The delivery of the NMP course at Christ Church made what could be perceived as a tricky phase of clinical professional development, into a well rounded and robust module. Perfect for those already established or branching into advanced practice.
Carrie, NMP student

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Duration:

6 months

Location(s):

Medway

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Overview

This course will enable you to extend your scope of clinical practice to prescribe medicines as an Independent and Supplementary Non-medical Prescriber.

Non-medical prescribing is becoming a well-established means of managing a service user’s condition enabling quicker access to medicines, delivering high quality, innovative clinical care and offering choice for service users.

The course explores current practices as well as supporting professional and personal development. You will have advanced skills in assessment and diagnosis and have demonstrable expertise in an identified area of clinical practice, e.g. mental health, adult nursing, child nursing, learning disabilities and midwifery.

You can also take this course as part of the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice.

Why study Non-Medical Prescribing?

The Non-medical Prescribing course has been developed to provide you with knowledge and skills to allow you to develop and progress your clinical practice role.

The course aims to prepare you to prescribe safely, appropriately and cost effectively as an independent/supplementary prescriber. On completion you will be confident and competent to perform your prescribing role independently.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for this programme are in line with University policies on widening participation and equality of opportunity. It is essential that you have professional registration to practice in health and/or social care or equivalent, and your profession is legally allowed to prescribe under UK law. In addition to the entry requirements for the University the following requirements are specifically for NMC registrants:

must be registered with the NMC or the HCPC, as a recognised professional that is eligible to undertake the non-medical prescribing V300 qualification. A first degree and/or evidence of the ability to study at level 6/7
you must have at least three years’ experience in registered practice
you must have been practising in the clinical field which there is intent to prescribe for one year immediately preceding the application
you should be able to provide evidence of a physical examination module, qualification, or have evidence of significant physical examination experience
you must have a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) who meets the eligibility criteria for the practice supervision of nurse and midwife prescribers
you must have a current DBS check (less than three years old) that you are able to evidence.

If English is not your first language you require an IELTS overall score of 6.0 with no element below 5.5 for most standard undergraduate and postgraduate courses. There are some exceptions and if the IELTS requirement differs it will be specified on the course page.

NMC or HCPC registration required

All about the course

The course content is designed to enable the development of skills, knowledge and understanding of the principles of prescribing practice across the eight themes outlined below:

Consultation, decision making and therapy, including referral
Influences on, and psychology of prescribing
Prescribing in a team context
Clinical pharmacology, including the effects of co-morbidity
Evidence based practice and issues of quality related to prescribing
The policy context, legal, and ethical aspects of prescribing
Professional accountability and responsibility
Prescribing in the public health context.

Module information

Please note that the list of optional modules and their availability may be subject to change. We continually review and where appropriate, revise the range of modules on offer to reflect changes in the subject and ensure the best student experience. Modules will vary when studied in combination with another subject.

Core/optional modules

*Modules subject to validation

How you’ll learn

Learning and teaching will be focused on the development of analytical thinking and critical reflection whilst educating the whole person. Ability in creativity, problem solving, questioning, reasoning and development of individual thought at a higher level will be central to the teaching and learning strategies whilst working together with organisations as partners in learning. There will be an interactive approach to learning and teaching acknowledging your prior learning and expertise in clinical practice.

The course uses blended learning/ flipped classroom approach to learning. This will enable you to have a flexible and manageable learning environment that fits with your work and life balance. Blending face-to-face and online activities has been selected to achieve the learning outcomes. This mixture of learning allows you to learn at your own pace as well as suiting different learning needs.

The number of face-to-face classroom based days will normally be four 8 hour sessions per 20 credit module. This will be directed learning, which will provide meaningful debate around clinical cases, development of knowledge, reflection on learning activities and students will be able to share their learning and experiences in clinical practice.

Workshops will be utilised to enable you to practice skills and gain experience in various aspects of prescribing practice. Workshops comprise a theoretical component by means of lecture or academic/student led activity and a practical element which will include role play.

The course aims to encourage you to critically analyse practice and consider strategies for development. The Personal Academic Tutor will arrange a practice visit which encourages a quality review of the learning environment whilst building a learning community that supports practice. You will also complete an electronic portfolio and a reflective journal as part of your development in reflective practice.

You will be provided with appropriate guided reading throughout the course and the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) will be used to support the course providing essential programme documents, extracts of required reading material and lecture notes.

Non-Medical Prescribing is a supportive course delivered by clinical experts in their field. It enables practitioners to manage full episodes of patient care, while working within their scope of professional practice.
Ollie PhippsProgramme Director

How you’ll be assessed

For each 20 credit module, the assessments are weighted at 4000 words or equivalent. Formative or summative assessment will take place throughout the programme.

The Pharmacology and prescribing principles module is assessed by a written pharmacology examination and classroom based numeracy test and a reflective essay.

The Prescribing in practice module is assessed by an electronic portfolio, containing written reflections of prescribing practice and an observed examination of clinical practice which is completed in the students own work area.

Your future career

This course will enable career progression, attendance on the course will have been supported by your Trust/ organisation and as such you are in a senior position, or working towards this, in the clinical setting.

Working in partnership with the Trust/organisation to develop the curriculum has ensured that on successful completion of the course, the expectations of the Trust/ organisation’s concept of the non-medical prescriber role have been met.

You will be expected to record your qualification with the regulatory body to enable you to prescribe within your practice area. You will also be expected to inform your manager and ensure that you maintain your practice by completing regular NMP updates.

You could also use this qualification and credits towards an Advanced Clinical Practice MSc. The course will enable you to gain experience, skills and attributes that are essential in shaping your own future.

The successful completion of the non-medical prescribing programme does not mean that you are able to work as a prescriber. You must meet your employer’s requirements and register your qualification with the NMC or other regulatory body and this will incur a cost.

As an employer, the Non-Medical Prescribing course at Christ Church has enabled staff to advance both their scope and level of practice. This translates into the ability to provide patient centred care that is both safe and effective.
Ian SetchfieldAcute Care Nurse Consultant

Fees

To access this programme, you can either be NHS/employer funded or you can self-fund your modules.

If you are seeking NHS/employer funding, please contact the relevant named education or development lead (and not your line manager) for advice and support within your organisation. You will be required to complete a university application form accompanied by a statement from the employer confirming financial support.

If you are self-funding, you will be invoiced by the University Finance department once your application has been successful. All questions about tuition fees should be directed to fees@canterbury.ac.uk. Any other finance queries can be sent to finance@canterbury.ac.uk.

Recognition of prior learning through APL, APCL, APEL are subject to charges available on application.

2021/22 tuition fees for this course

'	UK	Overseas
Full-time	N/A	N/A
Part-time	POA	POA

20% Alumni Discount

We offer alumni discounts on CCCU Postgraduate Taught, PGCE Primary and Secondary, and Masters by Research courses for eligible students.

Find out if you're eligible for the discount.

Important Information on Tuition Fees

Tuition fees for all courses which last more than one academic year are payable on an annual basis, except where stated.

There will be an annual inflationary increase in tuition fees for this course where the course lasts more than one academic year. For further information read the 2021/22 Tuition fee statements and continuing fee information.

Apply now

I would like to start

I would like to study

Duration:

6 months

Location(s):

Medway

Apply

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