Managing Minor Illness

About the course

This course is designed to help experienced nurses and allied healthcare professionals take on the role of assessment and management of minor illness within their own clinical setting. It provides you with the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in relation to clinical consultations, history taking, physical examination and clinical decision making/diagnosis for patients presenting with undifferentiated/undiagnosed minor illness problems.

Real case studies will be used in order to enhance your learning.
You will be taught by Advanced Clinical Practitioners who are experts in this area of practice.
You will have an opportunity to practice physical examinations and history taking in a skills lab and will be supported to demonstrate competency in applying these skills to your clinical practice.
Taught lectures will focus on the evidence-base behind minor illness assessment and management.

Minor illness assessment and management skills are needed more and more by nurses and allied health professionals in a variety of areas including general practice, urgent care, emergency departments and pre-hospital care. The course aims to provide additional theoretical, clinically focused education around minor illness.

Teaching and assessment:

Learning and teaching is delivered through lectures, group work, practical experience lectures, and completion of an e-portfolio. Student-centred learning is used where appropriate and peer review and support is an integral part of the learning process.

All modules are supported by the University’s virtual learning environment, Brightspace. The development of on-line delivery and material, is a key component of the teaching and learning strategy in this course. Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.

Placements

In order to support the application of theory into practice you are required to undertake three weeks of practice based learning supported by a clinical educator to guide your development and assess your competence in practice. You must secure a placement prior to your commencement.

Career support

The course offers you the opportunity to enhance your current knowledge and practice in relation to minor illness, which may lead to career progression into more advanced roles as an autonomous practitioner.

Entry requirements for this course are normally: You must be a registered Health Care Practitioner, working in a Health and Social Care setting where patients with minor illness are present. You must be registered with a relevant statutory body such as the NMC or HCPC if you would like to undertake modules linked to UK professional body recognition. International students must be registered with a relevant professional body in their country of origin and will not be eligible for any NMC or HCPC recognition whilst undertaking this course or on its completion. An Honours degree or equivalent professional qualification appropriate to that of the proposed programme to be followed. Have access to a clinical educator and be able to negotiate access to a 3 week clinical placement to support application of theory to practice and assess competence.