2025/26 entry Applications also open for 2024/25
MSc Mental Health Nursing with Registered Nurse Status
About this course
Join our accelerated two-year degree to qualify as a Registered Mental Health Nurse. You must hold an undergraduate degree (Level 6) in any field and health and/or social care experience to apply.
- Multi-award winning School: Nurse Education Provider of the Year (pre-registration)' 2021 and 'Best Student Experience' 2020, Student Nursing Times Awards
- Clinical work experience with four placements guaranteed per year in a wide variety of healthcare settings
- 4m invested in the Faculty's teaching and learning environment, including 1.6m developing professional-standard clinical practice suites
- While on placement, you will have a dedicated study day each week, giving you the opportunity for contact and support at all times.
- £6,000 per year grant as standard for Mental Health Nursing students living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland plus another £2,000 for students with dependent children (eligibility criteria apply.
This course is also available as a degree apprenticeship with selected partners, open to their current employees only. If you work for an NHS Trust or organisation and would like to learn more about our nursing degree apprenticeships, please contact our Admissions Team: health@ljmu.ac.uk
You may also be interested in MSc Adult Nursing or MSc Child Nursing. If you don't hold an undergraduate degree, please visit our BSc (Hons) Nursing pages: Adult, Child, Mental Health.
As soon as you enrol at LJMU, you will be assigned your own personal tutor, and will meet with them regularly throughout each year. Your personal tutor will give you feedback on how well you are progressing with your studies and encourage you to plan for your educational and career development.
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Hear from our students
Professional body recognition
All of LJMU's Nursing programmes are accredited by the professional body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Fees and funding
There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students
Fees
The fees quoted at the top of this page cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- Library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- Access to programme-appropriate software
- Library and student IT support
- Free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Additional costs
Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:
- accommodation and living expenditure
- books (should you wish to have your own copies)
- printing, photocopying and stationery
- PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
- mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
- field trips (travel and activity costs)
- placements (travel expenses and living costs)
- student visas (international students only)
- study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
- academic conferences (travel costs)
- professional-body membership
- graduation (gown hire etc)
Funding
There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you’ll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages.
Please be aware that the UK’s departure from the EU may affect your tuition fees. Learn more about your fee status and which tuition fees are relevant to you.
The funding you can apply for if you decide to study on an MSc Nursing programme at LJMU depends on where in the UK you normally live and your fee status.
If you normally live in England, you can apply for undergraduate funding for the MSc Nursing course. This means you will receive a tuition fee loan to cover your fees in full and also a loan for your living costs. See our undergraduate funding web pages for more information. Be sure to apply for undergraduate funding when you apply.
If your permanent home is in Wales, Northern Ireland, or Scotland then you will need to apply for postgraduate funding for this course. See our postgraduate funding web pages for more information.
If you need help with your fees or funding then please get in touch with one of our Money Advisers Moneyadvice@ljmu.ac.uk
NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF)
The NHS LSF offers:
- a Training Grant for all eligible Mental Health Nursing students of 6,000 per academic year (5,000 standard training grant, plus an extra 1,000 Specialist Subject Payment (SSP).)
- Parental Support of 2,000 for students with at least one dependent child under 15 years, or under 17 years if registered with special educational needs (this used to be called Child Dependants Allowance)
- reimbursement of excess costs incurred on practice placement for travel and temporary accommodation costs (Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses)
- students experiencing financial hardship (Exceptional Support Fund)
You can find a guide to the grants on the LSF website, along with information about eligibility criteria.
Other costs
Travel costs to placements and parking if using a car whilst on placement. However, you may be able to claim reimbursement of travel costs through the Learner Support Fund provided by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
Students who would like to buy extra uniform items, further to their standard uniform, which is included in the course fees, have the option to do so. International experiences may incur costs.
Employability
Further your career prospects
LJMU has an excellent employability record with 96% (HESA 2018) of our postgraduates in work or further study six months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.
100% of our Mental Health Nursing graduates go on to find employment or further study within 15 months of graduating (discoveruni.gov.uk - figures for BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing).
After successfully graduating from this accelerated two year MSc Mental Health Registered Nurse programme, you will enjoy exciting career opportunities and professional development pathways.
There are a growing number of nurse specialist posts in some clinical areas too. Some graduates prefer to pursue careers in teaching, research or management, or continue their studies with a postgraduate research programme, such as a PhD.
Successful completion of the degree allows you to apply for registration on the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register. This can lead to careers in the health sector at home or abroad and in the private and voluntary sectors.
The student experience
Discover life as a postgraduate student at LJMU.
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Course modules
Discover the building blocks of your programme
This course is currently undergoing its scheduled programme review, which may impact the advertised modules. Programme review is a standard part of the University’s approach to quality assurance and enhancement, enabling us to ensure that our courses remain up to date and maintain their high standard and relevancy.
Once the review is completed, this course website page will be updated to reflect any approved changes to the advertised course. These approved changes will also be communicated to those who apply for the course to ensure they wish to proceed with their application.
Your programme is made up of a number of core modules which are part of the course framework. Some programmes also have optional modules that can be selected to enhance your learning in certain areas and many feature a dissertation, extended report or research project to demonstrate your advanced learning.
In order to meet the NMC requirements, all of your modules on MSc Nursing are Core. This means all students on the course study them.
Reflective Practice
Reflecting on your own and and fellow student nurses' simulated clinical practice is a great way to help you develop skills, build confidence and prepare for real-world placements. To do this in the best way possible, we have invested in state-of-the-art recording equipment in each of our clinical practice suites and other teaching spaces. During specific modules, you will be asked to take part in the filming of both yourself and other students. The footage recorded is strictly confidential and must not be shared inappropriately or released into the public domain. Being professional and having respect for others must always be maintained. This strict confidentiality ensures you can be at ease and fully engage with your teaching and learning experiences. Each patient bay is equipped with two cameras and a microphone so you can record yourself completing a procedure - say practicing cannulation skills or wound dressing - and then watch it back to see how you did, spotting good practice or any areas for improvement. It's truly a transformative way to learn and hone your skills!
Core modules
Introduction to Practice 1
20 credits
In this module, we will introduce you to a range of values, attitudes and skills that underpin safe and effective clinical practice. You will also explore an overview of the human body systems that inform skills for nursing practice and develop an overview of psychosocial concepts in relation to well-being, disease and illness.
Once you have completed the module, you will be able to participate in guided care to achieve the proficiencies with associated NMC Professional Values (progression point 1) and demonstrate knowledge and skills relevant to medicines management.
Promoting heath and preventing Ill health through evidence based practice
20 credits
This module introduces you to the concept of nursing as an evidence based profession through the lens of public health.
After completing the module you will be able to:
- Analyse the characteristics of effective evidence associated with core concepts and practices in nursing
- Critique the role of evidence in shaping the development of nursing skills in public health
- Critique the different social determinants of health and how they impact population health
- Demonstrate an understanding of public health on a local, national and global perspective
Developing Practice for Mental Health Nursing 1
20 credits
Building on your earlier learning, this module will support you to confidently engage with a range of values, attitudes and skills that underpin safe and effective clinical practice. After completing the module, you will be able to actively participate in care with minimal guidance to achieve proficiencies with associated NMC Professional Values, and conduct nursing care to the required NMC standards for progression point 2.
Evidence and Evaluation in the Development of Nursing Practice
20 credits
During this module you will establish your evidence-based thinking in the context of decision making for effective nursing. It will help you to build a critical knowledge base of the philosophical foundations of health and social research and gain a sound foundation in research design and methodology.
It will prepare you to conduct empirical and literature based research, so you can carry out audit or service evaluation.
After completing the module, you will be able to:
- Apply methods of inquiry to nursing related issues
- Review processes for the safe and ethical construction and use of evidence in nursing
- Critically analyse how evidenced based practice is informed by the research process within your own specialist field
- Critically analyse the appropriateness of research methods relevant to own professional area
- Critically analyse purpose and context of research and the basis for selecting appropriate research methodology and designs
- Critically analyse the philosophical location of research approaches
Dissertation
30 credits
You will undertake either an empirical research study or desk-based systematic review (6,000 words).
You will negotiate and agree the topic with your supervisor. 15 hours tutorial support will be delivered via both group and one to one supervision.
Co-ordinating Safe, Quality Mental Health Care
10 credits
This module will prepare you to:
- critically review quality assurance processes for well-coordinated care
- critically appraise advanced medication management in adult nursing
- competently undertake a health numeracy assessment
Leadership, Management and Supervision
20 credits
This module will help to prepare you for the management of the care of adult patients with complex needs. It is assessed by a presentation and a reflection piece (2,000 words).
Emerging practice in Mental Health Nursing
40 credits
The aim of this module is to build on the earlier module 'Developing Practice in Mental Health Nursing' and consolidate your engagement engagement with knowledge, attitudes, values and skills associated with safe and effective care to support your development as an independent practitioner.
By the end of the module, you will be able to practice independently with minimal supervision to achieve the proficiencies associated with NMC Professional Values (progression point 3).
Teaching
An insight into teaching on your course
Study hours
As a nursing student, you are required to complete 4,600 hours to meet the NMC requirements; 50% of this is theory and 50% is clinical practice. Your Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) accounts for 770 hours of theory and 770 practice hours. This represents a third of the required hours. You will complete the remaining hours during the two years of your MSc Nursing programme.
You will have seven weeks holiday a year, and may have to attend sessions outside the normal university hours of 9am to 5pm.
Teaching methods
You will be taught by clinically credible staff and those who are research active, along with experienced nurses and health care professionals, who will help you to develop both clinically and intellectually during the programme.
You will complete a lot of your learning in our newly refurbished and extended Faculty of Health flagship building, Tithebarn Building. Tithebarn is home to our hospital-standard clinical practice suites, modern seminar rooms, lecture theatres and skills labs.
The Faculty has a therapeutic suite where you will perform, observe, record and play back a variety of interactive simulations based on a range of teaching methods.
Your clinical and theoretical experiences will assist you in the development of a range of skills such as communication, decision-making, critical thinking, leadership, case management and team working, all of which are underpinned by the professional values of mental health nursing.
LJMU’s £1.6 m clinical practice suites enable you to train on-campus using hospital-standard facilities, including virtual patients. The suites show a patient’s journey from a home environment through to rehabilitation. They cover a range of areas with the latest clinical equipment for simulations and clinical skills development in mental health nursing, adult and child nursing, paramedic practice, social work and midwifery. This environment will help prepare you for the rigours and realism of actual practice, giving you the confidence to deal with real service users in the NHS, private and voluntary settings.
You may also have lectures in Marybone, which is just across the street from Tithebarn.
Blocks of academic study can be up to six weeks depending on what point in the programme you are at.
You'll participate in seminars, tutorials and lectures, undertaking both group work and individual assignments.
Applied learning
Work-based learning and clinical practice is a vital element of this degree and accounts for half of your study time at LJMU. You will undertake supervised and supported clinical practice and experience the full 24-hour shift working pattern.
During your clinical practice placements, you will work 30 hours a week and will have a weekly study day of 7.5 hours.
Whilst on placement, you will work alongside experienced nurses and registered healthcare professionals and be supervised by practice assessors and supervisors, as well as having the support of academic link lecturers.
Additional support is always available within the Faculty or from student support workers if you need it. All new students coming in to the faculty will have a student mentor allocated to them. Student Mentors are second and third year students who have been selected and trained to mentor new students in all aspects of university life. The student mentor service offers an exciting opportunity for personal and professional development.
As soon as you enrol at LJMU, you will be assigned your own personal tutor, and will meet with them regularly throughout each year. Your personal tutor will give you feedback on how well you are progressing with your studies and encourage you to plan for your educational and career development.
lecturing staff at Liverpool John Moores University are highly regarded. Students will be taught by clinically credible staff and those who are research active. You will be taught by experienced nurses and health care professionals, who will help you do develop both clinically and intellectually during the programme.
Mental health nurses deal with a range of mental health problems. They work in a variety of settings ranging from hospitals and high security services to drug and alcohol services and community mental health services for people of all ages.
Your key role and challenge as a mental health nurse will be to engage in, develop and disengage from therapeutic relationships with service users and their families through the use of effective communication and interpersonal skills. Your aim will be to promote health and wellbeing for individuals, along with assisting them to achieve their full potential in recovery.
Underpinning all aspects of the training offered is a commitment to ethical and anti-oppressive values, values and principles of the NHS Constitution and Professional Body requirements.
Assessment
How learning is monitored on your programme
To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.
Assessment is through a combination of practice placements, exams, essays and assignments and presentations.
There will also be clinical assessment, which will be undertaken whilst in clinical practice where you will be assessed by practice supervisors and assessors.
You will be offered feedback at various points during the course and support will always be readily available from your individual module tutors should you need advice or guidance at any time. We believe that constructive feedback is vital in helping you identify your strengths as well as the areas where you may need to put in more work.
Course tutors
Our staff are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning
Dr Amanda Garrow
Programme Leader
Amanda joined LJMU in 2020 as a Senior Lecturer in Nursing. She is an experienced nurse and academic who has worked in a variety of roles and organisations. Her clinical background is mainly in Paediatric Accident & Emergency. Amanda's doctoral study explored the use of simulation in pre-registration nurse education and her previous role was at Children's National Hospital in Washington DC where she worked as a Simulation Education Specialist. Amanda is a member of the International Family Nursing Association, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare. Amanda is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
This is a fantastic programme to enable graduates to adapt their existing skill set and experience to realise their ambition to become Registered Nurses.
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Lecturer/ Senior Lecturer -
Senior Lecturer in Advanced Practice -
Senior Lecturer -
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
Entry requirements
You will need:
Qualification requirements
Undergraduate degree
- A first honours degree (normally 2:2 or above) in any subject - it does not need to be related to allied health
- Any overseas qualifications should be equivalent to UK qualifications which meet our entry requirements. If you have completed your degree outside the UK, we will require a clear copy of your degree documentation to ensure UK ENIC comparability. Please note that all applicants who are invited to interview will be required to present their original degree documentation
GCSEs and equivalents
- English and Maths GCSE at grade A* - C / 4-9 (please contact our Admissions team if you have equivalent qualifications)
- Any overseas qualifications should be equivalent to UK qualifications which meet our entry requirements. If you have completed your degree outside the UK, we will require a clear copy of your degree documentation to ensure UK ENIC comparability. Please note that all applicants who are invited to interview will be required to present their original degree documentation
Additional requirements
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Relevant work experience
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate a minimum of 700 hours healthcare experience (approximately six months full-time work) in their chosen field within the past 5 years. This can be through either paid or voluntary work, but must be verifiable by a supervisor or line manager.
International requirements
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IELTS
- If English is not your first language, IELTS (Academic) with an overall score of 7.0, including at least 6.5 in the writing section and at least 7.0 in the reading, listening and speaking sections. The university may be able to accept alternative English Language qualifications from applicants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) on a case by case basis in line with the appropriate Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) guidelines.
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Other international requirements
Occupational English Test (OET)
We’ll accept an OET examination certificate that confirms you achieved:
- at least a grade C+ in the writing section
- at least a grade B in the reading, listening and speaking sections
International applicants who require a Student Visa are not eligible to apply for the course
Further information
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Extra Requirements
Please be advised that Maths, English (including IELTS if required) and 700 hours of experience is required at the point of application. We also require an employer reference to verify proof of these hours at the point of application.
Application and selection
Securing your place at LJMU
UCAS is the application route for this full-time programme. Further information on the UCAS application process can be found here https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-students/how-to-apply.
Applications are made via UCAS.com - visit the MSc Mental Health Nursing UCAS course page and click the Apply button.
The UCAS course code is PMN1 and the LJMU institution code is L51.
You will need to register for a UCAS account and pay the applicable UCAS application fee.
You must meet the NMC's 'health and character' requirements.
Satisfactory Medical Clearance/Examination: We will contact you directly to undertake this. Satisfactory Enhanced DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service - formerly CRB): We will contact you directly to undertake this and further information can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check
In addition, applicants will have to follow Faculty procedures for declaring any convictions after interview."
"All applicants are required to make a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) claim to demonstrate how their previous care experience and graduate studies have equipped them to undertake an accelerated nursing programme.
RPL to the MSc Nursing programme will be 770 hours practice and 770 hours theory, equalling 1,540 hours in total.
LJMU is required to transfer data to third party professional organisations as required to complete a professional award.
The University reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the University. Where this does happen, the University operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.