Postgraduate Certificate Acute and Critical Care

The Postgraduate Certificate in Acute and Critical Care addresses the complex care required by critically ill patients. Patients can become acutely or critically ill at any time and the more ill the patient becomes, the more likely they are to be vulnerable, physiologically unstable and require complex care.

Acutely or critically ill patients exist throughout many settings in hospitals and beyond and there is a need to ensure the quality of care is delivered by knowledgeable health care practitioners.

This one-year critical care course is suitable if you work in ICU, CCU, HDU, A&E, theatres, medical/surgical assessment units (MAU/SAU), pre-hospital care and general acute wards.

Assessment

Modules are assessed through multiple-choice questions, viva voce (oral examination), assignments, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) and written evidence of personal and professional development.

The OSCEs will take place in May each year and be completed as part of the Care and Management of the Acute and Critically Ill module and involve undertaking a comprehensive patient history, examining a particular bodily system, and identifying a management and treatment plan for the individual. And involve undertaking a comprehensive patient history, examining a particular bodily system, and identifying a management and treatment plan for the individual.

Careers

You will develop personally and professionally within your specialist clinical area. The Postgraduate Certificate Acute and Critical Care course will also enable you to develop a high level of skill in transferring complex theoretical knowledge into comprehensive, patient-centred and focused clinical practice.

Applicants need to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), or the HCPC (Health Care Professions Council) and have a relevant Honours degree.