Mental Health Nursing Advanced Diploma

Course overview

You can still apply to BU (including through UCAS Extra). Please apply through UCAS as soon as possible; your application can only be assessed once we have received it from UCAS.

The last intake for this course will be September 2012.

The course is designed to prepare mental health nursing students to meet the needs of the patient/client and their family and to view the person as a unique individual who has the right to receive health and nursing care of the highest quality based on best evidence and delivered in a safe and appropriate environment.

Everyone at times feels low, lost, lonely, fearful or angry but sometimes these feelings affect our thoughts and behaviour to the extent that we need help from others. At any one time one in six people will need help for these problems from a professional. At this time their problems are called mental illness and they may be helped by a mental health nurse.

A primary role of the mental health nurse is to enable and educate, encouraging individuals experiencing mental illness to progress towards recovery. At times therapeutic interventions may not be welcome and it is therefore important for the mental health nurse to understand and appreciate what is happening for an individual to find suitable ways of assisting them. This requires a range of skills derived from theoretical perspectives such as psychology, sociology, psychiatry and psychotherapy.

On successful completion of the course you will also achieve professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC).

Which academic level is right for me? The BSc (Hons) and the Advanced Diploma courses follow the same structure for the first two years. The key difference is that in the final year of the Advanced Diploma you will undertake less intensive academic assessment. Theory and practice are integrated at a ratio of 50-50. For more information on the BSc (Hons) please click here.

See our Graduate Employment section for news of our latest graduates' job titles and employers.