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Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education
Developed in collaboration with healthcare providers and health authorities across our region, our strong sector links give you a wide choice of placement options.
Local practice placements with healthcare providers available in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire or East London.
Our healthcare courses (‘Allied to Medicine’) rank 11th overall in their subject field in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2024; they rank 2nd for engagement, with top 10 rankings for learning community, assessment and organisation.
About the course
Mental health nursing offers a range of rewarding and exciting career opportunities within the healthcare system. If you have a degree in a health, social care or health science-related subject and have the dedication to study while working full-time, this Master’s degree will enable you to become a registered mental health nurse in two years. Delivered by a team of highly skilled lecturers and practitioners, taught sessions take place in our immersive suites that offer real-world, online mental health-based scenarios.
By taking this course, you may be eligible for NHS funding of at least £5,000. Find out more about the NHS Learning Support Fund
Course accreditation
All our nursing and midwifery courses are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). On successful completion of your course, you can register with the NMC as a mental health nurse.
Facilities and specialist equipment
- Access to professional medical/health facilities and equipment at placement hospitals and community health settings
- New, fully immersive simulation floor in our modern STEM building which takes you from mock home and hospital, allowing hands-on experience of a range of scenarios
- Simulation wards with a range of medical-grade training mannequins to tackle real-life scenarios in a safe and supported environment
Industry links
To ensure your learning meets the benchmark set for this role, our courses have been developed in collaboration with local healthcare providers and health authorities. We also have strong, collaborative links with healthcare providers across our region, giving you a wide choice of practice placement options.
Your student experience
We deliver predominantly face-to-face teaching so your tutors are on site to support you while you get to meet and exchange ideas with other healthcare students.
Clinical specialists from our partnership trusts come to campus to support your learning so your studies are underpinned by the latest research and practice.
Adult Nursing, Mental Health Nursing and Midwifery students gain a wider range of expertise through general units taught by tutors from all three courses.
Our Nursing and Midwifery academics keep up to date with current practice through regular link-lecturer visits to our clinical placement settings alongside close links with practice.
Our academic team are research active and have published widely in their fields, in journals including British Journal of Nursing, Journal of Psychiatric Mental Health, Human Psychopharmacology, Mental Health Practice, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing and Nurse Education Today.
The School works closely with the University’s Institute of Health Research (IHR), which is renowned for the global impact of its research.
Our Mental Health Nursing lecturers are involved in international, national and local research projects, working collaboratively to produce impactful research in areas such as the mental health of student nurses and addictions in the community.
What will you study?
Studying our Mental Health Nursing MSc course will develop your knowledge and skills needed to become a resilient, caring and reflective nurse to care for adults with mental health issues professionally and compassionately. With an Introduction to Mental Health Nursing Practice, you will work under the supervision of nursing teams to deliver care to people with mental illnesses based on their needs. You will develop these skills and competencies further in our Developing Mental Health Nursing Practice unit where you will learn to assess, plan, deliver and evaluate care. In addition, Preparation for Mental Health Nursing Registered Practice will enable you to meet practice requirements while addressing the role of a mental health nurse in leading and developing care.
In your second year of study, you will develop your knowledge and skills to promote optimism, recovery and inclusion to empower service users, carers and families in our Essentials of Mental Health Nursing unit. Here, you will focus on the care given to people with complex needs while also learning to address withdrawal, isolation and debilitation. To add to this, our unit in Assessment and Decision Making in Mental Health Nursing will equip you with the skills to assess, support and intervene when a service user is experiencing a critical event. You will learn to critically analyse the decision-making process by reviewing and evaluating relevant theory. Building on this, it is essential that you possess a critical awareness of the structure, function and governance of the NHS and the influence of healthcare policy on nursing practice.
Professional Values and Governance in Nursing and Healthcare will introduce you to this, while allowing you to examine how nursing and healthcare are regulated alongside the professional values and ethics of the nursing profession. To ensure your delivery of holistic care, our unit in Health, Life and Social Sciences for Nursing will allow you to explore theory around social sciences, life and health to promote the wellbeing of individuals. You will also implement the principles of leadership and management to lead change, work effectively in teams, manage people and promote best practice in our Improving Care: Principles of Clinical Leadership unit.
As a mental health nurse, you will also be trained to safely administer medicines according to professional standards and legislation within our unit in Medicines Management and Pharmacology in Mental Health Nursing. Finally, you will complete a Nursing Dissertation focused on healthcare practice with the help of our unit in Research Methodologies for Healthcare that will enable you with the skills to analyse health and social care evidence and literature. You will also be supported with the methodologies to implement a research project while accounting for ethical and regulatory considerations.
How will you be assessed?
The assessment strategy for this course is closely aligned to the teaching and learning strategy which is designed to have: immediate professional relevance to ensure safe and effective practice; foster active learning be learner-centred in approach and draw on expertise-by-experience. The choice of assessments is determined by their fitness for purpose i.e. to evidence achievement of unit learning outcomes at Master's level (Level 7).
You will be assessed across a range of practice settings and learning environments throughout the course. To enhance your understanding and experiences of assessment practices you will encounter a wide range of formative and summative assessment methods including those that enable you to undertake practice-focussed tasks that have the potential to influence care delivery. Many of the assessment tasks are designed so that you can tailor them to your professional interests experience and development needs. They are also designed so that you can rehearse ways of thinking and acting that are professionally relevant.
Examples include: written assignments ranging from reflective pieces to case studies and academic essays as well as assessed practice within your placements. Assessments are also designed to support you integrating learning in theory and practice and in demonstrating that integration. The assessments culminate in a choice of dissertation projects: a literature review a research proposal or a service development project.
You will be assessed in practice through the use of a Practice Assessment Document which outlines the skills and competencies required as a registered nurse. These assessments are recorded and confirmed by a Practice Assessor alongside your own self-reflections on your progress. Service users and carers also contribute to your assessments.
During each of your placement allocations you will have a nominated Practice Assessor in accordance with the NMC Part 2: Standards for student supervision and assessment (NMC 2018). They conduct assessment to confirm that you have achieved the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes for practice learning. You will also have a nominated Academic Assessor who is responsible for confirming your achievement of the NMC proficiencies and course outcomes in the academic environment for each part of the course.
Together the Practice Assessor and Academic Assessor evaluate and recommend a student for progression for each part (year) of the course in line with course standards and local and national policies. As there is no break at the end of each Part in which to complete any assessment referrals in practice students on the course will be able to retake a referred practice assessment in the next placement. This will be at the 6 week point and only for the learning outcomes/assessments outstanding.
Careers
The course opens the way to a challenging and rewarding career as a registered mental health nurse in a range of healthcare environments including community hospitals and residential settings and can provide a route to specialised clinical practice management or education. On completion you are likely to progress into the following areas of practice:
- in-patient care
- crisis intervention
- community mental health nursing
- specialist areas of practice
- residential care settings
The course is also the first step in a process of lifelong learning and professional development. The University of Bedfordshire offers a wide range of courses for continuing professional education which will complement your chosen post-qualifying area of practice.
If you would like to continue with your studies the University has a range of postgraduate and doctoral studies including courses to gain specialist practitioner or medical education qualifications.
Entry Requirements
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 Maths
- GCSE grade 4/Functional Skills Level 2 English
- Safeguarding checks, including an Enhanced DBS, and Occupational Health check are required
Fees for this course
UK
The fee for this MSc for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £18,500.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Scholarship Available
The University of Bedfordshire is proud of its alumni and is delighted to offer a tuition fee discount for those who choose to continue or return to the University for on campus Postgraduate level studies.
We offer a 20% discount on full and part-time Masters courses to those who were successful in completing an Honours Degree with the University of Bedfordshire, DMU’s Bedford campus or the University of Luton.
International
The international fee for this MSc for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £33,800
For more information, please see international fees, or contact internationalnursing@beds.ac.uk
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email international@beds.ac.uk
