Overview
Empathy, compassion, commitment – become a Mental Health Nurse with our BN (Hons) Nursing (Mental Health) degree and make a positive difference to people’s lives every day.
On this course developed and delivered with local NHS partners, you’ll benefit from extensive time spent working with patients in real healthcare settings, building key skills in mental health assessment and care.
Course Highlights
- Explore mental health nursing scenarios and work on communication with simulated patients in our Centre for Simulation in Health and Care, one of the country’s leading teaching healthcare environments
- Observe, assess and engage with patients in professional and local community environments
- Study at the first institution in the country to be accredited by the Association of Simulated Practice in Healthcare, and on a nursing course approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Be eligible to register with the NMC as a mental health nurse on graduation
Work experience and career planning
After you graduate, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability Service as you advance in your career. Other graduates have continued their studies at postgraduate level or set up successful businesses with help and support from the University.
Clinical Placements
You'll spend a large amount of time on this course in clinical practice placements. These placements give you practical experience in caring for people with acute and long-term physical and mental health conditions of all kinds, in many settings. Together with our partner trusts, we'll develop you into a confident, independent, adaptable and professional Mental Health Nurse.
Placement Destinations
Our placement partners include Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Inclusion (Sub-Misuse), and Liaison and Diversion (Custody).
Recent students have completed placements that link theory to practice in the following areas:
- community mental health services
- dementia and older persons services
- urgent treatment/care – such as crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHTT)
- inpatient settings
- acute mental health units
- forensic inpatient units
- children and young people’s mental health services
- early intervention services (EIS)
- perinatal mental health services
So that you're fully prepared for practice in the mental health sector, a key element of your work experience will be working shifts at weekends and at night, as there's demand for mental health care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Attending these work experience opportunities may require a lot of travel.
Careers and opportunities
Mental health nurses provide essential support to people with mental health conditions. They care for and form positive relationships with patients, their families and carers, aiding recovery and enabling patients to live fuller and more independent lives.
The need for mental health services is growing too. The NHS is seeking 27,000 people to join the mental health sector by 2023/24, and the coronavirus pandemic is likely to mean even more people need mental health support moving forward.
On this Mental Health Nursing degree, you'll develop the skills, confidence and understanding to support people in need, learning how to make difficult decisions based on evidence and building the fundamental skills needed for personal nursing care.
You'll be ready to start a challenging yet hugely rewarding career as a mental health nurse, and you can choose to work with people from certain age and vulnerability groups, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), or Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH). With experience, you could work in GP liaison, nurse education, or leadership and management.
NMC registration
When you graduate, you'll be eligible to apply for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which allows you to work as a Registered Nurse in the UK.
Potential salary
As an NHS nurse in 2021, you could expect a starting salary of £25,655 moving up to £31,534 (Band 5).
With more experience as a senior mental health nurse, you could earn from £32,306 to £39,027 (Band 6) and with a role in management or consultancy, you could make up to £90,387 (Band 8d).
What jobs can you do with a Nursing (Mental Health) degree?
Once you graduate, you'll be ready to take on a mental health nurse role within a variety of settings, including:
- Adult Mental Health (AMH)
- Older People's Mental Health (OPMH)
- Community Mental Health
- Crisis Mental Health
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Assessment and Recovery
With more experience, you could then develop further into roles such as:
- Practice educator
- Specialist practitioner
- Advanced clinical practitioner
- Crisis team leader
- Clinical researcher
- Leadership and management
- Nurse education
- Nurse prescriber
- GP liaison
