This programme enables nurses and nursing associates to undertake a range of clinical and professional modules that reflect their current Continuing Professional Development needs. The MSc Contemporary Nursing will develop the students’ knowledge and skills in leadership, teaching, and/or management and promote the use of evidence and technology to improve nursing care in innovative ways.

If you have qualified as a nurse or nursing associate and wish to enhance your skills and knowledge in your specific area of practice or study modules in management, leadership, coaching or education this is the course for you.

Why should I choose this course?

This is a flexible modular programme which offers a wide range of optional modules and can be tailored to your individual needs and those of your employer. Funding for modules can be secured from a range of sources including your employer or the <post-graduate student loan>.

It is possible to take this pathway as a Post Graduate Diploma or Post Graduate Certificate award.

The MSc Contemporary Nursing should normally take 2-5 years to complete. The PgDip Contemporary Nursing or PgCert Contemporary Nursing should normally take 1-3 years to complete.

To attain a Master’s award, you need to complete 180 credits of which 150 must be at level 7. There are also interim awards available: 

Postgraduate Certificate Leadership in Health and Social Care (PgCert) (60 credits)
Postgraduate Certificate Contemporary Nursing (PgCert) (60 credits)
Postgraduate Diploma Contemporary Nursing (PgDip) (120 credits) 

To obtain your award you will accumulate your credits from the compulsory and optional modules available on the programme. Additionally, up to 45 relevant credits may be studied from amongst other UH delivered modules or short course provision, or used as Accredited Prior Credited Learning (APCL) from another university. 

Students will select option modules in conjunction with their employers and the Programme Leader that reflect their personal and professional career aspirations and their area of practice. 

Students can study up to a maximum of 45 credits as standalone modules prior to registering on the programme. 

The student will have Knowledge and Understanding of:

• The ethical debates and legal imperatives that inform contemporary care
• The national and local strategies that inform the provision of care
• The international policy and drivers that inform the provision of care
• The critical role of the professional within multi professional teams
• The complex frameworks and theories that underpin care delivery and management
• The ways in which professionals lead and innovate in their own practice
• The theory and practice of leadership, of both people and services.

The student will develop intellectual skills to enable them to:

• Critique and evaluate current evidence to support practice
• Appraise, analyse, and recognise patients’ healthcare needs
• Evaluate service provision in line with contemporary government policy, guidelines, and professional developments
• Identify effective change strategies required to support and direct practice
• Critically evaluate and reflect on the impact of their own leadership style and analyse how this can influence own and others practice

The student will develop the following practical skills:

• Evaluate a range of evidence in order to justify decisions made to enhance care in complex situations
• Initiate, plan, undertake and evaluate a project related to individual practice
• Reflect on clinical decision making in relation to an identifiable aspect of professional practice, demonstrating the ability to critically evaluate personal contribution to complex problem-solving activity
• Respond to current policy by developing the critical ethical dimension to their practice
• Systematically design and undertake a substantial investigation into practice
• Critically discuss the theoretical basis of leading and developing others to promote and enable a learning organisation.

The student will develop the following transferrable skills:

• Is effective in professional and interpersonal communication demonstrating effective oral, written and presentation skills in a wide range of settings
• Utilise a range of IT skills to support learning activities
• Use a range of evidence to solve problems in a logical manner
• Critically reflect on their own work to improve practice
• Demonstrate advanced skills of independent learning
• Demonstrate a person-centred approach to service delivery and development

Assessment:
A range of different assessment strategies are used across the programme, this includes essays, project reports, presentations, examinations, simulated assessments and portfolios of evidence. 

What our students say:
“Student support by module leads has been excellent all round”

“Very well supportive team”

“Well organised and good delivery”

“Modules are well planned and delivery by lectures who are knowledgeable in their own field of work”

This programme has the following core/optional modules

6HSK1091: Return to Practice

6HSK2041: Academic Skills for Postgraduate Study

6HSK2042: Academic Skills and Writing for Postgraduate Study

7HSK0168: Advanced Decision Making

7HSK0193: Work Based Learning for Contemporary Nursing

7HSK0197: Leading Innovation in Practice

7HSK0267: Enabling Learning in Contemporary Healthcare

7HSK0293: Leadership Education and Developing Others

7HSK0366: Return to Practice

7HSK2059: V300 Nurse and Midwife Independent Prescribing

7HSK2078: Integrating Research with Contemporary Practice

7HSK2079: Managing Minor Injuries (Can only be studied after completing 7HSK2204 or equivalent)

7HSK2080: Managing the Acutely Ill Adult

7HSK2081: Physiology Based Assessment

7HSK2084: Minor Illness-Diagnostics and Interventions (Can only be studied after completing 7HSK2204 or equivalent)

7HSK2085: Coaching Skills for Leading

7HSK2086: Leg Ulcer Management Theory and Practice: A Competency Based Course

7HSK2204: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Indicators