage with problem based learning

Creativity is encouraged to enable students to develop a flexible approach to learning

Assessment throughout the course has been constructively aligned to the learning outcomes of each of the modules and all contain a combination of formative and summative components. Ongoing formative assessment that has a significant diagnostic function occurs throughout the course and students are encouraged to discuss their progress and actively plan to address identified learning needs. Summative assessment of student performance and progression in modules on the MSc Nursing (general pathway) is carried out through coursework. Assessments include essays, presentations, literature reviews and reflective analyses. These are designed to test knowledge and understanding, to allow students to integrate and apply information, and encourage the development of critical thinking skills.

Work placement / study abroad

MSc Nursing (general pathway): students undertaking this course are full time students. No work placement or study abroad is required for this option.

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements

Applicants for the MSc Nursing will be a qualified nurse, midwife or health visitor (in any field of practice) with registration or licensure in their country of practice and have a first degree or equivalent.

English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicants

For those who do not have English as a first language, the minimum requirement for this course is an academic IELTS of 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5.

Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

Exemptions and transferability

Accreditation of Prior Learning may be considered through the School of Nursing APL process. Students are encouraged to discuss this with the Course Director. There are no exemptions from the MSc Research Project.

Duration

Attendance

Attendance will be at the Jordanstown or Magee campuses (dependent on availability).

Full-time
MSc Nursing (general pathway): This is a full time course. Attendance will vary depending on modules being studied.

The final component of all MSc Nursing pathways is a research project (dissertation). This module is by supervision and and as such there are no face to face taught classes. Occasionally additional workshops may be offered. Regular supervisory meetings will take place where students will be supported by an experienced member of academic staff. These meetings will be arranged between supervisor and supervisee over the duration of the research project (normally an academic year in part time mode).

Attendance will be at the Jordanstown or Magee campuses (dependent on availability).

Part-time
MSc Nursing (general pathway): attendance on this part time option is normally one day per week, however this can vary depending on optional modules chosen.

MSc Nursing - Advanced Nursing Practice: attendance at university normally averages one day per week.

Careers or further progression

Career options

The MSc Nursing encourages qualified nurses, midwives and heath visitors from all fields of practice to develop high levels of reflection, decision-making and criticality in nursing theory and research. This is particularly useful for nurses who wish to develop their careers and strive for promotion, particularly those aspiring to higher roles in research, leadership and education.

Further enquiries

Contact
For information about the admissions process, please contact:
Karen McCarroll
T: +44 (0)28 9036 8983
E: kl.mccarroll@ulster.ac.uk

For information relating to the content, please contact Course Director:
Dr Helen McGarvey
T: +44 (0)28 7167 5749
E: he.mcgarvey@ulster.ac.uk

Subjects taught

Year one

Person-centered Practice
This module focuses on person-centred nursing as a form of practice that holds central the personhood of everyone involved in health and social care - staff, service users and care partners. This module focuses on how person-centred concepts and theories are applied in nursing, public health and palliative care contexts. The module will be underpinned by the Person-centred nursing Framework of McCormack & McCance (2010), a theoretical framework that will enhance understanding of person-centredness and its translation into practice.

Leadership in Professional Practice
This module will develop the capacity to critically engage with theories of leadership and to apply this knowledge to leadership in healthcare practice. It will encourage the development of effective leadership strategies, based on best evidence to meet the challenges faced by healthcare professionals and promote the development of cultures of compassionate leadership. Assessment is by presentation, discourse and coursework

Populations and Policy for Public Health
This module is optional
Health promotion and public health specialists have a key role to play in reducing health inequalities. This module covers a spectrum of key skills and qualities to enable students to identify and address health inequalities and to effectively assess the impact of policies on health and inequalities. Assessment is by coursework.

Epidemiology and Statistics for Public Health
This module is optional
This module will develop the capacity and capability of professionals to use demographic statistics and epidemiological data and analysis to improve public health. Through the assessment framework students are enabled to apply their learning to specific chronic diseases within population groups.

MSc research project
This module is optional
This is a required component of a programme leading to a MSc. The student completes, under supervision, a research proposal with successful submission to appropriate ethics committee/s and completes a research project which makes a contribution to the knowledge base for professional practice. This is assessed by coursework.

Advanced Methods in Research and Development in Health and Social Care
This module is optional
This module builds upon previous study of research methods and enables students to develop and apply theoretical and scientific knowledge and problem solving skills, extending their understanding of the philosophical and practical aspects of research, service evaluation and practice development. In particular, it examines quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research designs for collecting, recording, analysing and interpreting data with the ultimate goal of further developing their research and development skills.

Professional Decision Making and Accountability
This module is optional
This module develops students' understanding of the major components and complexities of professional decision making and accountability and the central role this plays in the design, delivery and evaluation of safe and effective compassionate care for people within services in hospital and community settings. Within the module. students will critically analyse the relationships between professional decision-making, accountability, governance and patient safety within an interdisciplinary context. Assessment is by coursework.

Therapeutic Communication Skills for Health and Social Care Professionals
This module is optional
This module will develop the capacity to critically engage with theories of communication and to apply this knowledge to the development of advanced communication skills within health and social care practice. It will encourage the development of evidence-based communication strategies to promote compassionate person-centred care. Assessment is by 100% coursework.

Scientific Knowledge
This module is optional
Scientific theories and research methods have a series of interconnecting ideas that underpin them. It is important to have knowledge of this in order to make coherent choices about research designs. This module serves as an introduction to the subjects that make up these frameworks. Along with this there is a long tradition of considering the role theory plays in the development of knowledge in the professions and the subsequent impact this has on decision making. This module will help students uncover the theoretical base of their profession's knowledge.
Assessment is by presentation, discourse and coursework.

Independent study module
This module is optional
This postgraduate module enables students within a specialist area to build on the more general specialist modules already completed and to develop their knowledge within a more focused area of professional practice. Students work independently with the guidance of an academic tutor and prepare written work for discussion at each meeting with their tutor. Assessment by coursework.

Global Perspectives in Transforming Health
This module is optional
The spectrum of health challenges currently facing the global care community seems to be growing exponentially with many of the determinants of individual, community and global health stagnating or reversing. Infectious diseases, global poverty, inactivity and obesity levels to mention only some, all show signs of rising and the current world recession has on occasion blunted governmental actions and investment directed towards positive health promotion. Such a situation presents challenges that healthcare professionals need to be aware of. Additionally, it requires them to acquire and develop the knowledge and skills to lead developments in practice they can play locally to help positively address healthcare provision globally.

The aim of this module is enable you to enhance your knowledge of the issues emerging in global healthcare that have a direct bearing on the way in which practice is governed. This is with a view to enabling you to lead developments in practice.