Learning Disability Nursing BSc (Hons)

Course Content

• Course Details

  This course has been designed to contribute towards achieving the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: SDG3 of Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG5 Gender Equality.

  Our vision is to enable people with learning disabilities to lead healthy and valued lives. We want to make this a reality by recruiting people who are passionate about caring with learning disabilities and want to make a positive difference to their lives.

  This Learning Disability Nursing course gives you a registration through the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a nurse for people with learning disabilities. This field equips you with nursing skills to work within health and social care environments with people with learning disabilities. Studying this course will enable you to work with a wide range of other professions that care for people with learning disabilities and their families. The practical placements that you will take throughout this course will be in a variety of health, education and social care settings with people of all ages that have a range of learning disabilities.

  Taught elements include:

  • • public and population health
    • assessing planning and providing care
    • leading nursing care
    • working in teams
    • coordinating and improving quality of care.

  All of our teaching staff are professionally and academically qualified within their field. You will be allocated a Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) who will be a professional within the nursing team and would normally remain your PAT for the three years of your study. They can offer you continued support and guidance.

  Read what the Nursing Times have to say about our Learning Disability Nursing course.

  List of modules:

  Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 22/23. The modules relating to the academic year 23/24 will be available from June 2023.

  • Stage 1
    • Interprofessional Education (IPE)
      Module code: FHS_IPE20

      Status: Compulsory
    • Discovering My Identity as a Nurse (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR1027

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to develop nursing students self awareness, personal and professional resilience and professional identity as a nurse understanding how health science, social and political knowledge, behaviour, vocabulary and skills form their nursing identity. Additionally the module will develop communication skills and understanding of how constructive feedback can be used to evaluate self and effect positive change.
    • Professionalism and Public Protection in Nursing (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR1028

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide the student nurse with underpinning theoretical knowledge of the scientific, legal, professional and personal context of nursing in order to participate in practice safely, ethically and lawfully across all fields of nursing and within a range of clinical practice settings.
    • Exploring the Evidence Base for Nursing (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR1029

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to equip nursing students with the theoretical foundation, skills and evidenced based knowledge to fully participate in person centred decision making, influence positive lifestyle choices and beginning the students? own professional development.
    • Developing Competence in Safe, Effective Administration and Optimisation of Medicines
      Module code: NPR1030

      Status: Compulsory
    • Guided Participation in Nursing Care (60 Credits)
      Module code: NPR1031P

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide the essential clinical learning and simulation and practice experiences a student requires to achieve the NMC proficiences, enabling progression through to the 2nd part of the programme. Through their electronic portfolio (Pebblepad), signed by their practice supervisor and practice assessor, and moderated by the academic assessor, students will demonstrate achievement of the skills and professional behaviours identified at the first progression point by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. During clinical learning all students will be required to undertake clinical skills via a range of simulation techniques to meet the Achievement of Proficiency in the PAD. These will be signed off by the Module Team/Practice Assessor.
  • Stage 2
    • Constructing and Developing My Nursing Identity (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR2067

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to further develop adult, children and young people?s, mental health and learning disability nursing students self-awareness, personal and professional resilience and professional identity as a nurse, deepening understanding of how health science, social and political knowledge, behaviour, vocabulary and skills form their nurse identity and enable them to problem solve within their field of nursing. Additionally the module will further develop communication skills including responding to constructive feedback to evaluate self and effect positive change.
    • Applying Understanding of Nursing Professionalism and Protection of the Public in Nursing (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR2068

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to build on and further develop adult, children and young people?s, learning disability and mental health student nurses theoretical knowledge, advancing their critical understanding and application of the generic and field specific scientific, legal and professional context of nursing, enabling them to initiate safe practice that is ethical and lawful across all fields of nursing and within a range of clinical practice settings.
    • Interpreting the Evidence Base Influencing Learning Disability Nursing (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR2071

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to further develop Learning Disability nursing students professional development, theoretical foundation, skills and evidenced absed knowledge to initiate person centred decision making, influencing positive lifestyle choices, improve health outcomes and understand the appropriateness and quality of care to effect service improvement.
    • Demonstrating Continuing Competence in the Safe, Effective Administration and Optimization of Medicines
      Module code: NPR2073

      Status: Compulsory
    • Active Participation in Nursing Care (60 Credits)
      Module code: NPR2074P

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide the essential clinical learning and simulation and practice experiences students require to achieve the set of NMC proficiencies enabling progression through to the 3rd part of the programme. Through the electronic portfolio (Pebblepad), signed by their practice supervisor and practice assessor, and moderated by the academic assessor, students will demonstrate achievement of the skills and professional behaviours, relevent to chosen field of nursing, identified at the second progression point by the Nursing and midwifery council. During clinical learning all students will be required to undertake clinical skills via a range of simulation techniques to meet the Achievement of Proficiency in the PAD. These will be signed off by the Module Team/Practice Assessor.
  • Stage 3
    • Developing My Nurse Identity Towards Becoming a Registrant (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR3035

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to further develop adult, children and young people?s, learning disability and mental health nursing students critical self awareness, personal and professional resilience and professional identity as a nurse, deepening understanding of how complex health science, social and political knowledge, behaviour, vocabulary and skills enable collaborative leadership and effect change management within their chosen field. Additionally the module will further develop advanced communication skills including delivering constructive feedback to effect positive change.
    • Becoming a Professional, Responsible, and Accountable Registered Nurse (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR3036

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to futher develop the adult, children and young people?s, learning disability and mental health student nurses wide ranging theoretical knowledge, enabling them to critically evaluate, lead, manage and reflect on the application of the scientific, legal and professional context of nursing in their chosen field, ensuring safe, ethical and lawful practice across all fields of nursing and in a range of clinical practice settings.
    • Demonstrating Competence and Confidence in Safe, Effective Administration and Optimization of Medicines and the Health Numeracy Assessment
      Module code: NPR3037

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to ensure adult, children and young people?s, learning disability and mental health student nurses knowledge and understanding of phamacology, the principles of safe effective adminstration and optimisation of medicines, their proficiency and accuracy when calculating dosages of prescribed medicines and their application of the health numeracy assessment, in the relevant clinical setting is complete, enabling student nurses to join the NMC nursing register in their chosen field, with the ability to progress to a prescibing qualification following registration.
    • Leading and Coordinating Learning Disability Nursing Care (60 Credits)
      Module code: NPR3040P

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to provide the essential clinical learning and simulation and practice experiences Learning disability nursing students require to achieve completion of the set of NMC proficiencies enabling registration. Through the electronic portfolio (Pebblepad), signed by their practice supervisor and practice assessor, and moderated by the academic assessor, Learning disability nursing students will demonstrate achievement of the skills and professional behaviours identified by the Nursing and midwifery council. During clinical learning all students will be required to undertake clinical skills via a range of simulation techniques to meet the Achievement of Proficiency in the PAD. These will be signed off by the Module Team/Practice Assessor.
    • Transforming and Innovating Learning Disability Nursing (20 Credits)
      Module code: NPR4007

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to continue the development of Learning Disability students professional development, theoretical evidenced based knowledge and skills to enable them to lead and mange person centred decision making, respectfully influencing positive lifestyle choices to improve health outcomes and exert influence on the appropriateness and quality of care to effect service improvement

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• Entry Requirements

  The following are essential requirements for all pre-registration nursing programmes;

  Applicants must be 18 years old by the 2nd month of commencing pre-registration nursing programmes and all applicants must have 10 years of consecutive education.

  All applicants must have:

  • English Language and Maths GCSE, or the equivalent, at grade C/4 or above. These must be achieved prior to commencement of the course. (Common equivalents are: Functional skills level 2 and 3, Key skills level 2 and 3, Adult Literacy/Numeracy Level 2).
  • Evidence of recent academic study completed within the last five years.
  • If your first language is not English, you will need to provide evidence of an IELTS score of 7.0 before the course commences.

  You also need one of the following qualifications:

  • BCC at A level
  • BTEC level 3 Extended Diploma or National Diploma at DMM
  • A kitemarked Access to Higher Education course with 30 credits at Merit or above
  • Successful completion of the first year of a relevant Foundation Degree
  • Health and Social Care Diploma at Level 3 (advanced level)
  • CACHE Diploma achieved at grade B or above.

  Please note that we may consider other qualifications not listed above on an individual basis, please contact our Admissions team to discuss these in further detail.

  All offers of a place on the programme are subject to:

  • successful Occupational Health Screening,
  • satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) report, and
  • successful interview by the University.

  English Language Requirements

  All International and EU students applying for a course with us must meet the following minimum English language requirements:

  • IELTS 7.0 (or equivalent) with a minimum of 7.0 in all bands
    for study at undergraduate level.

  For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.

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• Fees and Funding

  2022/23 Tuition Fees

  Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 22/23 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.

  • UK – Full Time: £9,250
  • International – Full Time: £16,900

  2021/22 Tuition Fees

  Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 21/22 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.

  • UK – Full Time: £9,250
  • International – Full Time: £15,900

  Additional Costs

  • optional membership of Union
  • optional two week European placement (flights, accommodation, living expenses)
    trip to London in Year One (travel and entrance fee to Florence Nightingale Museum)
  • first set of clinical uniform is free but additional uniforms have to be purchased by the student
  • black leather shoes, black socks.

  Financial contribution towards your travel and expenses, in relation to your practice learning opportunities, may be available for you from the NHS Learning Support Fund. Details, including eligibility criteria, can be found on the NHS website.

  Scholarships and Bursaries

  For information on the scholarships available to you, please see our scholarships page.

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• Professional Body

  Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

  BSc Learning Disability Nursing has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). This means you can be confident that this programme meets the standards of education, training, conduct and performance required for nurses in the UK.

  After successful completion of this programme, you’ll be awarded an Honours degree and can register as a Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). This will allow you to practice in accordance with the NHS Constitution which is underpinned by the core NHS values.

  

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• Student Perks

  At the University of Northampton, everything we do, from funded trips to paid internships, is to give you everything you need to make a difference when you leave.

  If you join this full time degree at Northampton you will receive a laptop when your course begins. The laptops are built to a bespoke custom specification ideal for use in the seminar room, collaborative group work or studying at home.

  Whatever your ambitions, we’re here to help you to achieve them. We’ll support you to identify the skills you’re learning during your course, find your strengths and secure practical experience so that when it comes to applying for jobs or further study you’ll feel confident in standing out from the crowd.

  We’ve created the Northampton Employment Promise  because we are so confident that if you focus on your studies and complete one of our awards you’ll be highly employable by the time you graduate. Putting you in a great position to secure employment or continue your studies.

  To check out the full list of perks visit our Student Perks page.

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• Placements

  This course is compliant with Nursing and Midwifery Council requirements. You will be expected to study a minimum of 2,300 hours theory and 2,300 hours practice across the 3 years.

  The practical placements that you will take throughout this course will be in a variety of health, education, social care, community, the voluntary sector and other health and social care organisations with people of all ages that have a range of learning disabilities. The placement learning opportunities are throughout Northamptonshire and beyond.

  This course is compliant with Nursing and Midwifery Council requirements. For more information on educational standards required for nursing please visit the Nursing and Midwifery Council web pages.

  Opportunities Abroad*

  The University of Northampton is one of only four universities in the country to belong to the European Nursing Module. This offers the possibility of a two week placement in one of around 24 different European countries.

  You can experience a different health system, culture and life experience and gain an insight into the issues that are faced in an overseas nursing environment. This opportunity is available at a specifically negotiated time during your course, usually within the second or third stage of study.

  Please note that you will have to meet the entire costs of this module yourself including flights, accommodation, food and travel within these countries where possible costs are kept to a minimum and financial help is available. The cost of the placement is dependent on the country you choose, it can range from approximately £500-800.

  The two weeks spent overseas for this module count as placement hours as agreed with the NMC.

  The University of Northampton is one of only three universities that offer this module as well as the 11 week Erasmus placement.

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• Interview Information

  After applying via UCAS and meeting the entry requirements, you will be invited to an interview in person at our Waterside campus. You will be interviewed by our Learning Disability Nursing academic staff and faculty members which may sometimes include current students and service users.

  You will receive further information and the interview preparation instructions from us by email before your interview. If you have any questions, please email us at: interviews@northampton.ac.uk

  As part of your interview preparation, look out for health features in national newspapers. We also recommend you keep up to date with current health care and nursing issues by visiting the following sites:

  • NHS Constitution
  • BBC Health
  • NHS England
  • Department of Health
  • Nursing Standard
  • Nursing Times

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• FAQs

  How will I develop my skills in nursing labs?

  The nursing skills labs, based at our Waterside campus, are used throughout the studies to enhance learning in the clinical settings. The Nursing labs have a purpose-built clinical ward where students can learn and develop their clinical skills through practice-based, hands-on education. You will practise scenarios from a real-life hospital ward in a realistic, yet safe clinical environment.

  The fully interactive VR (Virtual Reality) system and mannequins allow students to ‘treat’ people in a variety of nursing settings, giving them ‘as close to real-life as possible’ training. This includes actual conversations with the characters in the scenario and gives clinical feedback that is matched to the student’s learning objectives.

  How will I be assessed?

  We use a variety of methods of assessment on our Learning Disability Nursing course, including:

  • an electronic nursing practice portfolio for each year
  • online examination for numeracy in years one and three (to comply with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requirements)
  • anatomy and physiology examination
  • nursing care plan
  • essays
  • presentation,
  • viva voce exam
  • reflective essay.

  All assessments are marked in accordance with University regulations. All external examiners are registered nurses who also hold teaching qualifications approved by the NMC.

  What other opportunities are there?

  Our University is now a part of a well-established, professional European network for Nursing and Midwifery. The Florence Network offers opportunities for future health careers and development to staff, academics and students. For more information visit the Florence Network.

  What is the new curriculum?

  From September 2019 we are offering an exciting new curriculum based on The Nursing and Midwifery standards for education 2018. The curriculum is innovative utilising an active blend learning approach and an extensive range of support is always available. The curriculum also offers placement learning opportunities throughout Northamptonshire and beyond.

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Careers and Employability

On completion of this course you could pursue a wide range of professional careers in health and social care and research.

• Healthcare – NHS or independent sector
• Social Care – NHS, private care or educational sector.

Professional roles that you could progress to include Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Community Nurse, Strategic Healthcare Facilitator, School Nurse, Prison Nurse, Nurse Consultant, Nurse Educator, Nurse Researcher
Manager.

For further information visit the NHS careers webpage.