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University College Cork

Nursing - Recovery-focused Mental Health Nursing

This course invites and challenges psychiatric nurses to think critically and creatively about their work with people experiencing mental health difficulties. The course is underpinned by the principles and values of recovery – a key concept in mental healthcare delivery. The course consists of modules dealing with different aspects of psychiatric nursing practice, organised within the parameters of the five roles of the clinical nurse specialist. The course facilitates nurses to engage with lifelong personal and professional development through flexible modes of learning incorporating online and face-to-face teaching and learning strategies.

On completion of the course, you will be able to:

-provide specialist psychiatric nursing care to people with mental health difficulties (and, where applicable, their carers) in a variety of settings

-contribute to the development of innovative, effective and evidence-based services for people experiencing mental health difficulties

-collaborate with service users, carers and members of the multi-disciplinary team in the planning, management and delivery of effective mental health care.

The course offers qualified psychiatric nurses the opportunity to engage with their practice in the context of many challenges faced in the areas of changes in mental service delivery (moving to a recovery oriented service), reduced resources, complex ethical considerations, and the ongoing debate about the nature of human distress and responses to it. The course is taught and facilitated by experienced practitioners, by people with self-experience and by carers/family members.

Entry requirements

There are 11 clinical pathways to the degree of Masters in Nursing, all of which have an exit route available for the award of a Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing. The pathways are as follows:

Pathway 1: Emergency Nursing
Pathway 2: Cardiac and Intensive Care Nursing
Pathway 3: Gerontological Nursing
Pathway 4: Peri-operative Nursing - Not on offer for 2018/19
Pathway 5: Recovery Focused Mental Health Nursing
Pathway 6: Neonatology Nursing
Pathway 7: Contemporary Issues in Intellectual Disabilities - Not on offer for 2018/19
Pathway 8: Medical Surgical Nursing
Pathway 9: Nursing in the Community - Not on offer for 2018/19
Pathway 10: Orthopaedic Nursing - Not on offer for 2018/19
Pathway 11: Oncology Nursing

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Applicants for the MSc in Nursing, including Postgraduate Diploma exit route, should normally:

(a) hold active registration on a division of the professional register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland or be eligible for such registration as required for individual pathways:

Pathways 1, 2, 8, 10 and 11: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses

Pathway 3: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses or Registered Intellectual Disability Nurses or Registered Psychiatric Nurses

Pathway 4: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses or Registered Midwives

Pathway 5: Applicants must be Registered Psychiatric Nurses

Pathway 6: Applicants must be Registered General Nurses or Registered Midwives

Pathway 7: Applicants must be Registered Nurses in Intellectual Disability or Registered General Nurses/Registered Children's Nurses/Registered Psychiatric Nurses currently working in an intellectual disability setting

Pathway 9: Applicants must be either Registered General Nurses or Registered Intellectual Disability Nurses or Registered Children's Nurses or Registered Psychiatric Nurses or Registered Midwives

(b) have clinical practice experience (and support structures, if applicable) as required for individual pathways:

Pathways 1, 2 and 4: Applicants must have a minimum of six months of post-registration experience (excluding courses) and at least six months experience in the speciality pathway applied for. In addition applicants must be certified in Basic Life Support (BLS).

Pathways 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11: Applicants must have a minimum of six months of post-registration experience (excluding courses) and at least six months experience in the speciality pathway applied for.

Pathway 7: Applicants who are Registered Nurses in Intellectual Disability must have a minimum of six months of post registration experience (excluding courses) and at least six months experience in intellectual disability nursing OR if a Registered General/Children's/Psychiatric nurse must have a minimum of four years post-registration experience (excluding courses) in intellectual disability nursing.

Pathway 10: No experience required but must work in orthopaedic speciality area.

Note: For Pathways 3, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 prospective students who do not fulfil the clinical practice experience entry requirements may be eligible to apply for registration to the relevant pathway in the Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing programme (30 credits).

Note: In exceptional circumstances applicants who do not fulfil the entry requirements may be recommended for entry to the programme following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the programme committee. Such applicants may be invited for interview to satisfy the selection committee of their suitability for the programme. Admission of such applicants will be subject to the approval of the School of Nursing and Midwifery.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests.

Non-EU Candidates

Non-EU candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to Irish university primary degree level. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. To verify if you meet the minimum academic requirements for this programme please visit our qualification comparison pages.

For more detailed entry requirement information please refer to the International website .

Duration

2 years.

Part-time 2 years by day (part-time option open to EU applicants only).

All students will be registered full time for a Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing in the first year. If a student wishes to progress to the masters they will be registered for the 2nd year part time.

Contact hours for both years are part-time and are detailed in the Course Details section.

All postgraduate programmes contain some element of blended learning. This means that modules are delivered on campus with face-to-face contact with lectures (teaching and learning strategies include lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials) in combination with some online content delivery using our virtual learning environment Blackboard (teaching and learning strategies include module study guides, discussion boards, audio/visual resources and online assessments/activities).

Prior to commencing the course each student taking a blended module will be provided with an orientation to Blackboard and training on how to use the online technology within the course. IT support will be given to students throughout the duration of the course.

Careers or further progression

Skills and Careers Information

This course will give registered psychiatric nurses the knowledge and skills to work within the scope of practice of a clinical nurse specialist in all mental health service settings.

Further enquiries

Peter Kelly
peter.kelly@ucc.ie
+353 21 4901622
https://www.ucc.ie/en/nursingmidwifery/

Moira O'Donovan
moira.odonovan@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 1481

Subjects taught

The PG Dip/MSc course consists of:

Year 1: six modules (60 credits: 1 x 15 credits; 3 x 10 credits; 3 x 5 credits)

Year 2: two modules (1 x 10 credits and 1 x 20 credits).

Students can exit after year 1 with a Postgraduate Diploma.

Year 1 (60 credits)

Core modules:

NU6005 Research Methods (10 credits)
NU6053 Ethics for Specialist Practice (5 credits)

Specialist modules:

NU6148 Clinical Practice in Specialist Mental Health Nursing I (5 credits)

NU6149 Clinical Practice in Specialist Mental Health Nursing II (5 credits)

NU6080 Practice Development in Specialist Mental Health Nursing (10 credits)

NU6081 Principles and Practice of Recovery (Working in Partnership with the Person) (15 credits)

NU6082 Principles and Practice of Recovery (Working in Partnership with Families) (5 credits)

NU6083 Critical Issues in Mental Health Care (5 credits)
Year 2 (30 credits)

Core modules

MH6014 Advanced Research Methods for Healthcare Professionals (10 credits)

NU6073 Dissertation (20 credits)

Assessment method

Methods of assessment are varied, including presentations, case studies, reflective assignments and assessment of competencies at clinical nurse specialist level.There are no written examinations.