Nursing (Mental Health), MSc

It is crucially important to attend Welcome Week to gain an insight of the course, professional expectations, the academic year ahead and meet your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) and other members of the teaching team.

Personal and academic support is for all students, not just those facing issues or in need of help; it is integral to the student experience and should empower students to succeed in their studies and achieve their full potential.

A good rapport between a student and their tutor is important, therefore your PAT will normally be a member of staff from the course teaching team.

Occupational Health, DBS & Placement Preparation

Please ensure that you engage with all Occupational Health, DBS or Placement planning activities required by the Admissions Team. Failure to complete this by the time you register on the course may result in you not being able to proceed with your studies.

We are proud to be an inclusive University that supports a diverse community of students. Please note that if you have a disability or would like to learn more about the support that we can offer to students, please visit the Disability and Mental Health website.

Placement Information

InPlace

Once your first placement has been allocated, you will automatically receive an email with instructions on how to sign in to InPlace and access your placement information.

ePAD

Before your first placement, you will attend an ePAD training session delivered by your course team. During this session, you will learn how to sign in to ePAD and use the system to complete your placement documentation.

Occupational Health

Students need to obtain occupational health clearance to ensure they are fit to practice. You will be prompted via your ‘MyRecord’ to complete a clearance check and directed to an online health questionnaire.

Once you have submitted your questionnaire, you are required to attend an occupational health vaccination appointment appropriate to your placement requirements. We use an external company called OH Works for this. Ahead of your appointment, please gather any vaccination documentation (paper or electronic) from your GP or workplace to take to your occupational health appointment.

Your OH vaccination appointment will take place on Monday 14 September 2026 in Ag54 (Anselm Building, Canterbury Campus). Please see the below table for the exact time of your appointment:

Surname	Date	Time	Location
A - H	14 September 2026	13.00 - 13.15	Ag54
I - Q	14 September 2026	13.15 - 13.30	Ag54
R - Z	14 September 2026	13.30 - 13.45	Ag54

For enquiries about your occupational health clearance please email cccustudents@ohworks.co.uk or phone 01227 286288.

Uniform

On placement, you will be required to wear a uniform as part of your Readiness for Practice. Important information regarding your uniform can be found on the uniform policy.

Your uniform is provided to you free of charge and is expected to last you the duration of your course.

You do not need to order your placement uniform before you start your course.

Uniform ordering is staggered by course. This means that students on different courses will be invited to order their uniform at different times. If you hear that students on another course have already been invited, please don't worry – you will be contacted when it is your course's turn.

The Placement Management Team will email you with instructions on how to order your uniform in plenty of time before your first placement.

These instructions will be sent to your CCCU email account. Towards the end of August, once you have been invited to register for your course, we will email you with information on how to set up your CCCU email account.

Please note that you will not be able to order your uniform until you have completed all of your registration tasks.

Placement Badge

On placement you will be required to wear a placement badge, which will have your course title and preferred first name obtained from your MyRecord account. This placement badge is provided to you free of charge. You will be supplied with your placement badge once you have started your course. Please note, this is not your student ID card. 

Specialist Equipment Requirements

Item	Reason	Cost	Compulsory or Optional
Fob watch	This will be needed both in university and clinical practice	£1 - £45	This is not compulsory to buy before you start as you will be able to buy one at the beginning of your course.

 

Your Course

What you will learn

Semester 1

Approaches to Professional Nursing Excellence

This module examines professional, person-centred nursing practice within contemporary health and social care. The module will adopt a problem-based learning approach which will enable you to critically engage with theories that underpin and support or challenge nursing practice.

Social Justice

Through the application of intersectional analysis, this module will enable you to critically examine concepts related to health and wellbeing within a broader socio/cultural/political frame, including sustainability. It will engage you in a critique of the dominant biomedical approach to health, disability, and illness and in doing so enhance your ability to work in person centred, solution-focused ways and develop skills of anti – oppressive health activism.

Semester 2

Person-centred Care in Adult Nursing Practice

In this module, you will engage in problem-based learning (PBL) to develop essential skills in providing person-centred care for adult patients across various healthcare settings. You will explore clinical scenarios that simulate real-world nursing experiences and identify nursing care needs, understand pathophysiology, and apply evidence-based decision-making.

Anatomy, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology 1

The key aim of this module is to provide you with an in depth understanding of human anatomy, how disease effects major body systems and to link it to related pharmacology. You will begin by considering the molecular and cellular physiology before looking at key major organ systems.

How you will learn

Problem based learning underpins the MSc Nursing course as a student-centred teaching approach that uses real-life clinical scenarios to drive learning. Instead of relying entirely on traditional lectures, students work in small groups or as individuals to analyse a patient’s case, identify learning gaps, conduct self-directed research, and collaboratively develop appropriate care solutions. In PBL activities, students use ‘triggers’ derived from the problem or case to define their own learning outcomes/objectives. Triggers can be a photograph, a journal article, a newspaper clipping, statistics, or graphs. The key is not so much solving a problem, but the student’s learning journey. The nature of PBL also presents opportunities to develop a range of generic skills and attitudes such as:

• teamwork
• leadership
• critical evaluation of literature
• self-directed learning and use of resources
• presentation skills
• listening
• cooperation
• respect for colleagues’ views

As you engage with these principles, you'll become well-versed in the values and practices of the NHS, which underpin the delivery of healthcare across the UK.

A good rapport between a student and their tutor is important, therefore your PAT will normally be a member of staff from the course teaching team.

Blackboard

Blackboard is the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, providing you with access to your learning materials, resources, and services to support your studies.

Learning Skills Hub

The Learning Skills Hub has been developed by Learning Developers and Academic Librarians with your needs in mind. Here you will find a range of modules with tips to help you develop your study, academic and research skills.  We would suggest looking at time management, introduction to referencing, academic integrity and plagiarism and generative AI guidance to start with and then progressing to study skills, academic and writing skills.

It may be helpful to read The NMC Code and future nurse proficiencies, as well as:

Waugh, A. and Grant, A. (2022) Ross & Wilson: Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness. 14th edn. Edinburgh: Elsevier

Dougherty, L. and Lister, S. (eds.) (2015). The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures: Student Edition. 9th edn. Oxford: Wiley‑Blackwell

Gatford, P. and Phillips, N. (2018). Nursing Calculations. 5th edn. London: Routledge.

Please wait to buy books please as most key texts are available through the university library and often the book shops or online offer discounts. Much of your academic work will be based on literature from journals substantiating statements that you make and critical discussion within your work.