Nursing - Mental Health Nursing
Our Mental Health Nursing course will provide you with excellent opportunities to develop knowledge and skills relevant to professional Psychiatric Nursing practice, including independent and critical thinking, and problem solving. It will enable you to deliver nursing care that is up-to-date and based on the best current evidence.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | Major |
| Awarding Body | National University of Ireland |
| NFQ Level | Level 8 NFQ |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor (Level 8 NFQ) | Major | National University of Ireland | Level 8 NFQ |
Duration
4 Years
Specific Subjects or course requirements
Leaving Certificate Requirements
At Least six subjects must be presented. Minimum grade H5 in two subjects and minimum grade O6/H7 in four other subjects. English and Irish are requirements for all programmes unless the applicant is exempt from Irish.
The following are considered Lab Science subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Physics with Chemistry and Agricultural Science.
Applicants will need to meet the following minimum entry requirements:
English O6/H7
Irish O6/H7
Maths O6/H7
A Lab Science O6/H7
Garda Clearance
All students on this programme will come into contact with the public and assume positions of trust through educational and training opportunities. To ensure the protection of the public, and to justify public trust and confidence, UCC is committed to ensuring that only suitable candidates are allowed to undertake this programme.
Garda vetting is carried out by the Admissions Office in UCC once a student has accepted their place on the programme. It involves a police check to establish whether the individual being vetted has had criminal convictions in the past or whether any criminal proceedings are pending. The Garda Siochána provide this information for students who have resided in Ireland for a period of six months or more (including permanent residence).
All students who have resided outside Ireland for a period of six months or more must furnish a Police Clearance Certificate from their country or countries of residence. This certificate should state that the student has had no convictions recorded against them while residing there.
Fitness to Practise
This programme is subject to UCC's Fitness to Practise Policy.
Leaving Certificate Vocational Progamme LCVP
UCC awards the following points to the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme Link Modules:
Distinction 66 points
Merit 46 points
Pass 28 points
While Link Modules are counted for point scoring purposes they may not be counted as one of the six subjects to satisfy minimum entry requirements.
QQI FET Applicants General Information
Careers / Further progression
Skills and Careers Information
The course aims to provide you with sound clinical nursing skills (and the supporting knowledge base) necessary for starting your professional career as a Mental Health Nurse. These skills will be further developed through clinical experience and further study at postgraduate and in-service levels.
You will develop sound therapeutic interpersonal skills and self-awareness, as well as skills in independent thinking, problem solving, and analytical and clinical decision-making, as well as fundamental research utilisation and application skills.
On graduation, you may seek employment as a Psychiatric Nurse. Psychiatric Nurses work in a wide range of areas, including hospitals and community mental health facilities.
Traditionally, Irish nurses are highly regarded by other countries, enhancing work opportunities abroad, in particular in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US.
Further information
Approximate Available Places 7
Find out about the mature entry requirements at https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/undergrad/entryreqs/matureapplicants/
Approximate Available Places Overall 42
Entry 2024
Early online application (discounted): Fee €30 Closing Date: 20 January 2024 at 5pm
Normal online application: Fee €45 Closing Date: 1 February 2024 at 5pm
Late online application - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: €60 Closing Date: 1 May 2024 at 5pm
Change of Mind - restrictions apply (see page 3 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee: Nil Closing Date: 1 July 2024 at 5pm
Exceptional online late application (see page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook): Fee €60 Closing Date: 22 July 2024 at 5pm
Be sure to complete any action well in advance of closing dates. You should avoid making an application close to a closing date. No extensions to closing dates will be allowed and all application fees are non-refundable.
LATE APPLICATIONS
Late Applications are those which are received after 5pm on 1 February 2024. The closing date for late applications is 5pm on 1 May 2024, subject to the restrictions listed on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook. The online facility for late applications opens on the 5 March 2024 at 12:00 noon - a fee of €60 applies.
Exceptional Late Applications (Exception to the timetable)
The exceptional closing date of 22 July at 5pm applies only to applicants who are registered as an undergraduate student on 1 May 2024 in any year in any one of the participating HEIs (subject to the exclusions listed below). In order to avail of the Exceptional Late Application facility you must have entered the HEI through the CAO system. This is an exceptional late closing date and all steps must be completed by 5pm on 22 July. No changes may be made after this date.
If you did not enter your current course through the CAO system, you must first contact the Admissions Office of the HEI to which you wish to apply and they will inform you if you may submit an application direct to the institution.
Exclusions:
You may submit a late application only for entry to courses other than your existing course. If you wish to repeat the year in the same course you must arrange this within your HEI.
Mary Immaculate College Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick and Maynooth University have special procedures in place in the case of current or previous students who wish to apply for entry to another course in the same HEI. Such applicants must contact their Admissions Office to determine the application procedure. However, if you are a student in another HEI and you wish to apply to any of these five HEIs, you should apply through CAO.
Refer to page 34 of the 2024 CAO Handbook on how to make an Exceptional Late Application.
Restrictions
As a CAO applicant you may experience one or more of the following restrictions based on your course choices, your category of application, or restrictions imposed by the HEIs that you wish to apply to. Please read the section on 'Restrictions' on page 3 of the 2024 CAO Handbook carefully. This section includes information on:
General Restrictions
1. Making a late application
2. Making changes to your course choices
Restricted Courses
3. Applying for a restricted course
Mature Applicants
4. Mature applicants
Supplementary Admissions Routes
5. Applying for DARE and/or HEAR
Our Mental Health Nursing course will provide you with excellent opportunities to develop knowledge and skills relevant to professional Psychiatric Nursing practice, including independent and critical thinking, and problem solving. It will enable you to deliver nursing care that is up-to-date and based on the best current evidence.
This four-year full-time degree course is offered in partnership with the Health Service Executive (South) (HSE) and on completion you can apply to register as a Psychiatric Nurse to the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), the profession’s regulatory body. After registration, you will be ready to start work as a qualified psychiatric nurse in a variety of clinical settings.
The broad aim of the course is to promote your personal, intellectual and professional development to meet the role dimensions of a qualified practitioner of Mental Health Nursing. Each year, you will study modules in both theory and clinical practice. Clinical practice modules require you to be in supervised clinical practice in hospital, community and other healthcare settings for 35 hours per week for a number of weeks each year.
Theory modules include both nursing, and biological and social science modules, some of which are core (shared with students from other nursing/midwifery branches), while others are discipline-specific (taken by Mental Health Nursing students only).
Year 1 Modules
All modules 5 credits unless otherwise stated.
NU1026 Academic Writing, Information Technology and Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
NU1032 Fundamental Knowledge and Skills for Nursing Practice (10 credits)
NU1040 Infection Prevention and Control for Nursing and Midwifery Practice
NU1042 Developing Hope-Inspiring Relationships and Psychology for Health Care (10 credits)
NU1043 Recovery - Theory, Concept and Principles (10 credits)
NU1045 Creative Therapies and Self Awareness Skills for Mental Health Nursing
NU1044 Developing Skilled Mental Health Nursing Practice 1 (10 credits)
SC1015 Sociological Concepts for Nursing
Year 2
Pharmacology and Medication Management for Nurses and Midwives; Research for Evidence-Based Nursing and Midwifery Care; Recovery - Working with People through Crisis; Therapeutic Relationships - Communication and Self-Awareness; General Health Care for Adults with Mental Health Problems - Applied Nutrition, Anatomy and Physiology; Social Justice and Mental Health: Combating Discrimination, Labelling and Stigma; Skilled Mental Health Nursing Practice.
Year 3
Health Promotion and Primary Health Care in a Mental Health Context; Mental Health Nursing: Politics, Policy and Practice; Developing Hope-Inspiring Relationships when working therapeutically with Individuals in Groups; Recovery - Working with Children and Young People with Mental Health Problems; Recovery - Working with the Older Adult with Mental Health Problems; Skilled Mental Health Nursing Practice.
Year 4
Research for Evidence-Based Nursing and Midwifery Care; Recovery - Working with Vulnerable Populations; Leadership and Therapeutic Team Working Skills in a Mental Health Setting; The Profession and Discipline of Psychiatric Nursing; Elective module: Skilled Mental Health Nursing Practice.
In Year 4, you will take a number of theory modules at UCC in semester one (before Christmas). In semester two (after Christmas), you will undertake a 36-week paid internship with your parent health service provider (HSP).
Placement or Study Abroad Information
Clinical Placements
The diversity of placement requirements and their geographical spread will mean that regardless of where you live, or which programme you are registered on, traveling to clinical placement areas will be required throughout various stages of your nursing or midwifery programme. This is to ensure students meet the required clinical instruction, set out by the NMBI (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland).
Typically travel will be within the Munster region. Some of our clinical partners include, but are not limited to, Mallow General Hospital (MGH), University Hospital Kerry (UHK), University Hospital Waterford (UHW) and Tipperary University Hospital (TUH). There are also several elective placements in Dublin and with our Erasmus partners throughout Europe.
The Allocations Office in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and our Clinical Partners use several methods to ensure equity in relation to students travelling eg preferred placement submissions and student rotation.
Study Abroad
The School of Nursing and Midwifery participates in a number of international research and educational programmes which afford you the opportunity to undertake part of your BSc studies abroad. See our Go Abroad with UCC page for more information.
Academic Programme Catalogue
See the Academic Programme Catalogue (https://ucc-ie-public.courseleaf.com/programmes/) for the complete and up-to-date content for this course. Note that the modules for all courses are subject to change from year-to-year. For complete descriptions of individual modules, see the Book of Modules (https://ucc-ie-public.courseleaf.com/modules/)
Dr Teresa Wills
t.wills@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 1472
http://www.ucc.ie/en/nursingmidwifery/
Eimear Corcoran
eimear.corcoran@ucc.ie
+353 (0)21 490 1521