Nursing MSc/PG Dip/PG Cert

About the course

The Nursing course is designed to meet the advancing professional needs of registered Nurses wishing to develop their careers. We really look after our students and you will have all the resources of De Montfort University to support you as you progress through your studies.

There are three core modules, the last of which is a dissertation. The course is flexible, and you will have the opportunity to work with doctorate and professorial staff, to gain high quality tuition.

Topics which you can explore in depth include:

• Research philosophy and methods
• Theoretical perspectives on practice
• Clinical governance and patient safety
• Communication in intercultural contexts
• Guided study to answer your research questions supported by senior staff
• Completing an in depth literature review

Key facts

Duration: One year full-time or three to six years part-time.

Location: De Montfort University City Campus

Attendance:
Full time: one year starting in September Part time:
First year - core modules,Wednesday pm
Second year - optional modules Wednesdays pm/variable (depending on choice of module).
Third year - Dissertation Start date: September 2013

Entry and admission criteria

You should preferably have:
An Honours degree (2:2 or above in a relevant subject) awarded by a British university or other equivalent approved degree awarding college/body, plus a professional qualification as a healthcare practitioner and current registration with the relevant healthcare professional body.

For international studies, registration as a nurse is not a requirement, but the first degree must be in nursing or a subject allied to nursing.

You should be able to supply one reference; giving emphasis to academic ability.

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent when you start the course is essential. English language tuition, delivered by our British Council accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and during the course if you need it.

To find out more, please visit dmu.ac.uk/international|.

Non-standard entry requirements:
In exceptional circumstances consideration may be given if you do not meet the aforementioned criteria.

In these cases, you will be required to attend an interview and demonstrate professional expertise through Professional Portfolio evidence in one of the following:
Publication; an article published in a refereed journal as a single or joint contributor (with evidence of a significant contribution or being the first author in the list).

This could be a research paper or a critical review of nursing practice.

Change management; if you have had an active part or been an instigator in the management of change. Documented evidence in the form of minutes of meetings, completed projects etc should be produced to substantiate your claim.

It is expected that you would be working as a team leader or specialist practitioner.

Leadership; have you been a leader/team manager with responsibilities for managing a team? As above, there should be documented evidence to substantiate the claim

Course modules

The course consists of core and optional modules; you will need to study 60 credits of optional modules to make up the total of 180 credits to be awarded the MSc.

The core modules are as follows:

• Research Designs in Health (30 credits)
  develops a thorough grounding in both the technical and socio-political processes of research.

• Theory, Knowledge and Reasoning in Professional Practice (30 credits)
  introduces concepts of epistemology, critical enquiry, reasoning and the use of sound philosophical bases and their application in professional practice.

• Dissertation (60 credits)
  allows you to undertake small scale research project and to develop recommendations for improving future practice.

Optional modules include:

• Strategic Leadership and Effective Management (15 credits)
  critically evaluates various facets of strategic leadership, effective management and quality initiatives in healthcare.

• Advanced Healthcare Governance and Patient Safety (30 credits)
  explores advanced clinical governance and patient safety with an emphasis on tools and techniques applicable in various healthcare settings.

• Advancing Health and Professional Practice through Independent Study (30 credits)
  develops an area of health and professional practice with the emphasis on enhancing service delivery.

• Developing Health and Professional Practice through Independent Study (15 or 30 credits)
  explores an area of developing health and professional practice.

• Both Communication Competence in Intercultural Contexts and Communication Skills in Intercultural Contexts (15 credits each)
  will help develop skills that can be used in potentially global business and professional contexts.

For practitioners in local employment, any relevant Level 6 module Learning Beyond Registration| (LBR) modules to a total of 30 credits may be taken.

Assessment
This is a modular course and each module is individually assessed. A variety of assessment strategies are used including essays, reports, assessed seminars and a research dissertation.

There is the expectation that you will take responsibility for your learning and will seek support from the academic team as necessary. The philosophy of the course reflects the belief that you will manage your own learning independently with support from the course tutors.

It is also possible to exit with a post graduate certificate or diploma.

You can get more information from the DMU website (PG Courses|), and you can apply through http://www.ukpass.ac.uk/ |

For our international students, we recommend that you attend a pre-session English language course and an international welcome week induction/ new arrivals workshop, prior to starting the programme, to get you acclimatised to the UK and to the extensive facilities which are available to you at DMU.

Academic expertise

Staff have a great deal of expertise of teaching at masters level. You are also fortunate to benefit from the expertise of staff from the healthcare sectors who contribute to teaching. Staff are also involved in carrying out research of national and international significance.

Graduate careers

Completing this course will support your career progression to more senior posts within healthcare organisations or higher education institutions worldwide.

This course will help you to advance your practice, undertake further research or progress to PhD study. Many of our graduates have gone into teaching, and senior clinical and management posts.

Fees and funding

Please visit dmu.ac.uk/pgfees| for information.
Those working in the NHS may be eligible for funding from the NHS Local Education Training Board.

How to apply:
Please visit dmu.ac.uk/pgapply|