MSc Nursing Science Registered Nurse (Learning Disability)

Course Overview

This two-year Masters will allow graduates from any undergraduate subject to build on their experience in a caring role, and graduate with NMC Registration. Studying within the requirements of the new NMC standards means that you will be prepared for rapid career progression within learning disability nursing, especially when combined with the high-level attributes that you will acquire as a Northumbria postgraduate.

You will study partially at our Coach Lane Campus, and partially on placement, with both strands running alongside each other to give you an integrated approach to theory and practice. You will study within the standard university semester system, allowing time during the Easter and summer breaks for additional projects and internships – or simply a well-earned rest.

This programme will equip you to be curious, creative and collaborative in your care. It will allow your compassion to thrive within an evidence-based approach. And it will enable you to make a genuine impact on the health and wellbeing of your clients and patients with learning disabilities.

Your Career

This course will lead directly to Registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), under the new Standards, which will allow you to start and quickly progress in your nursing career.

The NMC’s ‘Future Nurse’ change programme seeks to drive forward changes in the profession, and we have embedded research, leadership and advanced practice strands throughout the course to equip you to play a key role in those future developments.

You will graduate as an accountable professional who has the knowledge and skills to promote health and prevent ill health; assess, plan, provide, co-ordinate and evaluate care; lead and manage nursing care and work in teams; and improve safety and quality of care.

At Northumbria we have long-standing strong relationships with our partnership Trusts, and we have developed this new course in close collaboration with them as well as with a wide range of experts by experience. This will ensure that the course prepares you for practice in exactly the way employers are seeking, so that you benefit from our consistently high employment rates.

The course will also provide ideal preparation for further study at doctoral level.

Applicants should normally have: A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree or equivalent in any subject, and GCSEs at Grade 4 (Grade C) or above in English Language and Mathematics. Other subject qualifications, equivalent professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be considered on an individual basis. Applicants will be required to attend an interview. Following interview, applicants will be asked to complete an RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) document to provide evidence of undertaking a minimum of 500 hours of occupational or voluntary work, and a minimum of 700 hours of appropriate theoretical learning and understanding, which can be evidenced from a previous degree and practice. Admission is subject to a suitable DBS Enhanced Certificate and a satisfactory health check. Applicants must meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council's suitability for registration requirements.