Welcome to your Nursing Practice (Mental Health) course

Welcome to University of Staffordshire

We know you're already passionate about your subject, which is why we're excited you've chosen University of Staffordshire as the place to turn possibility into reality.

To give you an insight into what life as a Nursing Practice (Mental Health) student is like, your course leaders have prepared introductions to the course and further activities.

Nursing is a career that requires lifelong learning in a dynamic healthcare system and this course will provide a foundation for your nursing practice, and for your further individual development. This course fosters a learning environment that prepares you to deliver high quality compassionate nursing care committed to professional and personal values and responsibility.

You will be supported in our simmersive suites and dedicated simulation facilities with the best possible learning facilities, in our dedicated learning spaces.

You will be supported all the way through your course by academic mentor, course leads for your chosen subject area and practice assessors, supervisors in clinical practice, along with student guidance advisors and study skills support. Peer mentoring from fellow students is also available.

You will gain experience in a variety of settings including hospital and community, within our partner trusts and independent providers

First activity

The first week of your course (23rd September 2024) focuses on welcome activities, designed to help you settle in. Meet the team, including your Course lead, Course director, members of the School Management Team, your academic mentor and become familiar with the campus. In addition, there will be opportunity to have an introduction to the simmersive rooms, to study skills and orientation to the library. This initial week will provide you with information to enable a smooth transition to your university journey towards this exciting career ahead of you.

Course delivery

Teaching and learning is provided in different ways to meet the needs of differing learning styles and these include face to face taught sessions on campus, debates, seminars, problem based learning, group working activities and practical skills and simulation sessions. Module assessments are varied and include reflective learning accounts, multiple choice exams, presentations, and practice learning assessment across the three years.

You will experience practical learning in our simmersive rooms and simulation suites to facilitate the best learning experience in our dedicated learning spaces. You will be supported all the way through your course by an academic mentor and course teaching team, have access to student guidance advisors, study skills support and subject specific librarians. During your allocated clinical practice learning placements, you will have additional support from practice assessors, practice supervisors, practice learning area teams and clinical placement facilitators. Peer mentoring from fellow students is also available. You will gain practical learning experience in a variety of settings including hospital and community, within our partner trusts and independent providers. Placements will allow you to experience care across the lifespan.

Semester one activities

Following the week of Welcome activities, we have a week dedicated to Foundations for Learning where we include sessions on reflective writing, referencing, creating presentations and an additional information session from the study skills and library team. Your first module begins on week 3 of the first semester and is focused on Professional, Legal and Ethical Considerations for nursing. This module runs for 5 weeks and then you begin your mental health nursing practice module which includes your first taught sessions in our simmersive rooms.

Pre-Learning

A good place to begin your pre-course learning is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) website: NMC Weblink which provides you with information relating to the standards required of nurses, midwives and nursing associates.

Additional suggested reading includes:

Health Education England (2020) Mental Health Nursing Competence and Career Framework. Weblink: HEE Mental Health Nursing Career and Competence Framework
The Royal Marsden Manual of Nursing Procedures (10th Ed) (2020) Lister, S. ·
Clinical Skills: An introduction for nursing and healthcare (2021) Richardson, R. Keeling, J.
Anatomy and Physiology: An introduction for nursing and healthcare (2020) Minett, P. Ginesi, L.
Numeracy and clinical calculations for nurses (2nd Ed) (2020) Davison, N.
Chambers M (2017) Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing: The Craft of Caring. 3^rd Oxon, Routledge.

All suggested reading is available via the University library so please don’t feel you need to purchase all suggested books.

Student uniform

You will be provided with a uniform to wear during placements and practical skills sessions. However, you will need to source suitable footwear to go with your uniform, advice will be provided on this during our welcome activities where we will also guide you through the uniform ordering process.

For further information please click here

Occupational Health

Before you go into our clinical practice learning environments you will be required to be cleared by our Occupational Health provider: Optima Health and be up to date with all required vaccinations. You will be required to complete an occupational health screening survey and it is very important that you are open and honest with any existing or past medical history to ensure your health, safety and wellbeing whilst on the course. Please Click Here for further information.

Trips and activities

As part of your course, you have a placement period where you can choose where you’d like to go – the elective placement. There’s so much choice available to you once you are a registered Adult Nurse – working in the NHS hospitals, community settings, prison healthcare, going onto the Armed Forces, working in nursing homes, a range of non technical settings – there really are so many possibilities.

During your allocated placements, you’ll have had a really wide range of experiences in the Trusts and the Independent sector and you may choose to go back to a prior placement, or to go to an area where you’ve not yet had a placement. Most students do remain local, and some of our students even choose to go abroad. Whilst we can’t fund you got the elective placement, we’ve very happy to signpost you when you’re starting to plan your elective. Click on the links below:

Staffordshire University Global Connections: Global Connections
Nursing Electives Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ghana, Vietnam, Kenya and more – The Mighty Roar Click here
Nursing elective in Africa, Asia and Latin America: Nursing Elective Placements Abroad | Student Nursing Abroad (worktheworld.co.uk)

The links above include discussion of funding options, and the Royal College of Nursing is as another potential source to look into: Scholarships and bursaries | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk)

Equipment and software

A lap-top computer is advised so you can take notes during taught sessions and write your assignments. Digital software, for example Microsoft 365 pro, is available for free download during your time on the course and is useful for all areas of the course, offering cloud storage for your assignments so you can access them from any device and Outlook for email communication.

Software link: https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/software/SitePages/Home.aspx

Groups and societies

We have active Nursing Society which you can be a part of further information can be found via the Student Union web pages Get Involved (staffsunion.com)

Meet the team

Donna Doherty

Senior Lecturer

Donna is a Nursing Lecturer involved in Undergraduate Pre Registration Nursing Programmes and Course Lead for the Masters of Nursing Adult Route. Her main areas of interest are ageing and mental health, Dementia care and Professional Values.

Donna's profile

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.

We look forward to welcoming you in September.

If you have any questions, please send them to your Course Leader Mark Kenwright: Mark.Kenwright1@staffs.ac.uk