About the course

If you're a highly motivated graduate with care experience who wishes to become a registered adult nurse and gain an MSc in an accelerated two year timeframe, the MSc Nursing graduate entry programme is perfect for you. Nursing is an exciting and rewarding career choice. It’s one in which you can make a real and positive contribution to people with long and short-term health problems who are facing some of the most challenging experiences of their lives.

Based in the Clinical Education Centre at the Royal Stoke Hospital, the programme will utilise an enquiry based learning approach which will build on both your existing graduate skill set and your past experience of working in a care setting. The programme will focus on quality care delivery, clinical skills, leadership and will be designed to be both research intensive and research informed.

To complement your University studies, we offer a diverse range of clinical placements across community and hospital settings to work with patients accessing health services.

The programme builds your academic skill sets, professional responsibility and technical complexity related to patient care throughout the two years. Successful completion of this innovative programme will ensure you will meet the registration requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

During our stimulating and intensive 2-year course to become a Keele, person-centred, graduate entry adult nurse, we aim to facilitate your development to become one of the best post-graduate nurses in the country. To achieve this you will develop a skill set which includes:

• Deliver safe, competent, evidence-based nursing practice
• Adopting professional values, attitudes and behaviours
• Developing your interpersonal skills
• Effective team-working
• Improving management and leadership skills
• Demonstrate competence in research and be able to successfully manage a project

Aims of the course

Upon successful completion of this course you will be a qualified, capable postgraduate nurse ready to work in your chosen specialism. You will have developed competency in assessing, delivering and managing nursing care and be able to confidently support your nursing practice decisions with a robust evidence base. You will have the research and leadership skills to work as a leader and change agent.

You will graduate with an MSc and key sets of clinical, interpersonal and research skills, ready to register as an adult nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. You will have the opportunity to find employment in a range of settings in the UK or internationally. Nursing work can be diverse and in planning your future career you may wish to follow one of the following career pathways: Practitioner, Educator, Researcher or Manager.

Preparation for nursing practice encompasses learning in the spheres of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours. It is recognised that evidence based knowledge is required for safe and effective nursing practice and as such programme content is driven by the NMC Standards for Pre-registration Nursing Education, QAA Academic and Practitioner Standards for nursing alongside the QAA Master’s Degree Characteristics (NMC, 2010; QAA, 2010). The programme builds in terms of academic skill sets, professional responsibility and technical complexity throughout the two years.

Upon successful completion of the programme, students will be able to:

• Consistently utilise a person-centred approach to nursing care based on partnership, which respects the individuality of people and families, to ensure high quality care.
• Have a systematic understanding and critical awareness of the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours to become a thoughtful, compassionate and effective nurse who provides high-quality care based on best evidence.
• Demonstrate excellent self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems making sound nursing judgements and communicate their conclusions clearly.
• Have the ability to independently engage in critical inquiry and implement research findings that makes a significant positive difference to nursing care and clinical effectiveness.
• Apply clinical reasoning and decision-making skills to enable them to safely manage complex healthcare, risk and ‘uncertainty’ both systematically and creatively.
• Be responsive to innovation and new technologies and innovative practice that promotes safe adoption and dissemination of better quality service delivery.
• Develop a transferable skill set required for independent reflexive learning and research for continuing professional development and post- graduate nursing careers.
• Consistently demonstrate emotional expressiveness, self-confidence, and self-determination in effective leadership and communication.
• Promote equality and demonstrate courageous, ethical and anti-discriminatory practices that support empowerment, advocacy and safeguarding in nursing practice.
• Work effectively in teams to collaborate and work in partnership with people, professionals, communities and other agencies and work flexibly across changing healthcare economies.

Entry Requirements

The MSc Nursing, Graduate Entry Nursing (GEN) programme recognises that prior learning and experience is integral to the student’s learning.

Academic entry requirements

• A first honours degree (normally 2:2 or above) in any subject
• English Language and Maths GCSE at grade A* - C (discuss with admissions team if you have equivalent qualifications)
• We accept applications from candidates who meet residency requirements of UK students.
• Any overseas qualifications should be equivalent to UK qualifications which meet our entry requirements. If you have completed your degree outside the UK, we will require a clear copy of your degree documentation to ensure NARIC comparability.  Please note that all applicants who are invited to interview will be required to present their original degree documentation.  
• If English is not your first language, IELTS (Academic) with an overall score of 7.0, including least 6.5 in the writing section and at least 7.0 in the reading, listening and speaking sections. The University may be able to accept alternative English Language qualifications from applicants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) on a case by case basis in line with the appropriate Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) guidelines.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate a minimum of 770 hours care experience (approximately six months F/T work). Relevant voluntary experience would be accepted as a portion of the total hours on a case by case basis.
• Please note that you will be required to have obtained the academic entry requirements before applying.

If you do not have all the advertised entry requirements please contact us to discuss your graduate studies and care experience on an individual basis at nursing.admissions@keele.ac.uk

Additional entry requirements 

• All applicants are required to make an APEL claim to demonstrate how their previous care experience and graduate studies have equip them to undertake an accelerated nursing programme
• All applicants must be of good health and good character
• All applicants selected at interview will complete a Rehabilitation of Offenders form and have a Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check as well as Occupational health Clearance

Course content

The course structure ensures you study a range of modules that are highly relevant to adult nursing. During your two year programme you will study 5 core modules. Your study is divided into three roughly equal periods called progression periods. Over the two years, half of the course is dedicated to working in practice, in a variety of healthcare settings.

In your first progression period you acquire the fundamentals of nursing practice including essential care and learn how to work in a professional setting. You also explore the concepts of leadership and develop a research plan for your dissertation

In progression period two you build on your experience and develop your skills in caring for patients with higher acuity requirements using clinical reasoning skills. You will develop leadership skills in practice and formulate your research proposal.

In progression period three you will take on more responsibility and leadership in preparation for your professional transition from student nurse to registered professional.  You will be prepared to manage complex nursing care to enhance the safety and quality of the patient experience. You will complete your dissertation project demonstrating the detailed application and findings of your study.

Module A - Fundamentals of Nursing for Health and Wellbeing

The nature of healthcare needs and health policy is changing so that it requires a more salutogenic nursing approach. This shift coincides with a drive toward more sub-acute healthcare provision, greater preventative care and self-help with emphasis on developing partnerships with all agencies that contributes to health, well-being and recovery.

By undertaking this module you will 'build upon' your previous health care related experience. The module will introduce you to the biological, psychological and sociological perspectives of nursing care for health and well-being and will support you to address policy directives (local, national and international) by including people at the centre of service design, development and delivery. You will integrate this theoretical learning in nursing practice. You will be exposed to learning opportunities within a diverse range of practice learning environments which could include public health, home nursing and care of the person with a long-term condition. A range of different assessments are included in the module which runs for 34 weeks at the beginning of year one.

Module B - Acute and Critical Care Nursing

Many patients are admitted to hospital with acute illness or injury and the condition of others will deteriorate whilst they are being treated in hospital. Some of these patients will recover whilst others will require treatment in higher levels of care. Studying this module will provide you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable you to assess the care needs of acutely and critically ill patients. In collaboration with patients, carers and fellow healthcare professionals in placements, you will learn how to develop, implement and evaluate care plans to meet these needs.

By successfully completing this module, you will learn how to use a range of frameworks to recognise and respond to meeting the needs of acutely ill patients in both simulated and placement environments, how to prioritise decision­ making and how to communicate effectively with clinical colleagues. Your learning will be based on small group activities and will be student­ focused in partnership with a range of acute and critical care placements. A variety of assessments are included in the module which runs for 38 weeks at the end of Year 1 and beginning of Year 2.

Module C - Transitions to Professional Nursing Practice

The successful completion of this module will ensure that you are prepared to be admitted to the NMC register as an Adult nurse. The key focus of the learning is around transition. Firstly around your professional transition from student nurse to registered professional status. Secondly you will be prepared to manage complex nursing care to enhance the safety and quality of the patient experience. The immersion in real world problems during this module will prepare students to be able to respond flexibly to the dynamic nature of contemporary adult nursing.

The module will examine the career pathways available to nurses and consider the opportunities for the Nurse as: Practitioner, Educator, Researcher and Manager. There will be a particular focus on the role of the nurse as practitioner and as an educator and this is achieved through the student’s sign off practice experience and production of a renewable learning resource for an audience of their choosing. This ensures students are well equipped to deliver effective person centred education that is augmented by their digital literacy. A variety of assessments are included in the module which runs for 32 weeks at the end of Year 2

Module D - Leading for Change in Nursing Practice

This module has been designed to develop leadership, management and team working knowledge and skills across the two year duration of the programme. It is recognised that graduate ­entry nursing students may possess a range of skills and through the development of self-awareness, the role of nurse as a leader and change agent will be enhanced. By exploring effective team and partnership relationships, political awareness, and leadership behaviours the aim is to enable you to manage self, lead teams, and lead service improvement in nursing in contemporary healthcare delivery. Leadership is a core theme that spans the Graduate Entry MSc and is integral to the development of the capable postgraduate nurse.

The assessments will ensure that you have explored key concepts of leadership and management and have been given the opportunity to report on a change in nursing practice

Module E - Research, Evidence and Dissertation in Nursing Practice

This module will enable students with an undergraduate degree to transfer and further develop research skills to support evidence based decision making in nursing practice. Within the module, published literature will be explored specific to the student’s field of nursing and area of interest. The differences between research, audit, local service evaluation and the ethical and governance approvals required of studies performed within health care organisations will be identified; enabling development of the knowledge and skills required to design and implement an ethical and feasible research project within a supportive environment.

At the end of this module graduate entry nursing students will be able to provide an in depth understanding of how research management techniques are used to create original application and demonstration of new knowledge and understanding of the process and decision making in managing a research project within strict deadlines. The assessments will ensure that you can present the choice of dissertation topic with a clear rationale and that you can then develop a research proposal. The module is summatively assessed by the production of a dissertation demonstrating the detailed application and reported findings of the project.

Teaching and assessment

The programme utilises an enquiry-based learning approach which builds on your existing skills for learning and is underpinned by a student centred philosophy. It also encompasses shared learning with other disciplines and professions, developing your clinical leadership skills and preparing you for practice.

As with all our courses, you can expect to experience a stimulating blend of learning activities, from practice learning, simulation, problem based learning, tutorials, lectures and clinical skills workshops through to innovative web-based activities and inter-professional learning.

Each module will encourage you to demonstrate deep learning that includes subject-specific knowledge and transferable skills. Service user involvement in the programme will ensure that the concept of person-centeredness is explicit.

We have a wide variety of innovative assessments that will develop and enhance your graduate skill set. These may include report writing, simulated activities, an MCQ exam, case studies, presentations, designing a renewable learning resource, reflective writing, developing a research proposal, to undertaking a Masters dissertation.

Additional costs

In addition to costs for text books, inter-library loans and potential overdue library fines we anticipate the following additional costs.

Travel for placements

A student’s geographical location, when possible, is taken into account when allocating to clinical placements and, whilst efforts are made to limit student travel, it is not possible to guarantee that placements will be in particular locations and students may be required to travel some distance for their placements. Clinical placements currently in use by the School of Nursing and Midwifery are within a 50 mile radius, most being 30 miles or less, from the university. Travel Expenses may be claimed in accordance with information from the NHS Learning Support Fund guidelines.

Uniform

Students may be required to purchase a set of tunics and trousers from our designated supplier to adhere to the School Uniform Policy. This may cost in the region of £60-80. You will need to provide your own appropriate footwear for placements as per the School Uniform Policy, and it is recommended that you purchase a fob watch. 

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Clearance

Subscription to the Disclosure and Barring update service is a requirement and costs £13 per year which students pay online at the start of each academic year. The initial DBS application cost is financed by the school. 

Occupational Health Clearance

Students registering on the MSc Adult Nursing programme are required to have a health fitness report provided by the University’s Occupational Health Service. As part of this process you are required to complete a health questionnaire and arrange for your GP to verify this. You will be responsible for any fee that may be required by your GP. You will be required to have the following immunisations if you have not already had them - Hepatitis B (x3), MMR (x2) and BCG. MMR vaccines are available free of charge at your GP surgery and we strongly advise you have these if needed and can provide documented evidence of vaccination. Appointments will be arranged for any outstanding vaccines once you have commenced your course. You may be required to make a contribution towards the Occupational Health and vaccination requirements of the programme.

UHNM ID Card

Adult Nursing students will need to apply for a University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) ID card at a cost of £5-15.

How to apply

Admission to the course is via the UCAS website. The UCAS course code is B701.