Bachelor of Nursing (Mental Health) Spring Intake (BN)

Traditional face-to-face learning strategies such as lectures, workshops and seminars will be complemented by interactive online opportunities and resources designed to enhance your overall learning experience and enable you to acquire the knowledge, skills and capabilities that are a requirement of mental health nursing practice. You are also afforded valuable opportunities to learn from the authentic voices of service users and carers who contribute to the programme as experts by experience. 

Within the clinical environment you will be supported by practice supervisors and practice assessors as you progress towards achieving Nursing and Midwifery Council proficiencies.  In the academic setting you will also be allocated an academic assessor who will review your Professional Assessment Document (PAD) throughout the year to the point of progression to the following year of study. To support learning in practice you will also undertake simulated activities and scenarios in a purpose-built simulation suite. This will allow you to develop, practice and consolidate skills in a safe environment.

How will I be supported?

You will be allocated a Personal Tutor who is a member of the academic staff group and a qualified mental health nurse. You will be encouraged to arrange meetings with your Personal Tutor throughout your time on the programme, during which you can access pastoral support and reflect on your overall progress. Personal Tutors will also assist in signposting you to other sources of support such as the School and Programme Student Disability Contact and University-wide services including Student Support and Wellbeing and the Academic Skills and Mentoring Team.

Welsh-speaking Personal Tutors may be available to students whose preference is to access support through the medium of Welsh. The Programme Manager, Module Leads and Academic Assessor can support you in relation to your overall experience as a student of the programme, including any feedback or concerns you might have.

The School also works in partnership with Y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to provide opportunities for Welsh speaking students who wish to study aspects of the programme through the medium of Welsh and the possibility of a yearly scholarship. You also have the option to learn Welsh through our Welsh for All programme where courses are designed to fit around your academic commitments and are free of charge.

During practice placements, you will be supported by Practice Supervisors and a Practice Assessor who will facilitate your learning and prepare you for in-point clinical assessments. A dedicated Placement Support Team will also be available to you, alongside formal mechanisms and procedures, to support your learning and progress and address any issues or problems that may arise. The placement team will attempt to source Welsh-speaking supervisors or bilingual placement learning opportunities and, if available, Welsh-speaking named contacts from the academic setting upon request.

How will I be assessed?

The curriculum incorporates a diverse range of assessment strategies and methods which are reflective of an inclusive, learner-centred approach and aligned to the intended learning outcomes of the programme. 

Each module within the programme incorporates formative assessment and feedback which is designed to support your learning and to assist you in identifying your own strengths and areas for development and prepare you for summative assessment which is formally marked and therefore contributes to progression or degree classification decisions.

The goal of summative assessment is to indicate how well you have succeeded in meeting the intended learning outcomes of a module and the feedback provided will enable you to identify areas for further development. In practice you will be assessed according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2018) standards for student supervision and assessment. Each year your achievements in practice will be recorded in a Practice Assessment Document.  There is opportunity for you to undertake assessments through the medium of Welsh.

What skills will I practise and develop?

The learning outcomes for this programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you. 

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme can be found below:

Knowledge & Understanding:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• A comprehensive understanding of the philosophical and theoretical concepts that underpin and inform nursing practice and the importance of adherence to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code.
• A sound knowledge of body systems, anatomy, physiology, genomics and human development underpinned with relevant theory and applied to health and illness.
• A critically evaluative approach to the socio-political factors and relevant policies that influence individual, local, national and global health, wellbeing and illness and inform decision making in practice.
• An in-depth understanding of the core principles and values that underpin collaborative practice in health and social care, including how the role of the mental health nurse contributes to interdisciplinary working in ensuring the provision of high-quality, person and family-centred services.
• A sound appreciation of regulatory and professional body standards concerning, continuing professional development and reflective practice, leadership, research and evidence-based care in order to develop, deliver and evaluate safe, high quality family and person-centred mental health nursing care.

Intellectual Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• Proficiency in the selection, analysis, synthesis and critical evaluation of information from a wide range of sources, drawing logical and reasoned conclusions in the formation of sound decisions and professional judgements.
• A creative and innovative approach to problem-solving in the academic and practice environment, including imaginative thinking and the development of effective solutions and ideas that will enhance health outcomes and peoples experience of mental health nursing care.
• Proficiency in contributing to a professional knowledge base through the selection, justification and application of ethically-sound research design and methods and the identification of effective dissemination strategies.
• Enhanced professional reflective and reasoning skills that promotes critical review of care provision and wider organisational values and practice.

Professional Practical Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• Established professional values and behaviours in keeping with professional body expectations as described in the NMC Code.
• Effective and appropriate collaborative working practices with users of services, other team members and partners, drawing upon enabling, empowering and consultative approaches and valuing diversity of experience and perspectives.
• Promotion of individual and person-centred safety and wellbeing through prioritising their legal rights, best interests and needs using effective risk assessment and risk management.
• Sound assessment and reasoning skills in identifying and planning appropriate, evidence-based interventions and care delivery, respecting the rights, culture, spiritual needs and preferences of the individual, family members and significant others and evaluating effectiveness.
• Advocacy and leadership in promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in preventing ill health and recognition of a need for organisational change and service improvement.

Transferable/Key Skills:

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to demonstrate:

• Active engagement in continuing personal and professional development underpinned by critical reflection and a commitment to developing resilience and lifelong self-directed learning skills.
• Enhanced communication skills and an ability to teach, supervise and motivate others, drawing upon leadership skills in identifying methods and strategies for effective team working and high-quality service delivery.
• Effective prioritisation and management of time, working within given resources throughout the problem-solving process and assuming leadership, responsibility and accountability for management and development of self and others.
• Accurate record-keeping and responsible engagement with a range of digital technologies to communicate and collaborate with others and produce documentation that conveys and justifies actions.
• Application of the core professional beliefs and values of professional conduct, accountability, risk management and duty of candour.