Nursing (Mental Health)

If you are a caring and compassionate individual, our BN (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health) degree will help you become a skilled and highly sought-after graduate nurse, specialising in caring for people of all ages with mental health needs.

Placing the needs of patients and carers, students and mental health nursing practice at its centre, this is a dynamic and interactive professional course. We will support you to realise your potential to become a compassionate, competent and autonomous nurse who is able to deliver and lead mental health nursing care within an ever-changing health and social care environment.

The course enables you to develop and display the values required in modern healthcare: working together with patients; respect and dignity; commitment to quality of care; compassion and improving lives. It also addresses contemporary challenges such as the ageing population, increasingly prevalent long-term health conditions and public health.

Drawing on the most up-to-date research and evidence, you are supported to develop not only your nursing skills but also the graduate attributes required to succeed in the modern workplace.

Your time is split equally between learning theory on campus and applying your knowledge during placements alongside experienced professionals. You study a range of academic core modules and field modules based on theory and practice experiences. As you progress through the course, programme content becomes increasingly complex as your knowledge grows.

In Year 1, you will focus on, the foundations of nursing knowledge and practice, exploring your own beliefs, values and resilience within the professional practice context communication skills, professionalism and accountability, and health and wellbeing promotion.

Building on the foundations of year 1, in year 2 you will develop knowledge and skills with a greater focus on your chosen field of nursing, enhancing your understanding of research and its application to practice and developing the personal leadership qualities to work effectively within multidisciplinary teams. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a self-managed practice learning experience in the UK or across the world.

The final year focuses on your transition from student nurse to registrant, enhancing the knowledge and skills within your chosen field, how you will lead in improving the safety and quality of care and your role in the supervision of student nurses in the future.

In total the programme is a minimum of 4600 hours long, divided equally between practice and campus-based learning activity and meeting the NMC Future Nurse Standards (2018). As part of the University of Winchester’s commitment to sustainability, each module contains learning that addresses one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.