Nursing Studies (Mental Health) – BSc (Honours)

At a glance

Study to become a mental health nurse in facilities praised by the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council. Gain the professional experience you need to gain employment by spending 50% of your time on placement within a healthcare setting.

Key points
• Train for the workplace in £13 million facilities, including mock wards.• Spend 50% of your time on placement within a local healthcare setting.
• Learn from lecturers with academic and practice expertise.
• Gain an additional level 2 award in understanding health improvement.

What is mental health nursing?
Mental health nurses need to be confident and competent in building, maintaining and ending therapeutic relationships with people who may be at their most distressed and vulnerable. This therapeutic relationship is the agent of change and our graduates will be able to use therapeutic techniques in a subtle yet effective manner. You become familiar in the theory and practice relating to core conditions of empathy, genuineness and unconditional positive regard (being able to work with people in a non-judgemental way).

This course

Study to become a mental health nurse in facilities described by the Nursing and Midwifery Council as 'a beacon for the future development of health education in this country'. Students who leave the course as qualified nurses go on to work in a wide area of healthcare settings.

We provide modern facilities to help you develop clinical skills and specialist knowledge for your career. You study in our £13 million purpose-built Robert Winston Building on Collegiate Crescent Campus. Our clinical suites, include mock wards and replicated community settings in which you learn and work. This makes it easier to take what you’ve learnt in the University out into the real world with confidence.

Practice-based learning is central to your development and you spend 50% of each year on clinical placements in a hospital or community setting with Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Bassetlaw or Barnsley trusts. By learning this way, you find that your academic study supports your learning in clinical practice and you are provided with a mentor to help develop your skills.

In your final year you also write a dissertation, where you develop your specialist understanding and analytical skills by investigating a topic relating to mental health nursing. The dissertations tackle complex and sometimes contentious issues, these might include how best to promote good mental health in the community or how to better support people who express a wish to end their own lives.

As part of the course you complete a level two award in understanding health improvement, which provides you with a certificate from the Royal Society of Public Health. We are currently the only university in the UK that offers this as part of our healthcare courses.

Key areas of study
Key areas of study include • biological sciences • social sciences • psychology •practical nursing skills • communication skills • ethics • public health.

Professional mix
Some of your teaching takes place alongside students of other healthcare professions such as social work and paramedics. This allows you to learn together and understand more about other professions.