Nursing

PgCert, PgDip, MSc

2023/24 Part-time Postgraduate course

Award:

Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Master of Science

Faculty:

Faculty of Life and Health Sciences

School:

School of Nursing and Paramedic Science

Campus:

Belfast campus

Start dates:

September 2023

January 2024

This course is now closed for International applications for September 2023

Overview

The MSc Nursing is a course suitable for qualified nurses who wish to develop higher levels of criticality in research, practice and leadership.

Summary

The Master of Science (MSc) in Nursing is a challenging post graduate qualification for nurses, midwives or health visitors from all fields of practice. This course will assist qualified staff to develop personally and professionally in a wide range of topics and issues including communication, health promotion, leadership, person-centred practice and research.

In the full-time mode, the MSc Nursing (general pathway) it is typically completed over one calendar year.

We’d love to hear from you!

We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.

Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:

  • Course specific information
  • Fees and Finance
  • Admissions

For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.

For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.

We look forward to hearing from you.

About this course

About

MSc Nursing (general pathway): This will allow students to build upon their existing knowledge, skills and values. This course will challenge students about their practice and offer different opportunities to enhance their knowledge, understanding and critical thinking through classroom and personal study. Nurses undertaking this option often self fund.

International applications from individuals who are qualified as nurses in their own country are particularly welcome for this course. As this course is for qualified nurses and it does not include registration as a nurse.

All staff contributing to the programme hold or are working towards a teaching qualification.

  • The School has achieved “earned autonomy” from monitoring exercises carried out by Mott MacDonald on behalf of the NMC
  • The School has an active Educational and Professional Issues Research Group which links with the Centre for Higher Education Research and Practice (CHERP)
  • Several members of staff have received funding from CHERP to undertake projects designed to develop and enhance teaching, learning, assessment and feedback strategies within the School and Faculty
  • The School encourages all staff to seek accreditation with the Higher Education Academy either at Fellow or Senior Fellow level
  • In the 2014 Research Exercise Framework (REF2014) submission, the School excelled in all three areas: Output 94.6% internationally excellent or world leading; Impact 100% internationally excellent or world leading; Environment 100% internationally excellent or world leading
  • Many of the teaching staff are full or associate members of the Institute of Nursing and Health Research
  • Teaching is informed by the research activities of staff

Attendance

Attendance will be at the Jordanstown campus (dependent on availability).

MSc Nursing (general pathway): attendance on this part time option is normally one day per week, however this can vary depending on optional modules chosen.

The final component of all MSc Nursing pathways is a research project (dissertation). This module is by supervision and and as such there are no face to face taught classes. Occasionally additional workshops may be offered. Regular supervisory meetings will take place where students will be supported by an experienced member of academic staff. These meetings will be arranged between supervisor and supervisee over the duration of the research project (normally an academic year in part time mode).

Start dates

  • September 2023
  • January 2024

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Teaching, learning and assessment take a variety of forms across the suite of modules in this course. The strategies used are based on principles of adult learning such as self-direction and a capacity to draw upon experience. The course assumes that students have recent experience in practice or are currently working in practice.

Teaching strategies are selected by the nature of the intended learning outcomes. The learning experience is designed to encourage students to become active and motivated learners, who can seek information, question and analyse its validity and draw appropriate and logical conclusions. Students are encouraged to make connections between theoretical content and professional experiences and this facilitates their ability to move from understanding practice and applying skills taught, to questioning and critiquing practice, and ultimately to proposing and carrying out possible research or innovation that would contribute to service/practice developments or enhancements.

Teaching methods on the course include:

  • Lectures that provide students with the necessary knowledge base to develop their insight into practice and thus inform skill development. Lectures also provide an excellent opportunity for experts to be invited in to teach students about current practice and developments in their field
  • Seminars that encourage students to take responsibility for leading discussions on practice based issues and reviewing the current literature in their field
  • Tutorial group work sessions enable students to examine a specific focus. Small group working is encouraged throughout the course to enable students to engage with problem based learning
  • Creativity is encouraged to enable students to develop a flexible approach to learning

Assessment throughout the course has been constructively aligned to the learning outcomes of each of the modules and all contain a combination of formative and summative components. Ongoing formative assessment that has a significant diagnostic function occurs throughout the course and students are encouraged to discuss their progress and actively plan to address identified learning needs. Summative assessment of student performance and progression in modules on the MSc Nursing (general pathway) is carried out through coursework. Assessments include essays, presentations, literature reviews and reflective analyses. These are designed to test knowledge and understanding, to allow students to integrate and apply information, and encourage the development of critical thinking skills.

Academic profile

The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 59% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.

Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (25%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (20%) or Lecturers (55%).

We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic staff (81%) are accredited fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advanced HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.

The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise.  The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff.  This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.

Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.

Figures correct for academic year 2021-2022.

Belfast campus

Accommodation

High quality apartment living in Belfast city centre adjacent to the university campus.

Find out more - information about accommodation  


Student Wellbeing

At Student Wellbeing we provide many services to help students through their time at Ulster University.

Find out more - information about student wellbeing  


Belfast Campus Location

The Belfast campus is situated in the artistic and cultural centre of the city, the Cathedral Quarter.

Find out more about our Belfast Campus.

Campus Address

Ulster University,
2-24 York Street,
Belfast
BT15 1AP

T: 02870 123 456

Standard entry conditions

We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.

Entry Requirements

Applicants for the MSc Nursing will be a qualified nurse, midwife or health visitor (in any field of practice) with registration or licensure in their country of practice and have a first degree or equivalent.

English Language Requirements

English language requirements for international applicants

For those who do not have English as a first language, the minimum requirement for this course is an academic IELTS of 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5.

Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.

Exemptions and transferability

Accreditation of Prior Learning may be considered through the School of Nursing APL process. Students are encouraged to discuss this with the Course Director. There are no exemptions from the MSc Research Project.

Careers & opportunities

Career options

The MSc Nursing encourages qualified nurses, midwives and heath visitors from all fields of practice to develop high levels of reflection, decision-making and criticality in nursing theory and research. This is particularly useful for nurses who wish to develop their careers and strive for promotion, particularly those aspiring to higher roles in research, leadership and education.

Also available within the programme, are MSc Nursing pathways in Health Assessment, Dementia Care, Palliative Care, Education and Leadership.

Work placement / study abroad

MSc Nursing (general pathway): students undertaking this course on a part time basis are generally in employment. No work placement or study abroad is required for this option.

Apply

Start dates

  • September 2023
  • January 2024

Fees and funding

Fees (total cost)

The price of your overall programme will be determined by the number of credit points that you initiate in the relevant academic year.

For modules commenced in the academic year 2023/24, the following fees apply:

Fees
Credit PointsNI/ROI/GB CostInternational Cost
5 £186.65 £440
10 £373.30 £880
15 £559.95 £1,320
20 £746.60 £1,760
30 £1,119.90 £2,640
60 £2,239.80 £5,280
120 £4,479.60 £10,560
180 £6,719.40 £15,840

NB: A standard full-time PGCert is equivalent to 60 credit points per year. A standard full-time PGDip is equivalent to 120 credit points per year.

Where the postgraduate course selected offers multiple awards (e.g. PG Cert, PG Dip, Masters), please note that the price displayed is for the complete Masters programme.

Postgraduate certificates and diplomas are charged at a pro-rata basis.

Find out more about postgraduate fees

Scholarships, awards and prizes

There are several awards available to students during this course. Students with outstanding performance in the leadership module may be considered for the Professor Robert Bowman Award. Outstanding students in MSc research project module may be eligible to apply for the Mona Grey Award.

Additional mandatory costs

It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.

Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.

There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.

Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.

See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.

Contact

We’d love to hear from you!

We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.

Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:

  • Course specific information
  • Fees and Finance
  • Admissions

For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.

For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.

We look forward to hearing from you.


For more information visit

Disclaimer

  1. Although reasonable steps are taken to provide the programmes and services described, the University cannot guarantee the provision of any course or facility and the University may make variations to the contents or methods of delivery of courses, discontinue, merge or combine courses and introduce new courses if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to) industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key staff, changes in legislation or government policy including changes, if any, resulting from the UK departing the European Union, withdrawal or reduction of funding or other circumstances beyond the University’s reasonable control.
  1. If the University discontinues any courses, it will use its best endeavours to provide a suitable alternative course. In addition, courses may change during the course of study and in such circumstances the University will normally undertake a consultation process prior to any such changes being introduced and seek to ensure that no student is unreasonably prejudiced as a consequence of any such change.
  1. The University does not accept responsibility (other than through the negligence of the University, its staff or agents), for the consequences of any modification or cancellation of any course, or part of a course, offered by the University but will take into consideration the effects on individual students and seek to minimise the impact of such effects where reasonably practicable.
  1. The University cannot accept any liability for disruption to its provision of educational or other services caused by circumstances beyond its control, but the University will take all reasonable steps to minimise the resultant disruption to such services.
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