MSc Adult Nursing - Preregistration (February Start)
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Science
- Course Length
- 2 years
- Course Start Date
- February 2024
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Course Overview
A career in nursing can be as varied or specialist as you choose. Working with people of every age, from childhood to older age, it could see you caring for people recovering from acute illness or living with a disability, as well as working alongside and supporting people to stay mentally and physically well.
Our innovative, accelerated course is ideal if you already have a degree and are looking for a fast-track into the nursing profession. Exposing you to theory and practice, our Master’s programme will build on your prior life experience and graduate attributes, and enable you to qualify as an Adult nurse in just two years.
You will explore all aspects of nursing, and gain experience working with people receiving nursing care in a variety of settings, working with a range of health and social care professionals.
With the NHS Constitution at its core, our MSc Nursing programme will offer you the excitement and challenge of achieving your very best and will provide you with the rigorous training you need to become a dynamic nurse.
Our Master’s course has been designed for students who already have an undergraduate degree and who demonstrate the personal attributes and commitment needed to pursue a career caring for others. Your time with us will help you develop into a nurse who’s not only committed, but who is also able to deliver the highest quality of person-centred care.
Informed by the four pillars of Advanced Practice, you will be exposed to theoretical and practice-based learning addressing themes of Clinical Practice, Research, Education and Leadership, ensuring you are equipped to pursue a variety of exciting career opportunities at the point of qualification.
The course entails learning in a university setting, independent online learning, self-directed study, simulated practice and placements in a variety of health and social care settings. It will develop your high standards of care and clinical nursing skills, as well as your education, leadership and research skills, enabling you to excel in the way you work with service users, their families and their carers – and maximising your contribution to the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
Throughout the course, you’ll undertake professionally supervised placements in a wide variety of care settings. Working closely with service users, placements provide a fantastic opportunity to apply and develop your knowledge and skills in a clinical environment. Placements will also enable you to appreciate the importance of research, education and leadership in providing quality care.
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Study and Modules
Structure
Our course structure will enable you to study a range of concepts and undertake practice experiences, all highly relevant to adult nursing. Across the two years, you will also study six core modules and be exposed to placements reflective of the patient journey across a range of healthcare settings. This means you’ll spend time getting to grips with the theory and then applying it in practice.
In your first year, you will focus on learning the foundations of nursing, with an emphasis on developing your knowledge and understanding of fundamental nursing theory and concepts. You’ll investigate a range of topics including person-centred care, empowerment, public health and health promotion among others. Essential nursing skills will be taught through simulation in the university’s skills labs, through online learning and during practice placements where the emphasis will be on you developing core practice skills, whilst giving you the opportunity to explore the nurses’ role within a multiprofessional team.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
We take a ‘blended’ approach to teaching and learning, which includes online learning as well as classroom-based activities in order to promote engagement and develop your critical thinking.
Classroom teaching includes lectures, seminars as well as peer learning opportunities, where we encourage you to actively participate with the guidance and facilitation of a lecturer.
In Year 1, teaching centres on learning the fundamentals of nursing theory and practice and how you deliver safe care to people. We emphasise the need to develop research skills throughout the course, and in the first year you will learn to appreciate various research approaches and how they support and guide nursing practice.
You will have two 10-week practice placements in Year 1. Each placement block starts with a week of simulated learning in the UEA skills and simulation centre, where you will be introduced to a wide range of nursing skills. During each practice placement, you will be learning with the support of registered nurses, members of the healthcare team and those using healthcare services. Your practice placements are designed to reflect the typical working patterns of a qualified nurse. You’ll have access to placements in a wide variety of settings located with healthcare provides who work in partnership with UEA, across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Assessment
You will be assessed using a range of methods, carefully chosen to enable you to demonstrate your ability to apply theory to practice.
Year 1 assessments include written assignments, reports and exams. You will also be assessed in practice against the NMC proficiencies set out in the PART 1: MYEPAD (Midlands, Yorkshire and East Practice Assessment Document)
Structure
The second year focuses on enhancing your practical knowledge and the conceptualisation of theory into practice. You will be able to spend more time in practice and specialise during placements by spending time with other members of the multidisciplinary healthcare team.
You’ll build on your knowledge and skills, demonstrating your ability to effectively deliver nursing care and communicate with people with complex needs. Using a range of educational and leadership skills you will assess the needs of people while protecting their rights to privacy, dignity, respect and autonomy.
In this year, you will complete a project that draws together the four pillars of advanced practice. This will enable you to develop a high level of critical thinking and reasoning skills, so that you are increasingly able to support people with complex needs.
As you move through the programme towards professional registration, you’ll explore what your role means in relation to enhancing the quality of care, nursing practice and service delivery. As a future leader in practice, you’ll also focus on how to apply research, education and leadership theory to lead, develop and improve services and care provision.
Compulsory Modules
Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
In Year 2, teaching centres on embedding theory and research into your practice to enable you to deliver high quality care to people and support their families and carers. The emphasis is on managing and leading care and improving the quality of care and healthcare services in partnership with others.
You will have three practice placements in Year 2. The first two placements will be 10 weeks and the final placement is 12 weeks. Like Year 1, the first week of each placement will be a simulated practice week.
By the end of your studies, you will have developed your knowledge, skills and professional values in order to demonstrate completion of the NMC proficiencies and requirements for professional registration.
Independent Study
Throughout your two years, we encourage you to think critically about your practice, so that you become a confident, reflexive independent learner. Within directed study time, you will be expected to fully engage with our Virtual Learning Environment and use this time to develop your skills of critical enquiry.
Assessment
You will complete a dissertation that encompasses the learning outcomes for all Year 2 modules. In practice, you will be assessed against the NMC proficiencies set out in the PART 2: MYEPAD and PART 3: MYEPAD.
Entry Requirements
- Degree Classification
- Minimum 2:1 or equivalent; this programme is also applicable if you are a registered Mental Health, Learning Disabilities or Children's Nurse who wishes to become a NMC registered Adult Nurse. If you are a registered nurse looking for post-registration study opportunities within your own field of practice then this course is not suitable and you may wish to consider our other post-registration, professional nursing courses delivered at Degree and Master's level.
- Degree Subject
- All subject areas considered
- GCSE
Applicants will be required to have a minimum of GCSE Maths and English at Grade 4 / C or equivalent.
- English Foreign Language
We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:
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IELTS: 7.0 (minimum 7.0 in all components)
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PTE (Pearson): 76 (minimum 76 in all components)
Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.
Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests
INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk
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- Interviews
The strongest applicants will be invited to interview. Please note that meeting the minimum academic entry requirements will not guarantee that you will be selected for interview. Interview invitations will be sent by email. Please keep a close eye on all emails from UEA after you submit your application.
Note that we will not disclose interview questions in advance of the interviews, but in general terms the interviews will explore a range of issues, including your suitability for the profession and the NHS values (as reflected in the NHS constitution). We’ll look to consider your motivation to study this course, as well as whether you have an interest in people and a clear understanding of the profession (ideally with relevant voluntary or paid work in healthcare).
Applicants will be offered an online interview.
Experience of Healthcare
We are aware that it is a difficult time to try to gain relevant experience in healthcare. We will take this into account and will adapt our expectations.
Keep in mind that clinical work experience is not generally a requirement for applying to train in healthcare, but it is important to show that you are able to work with people and appreciate the health and social care setting. It is important to remember why we look for work experience in an application; this in turn can help you think of the numerous ways that you might be able to demonstrate how you have acquired relevant experience.
We will want to see that you understand what a career in Health involves. Work experience, and other related experiences, are only as valuable as the way you talk about them and what understanding you take from them. While we will expect you to show some understanding of what it is like to be the professional of your choice, part of this involves demonstrating that you know what it is like to work in a responsible role, particularly with the public.
Any activity or life experience that helps you to prepare for training to be a healthcare professional will help. This means any activity that allows you to demonstrate that you have:
- Had people-focused experience of providing a service, care, support or help to others, and that you understand the realities of working in a caring profession.
- Developed some of the values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a Nurse, Midwife or Allied Health professional such as conscientiousness, effective communication and the ability to interact with a wide variety of people. The values that we are looking for are set out in the NHS Constitution.
- A realistic understanding of Health and Social Care and in particular the physical, organisational and emotional demands of the career.- Intakes
This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in February each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
The University will also take into account the employment experience of applicants where relevant.
Following interview, successful candidates will be required to complete a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) online portfolio set against defined NMC outcomes (NMC, 2018), which, on confirmation of achievement, candidates will be eligible to commence the MSc accelerated programme in 2 years.
RPL Information
Due to its ‘shortened’ design graduate entrants are required to demonstrate 460 equivalent theoretical learning hours before starting the programme as a condition of the admissions process. This is achieved through the completion of a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Portfolio. In order to start the programme and progress you need to successfully complete the RPL.
As this course includes patient facing placements in health or social care settings, and these are a mandatory component of the course, you will need to comply with the placement vaccination policy. Failure to meet the placement vaccination policy may prevent you from joining the course or may lead to your withdrawal from the course in the future. Future employment may also be subject to this condition.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2023/24 are:
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UK Students: £18,500 (Pre-Registration course full-time on a two-year basis. Course fee charged £9,250 per academic year)
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International Students: £39,600 (Course fee charged as £39,600 over two academic years, £19,800 per academic year. 2022-23 entrants are liable for £18,500 in 2023-24)
We estimate living expenses at £1,023 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
How to Apply
Please note - this course is now closed for applications for the 2023-24 cycle.
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
The closing date for receipt of complete applications is 1 June 2023.
To apply please use our online application form.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
You’ll graduate with an MSc in Nursing and full registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. You will be equipped with the clinical, communication, research, education and leadership skills to enable you to provide high quality, person-centred care.
Nursing is a rewarding, challenging and exciting career, and the qualities and qualifications you’ll possess will open doors to a huge range of settings, in the UK and internationally.
As a UEA graduate, you will continue to enhance your lifelong learning skills to ensure you develop professionally throughout your career.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Examples of careers you could enter include:
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NHS
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Private sector
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Voluntary sector
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Nursing management
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Education
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Research
Discover more on our career pages