Entering higher education is exciting; but it can also be a daunting experience. At ARU, we want all our students to make the most of the opportunities higher education provides, reach your potential, become lifelong learners and find fulfilling careers. However, we appreciate that the shift from secondary education, or a return to formal education is, in itself, quite a journey. This module is designed to ease that transition. You'll be enrolled on it as soon as you receive an offer from ARU so you can begin to learn about university life before your course starts. Through Into ARU, you'll explore a virtual land modelled around ARU values: Courage, Innovation, Community, Integrity, Responsibility, and Ambition. This innovative module is designed as a game, where you collect knowledge and complete mini tasks. You'll proceed at your own pace, though we you to have completed your Into ARU exploration by week 6. If for any reason you're unable to complete by that date, we'll signpost to existing services so that we can be confident that you are supported.
View the full module definitionGain the knowledge required to communicate effectively with people throughout the lifespan, and to develop an understanding of professionalism. You’ll explore the concept of reflection and reflective practice, using these skills to learn from experience, and develop personalised action plans for future development. Develop knowledge and skills in cultural competence, exploring and valuing difference to understand the impact of stereotyping and discrimination on the delivery of care. You’ll explore the concepts of diversity and inclusion, including unconscious bias, micro-aggressions and racism, and your role in identifying discriminatory situations and behaviours and responding appropriately. You’ll be introduced to the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) and their associated parameters of practice, gaining an understanding of the role of the nurse as part of a wider healthcare team. Based on a group of service users and their families, with different conditions across all four fields of nursing, a range of practical, communication, team working, and professional accountability skills will be explored. Study skills to support engagement in Higher Education, such as digital literacy, academic writing, referencing, reflective practice, and understanding marking criteria and using feedback will be addressed. Study skills to support engagement in Higher Education, such as digital literacy, academic writing, referencing, reflective practice, and understanding marking criteria and using feedback will be addressed.
We’ll prepare you to undertake fundamental skills and procedures when delivering care across the lifespan and in different care settings. You’ll explore the evidence underpinning skills and procedures and have the opportunity to practice these within a facilitated simulated clinical skills environment.
We’ll support you to develop knowledge and skills in health science and its application to the delivery of care. Based on a group of people who use services and their families or carers, you will explore a range of common conditions across all four fields of nursing. You’ll explore the associated human anatomy and physiology relating to those conditions and how this applies to patient monitoring and the delivery of care. You’ll also be introduced to pharmacology and how this relates to the nurse’s role in the administration of medicines. Study skills to support engagement in Higher Education, such as digital literacy, understanding marking criteria, preparation for examinations will be addressed.
Explore the concepts of health and wellbeing, the promotion of health, the prevention of ill health, and the factors that influence them. You’ll explore health inequalities, epidemiology, population health management, and health behaviours to gain an insight into the challenges faced by individuals in managing their health. You’ll also consider the power of genomics in public health to bring benefits to patients. The importance of patient involvement in health promotion, the concept of empowerment and the factors influencing a person’s health choices and readiness for change will be reviewed, and the role of the registered nurse in supporting this.
We’ll provide you with the opportunities to develop and practice clinical skills in order to achieve all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) identified in the England Practice Assessment Document 1. You’ll apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout Part 1 of the course, to a real-world clinical setting, working with a variety of people who use services and their carers in a range of different settings. You’ll develop your understanding of the role of the nurse within the wider inter-professional healthcare team. Simulation in the University skills laboratory will be used to support evidence based practice in a safe environment, and you’ll undertake practice learning via simulation as part of this module. You’ll have a named Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisors during the practice module. In collaboration with the Practice Assessor/Supervisor, you’ll identify a learning goal for each shift, and will receive feedback on the achievement of that goal. The Practice Assessor, in consultation with the Practice Supervisors, Academic assessor, and yourself, will assess your achievement of professional values, and performance criteria using the England Practice Assessment Document.
Patient safety is defined by NHS England as the avoidance of unintended or unexpected harm to people during the provision of care. We’ll support you to recognise risks to patient safety and deterioration in people’s condition, and respond appropriately within your parameters of practice. You’ll also consider the factors that influence patient safety, and how a just learning culture can support staff to be open about mistakes so lessons can be learned in a culture of fairness, openness and learning. You’ll consider the six principles of safeguarding and how these are applied across the lifespan, with different service user groups, and in different settings. You’ll learn to appraise evidence in order to support their decision making about safe and effective care, and understand the role of audit, evaluation and research in quality care improvements.
We’ll prepare you to support, supervise and act as a role model to others. While studying the module, you’ll act as a coach and supervisor for junior colleagues. Through promoting shared learning and peer feedback, and coaching your junior colleagues, you’ll begin to acquire leadership skills while simultaneously engaging in a culture that is focused on learning, support and transparency. You’re also expected to reflect on your personal learning and development to appreciate the contribution of lifelong learning to nursing practice, and consider potential future career pathways.
We’ll provide you with the opportunities to develop and practice clinical skills in order to achieve all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) identified in the England Practice Assessment Document 2. You’ll apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout Part 2 of the course, to a real-world clinical setting, working with a variety of people who use services and their carers in a range of different settings. You’ll develop your understanding of the role of the nurse within the wider inter-professional healthcare team. Simulation in the University skills laboratory will be used to support evidence based practice in a safe environment, and you’ll undertake practice learning via simulation as part of this module. You’ll have a named Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisors during the practice module. In collaboration with the Practice Assessor/Supervisor, you’ll identify a learning goal for each shift, and will receive feedback on the achievement of that goal. The Practice Assessor, in consultation with the Practice Supervisors, Academic assessor, and yourself, will assess your achievement of professional values, and performance criteria using the England Practice Assessment Document.
In order to plan and deliver safe, appropriate, and effective care, you’ll need to carry out accurate assessments of individuals' (and their families where appropriate) healthcare needs. Nursing assessments draw on different forms of knowledge including evidence, observation, experience, and the therapeutic relationship you have with the patient. Building on the knowledge and skills gained in your previous modules, you’ll learn how to undertake an evidence-based assessment of people across the lifespan and with different physical, mental, cognitive and behavioural needs. You’ll then learn how to make sense of the knowledge gained through assessment to plan and deliver care in a range of settings.
Integrated care systems are partnerships that bring together NHS organisations, local authorities, and others to take collective responsibility for planning services, improving health and reducing inequalities across geographical areas (King’s Fund 2022). You’ll explore the need for integrated care, the partners involved in this for different groups of patients across the lifespan, approaches such as social prescribing, and how the nurse can lead and co-ordinate care in this system. To improve the patient experience is one of the most rewarding aspects of a nurse’s role and required insight leadership, and understanding of evidence, resources, teamwork and planning. You’ll extend your political awareness, the impact of policy on the delivery and co-ordination of care, and the nurse’s role in influencing change. We’ll help you to explore and reflect on your leadership style and the impact of this in integrated care.
Children and young people become acutely unwell and require nursing in a variety of settings, to meet their individual needs. Accurate clinical assessment and recording of clinical information is essential in the early detection of deterioration in children and young people, and crucial in decision making if children and young people are to receive the best quality care in the most appropriate clinical setting. Spotting the seriously ill child and young person requires vigilance, robust systems such as Paediatric Early Warning Scores, and excellent pathways of communication and response. Using evidence-based guidelines and policies, you’ll appreciate the need for a structured process for risk assessment, monitoring and communication to optimise clinical decision making that informs patient outcome. You’ll develop the knowledge, skills and experience to recognise, communicate and respond competently, with care and compassion, when a child or young person’s presentation indicates they are becoming acutely unwell. You’ll participate in a range of clinical scenarios relating to acutely unwell children and young people, providing evidence-based justification for your clinical decision making.
We’ll enable you to develop an understanding of the role you play as a children’s nurse in the promotion of health and the prevention of ill health for children, young people, and their families. Recognising that children do not grow and mature in isolation but are actors in the wider society. You’ll also develop an awareness of the factors (political and societal) that influence children and young people’s health, both in the United Kingdom and around the world.
We’ll provide you with the opportunities to develop and practice clinical skills in order to achieve all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) identified in the England Practice Assessment Document 3 in children and young people’s nursing. We’ll support your transition to an autonomous practitioner in readiness for joining the NMC register. You’ll practice with increased confidence and competence as you apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout Part 3 of the course, to a real-world clinical setting, working with a variety of people who use services and their carers in a range of different settings. You’ll enhance your skills around accountability, professionalism, assessment and care planning, providing and evaluating care, leading and managing nursing care, working in teams, and improving safety and quality of care as part of a wider inter-professional team. Simulation in the University skills laboratory will be used to support evidence based practice in a safe environment, and you’ll undertake practice learning via simulation as part of this module. You’ll have a named Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisors during the practice module. In collaboration with the Practice Assessor/Supervisor, you’ll identify a learning goal for each shift, and will receive feedback on the achievement of that goal. The Practice Assessor, in consultation with the Practice Supervisors, Academic assessor, and yourself, will assess your achievement of professional values, and performance criteria using the England Practice Assessment Document to confirm that you are practising independently with minimal supervision, and leading and co-ordinating care with confidence.
Nursing leaders ensure that the workplace supports high quality, safe and compassionate health care. The nursing leader must be able to ensure direction, alignment and commitment within the team and through this to the entire organisation. In this module you’ll focus on developing a repertoire of skills and knowledge to work and lead the care of children and young people effectively within multi-disciplinary healthcare teams, in the often-challenging environments encountered in modern clinical practice. Furthermore, you’ll provide supervision and support to your peers acting as a role model within the healthcare team. You’ll appraise the quality and effectiveness of nursing care and apply understanding of the importance of setting and auditing standards in delivering and maintaining quality care. You’ll understand the importance of exercising political awareness to maximise the influence and effect of registered nursing on quality of care, patient safety and cost effectiveness. As a result of this module, you’ll be equipped to not only make the successful transition from student to qualified practitioner but to generate positive change in delivering high quality care for children and young people.
Children and young people can have complex needs as a result of their underlying condition. Some may have long-term consequences of extreme prematurity, others may have inherited conditions, chronic illness, or sustain life changing injury. Building on your knowledge, skills and understanding, you’ll explore a wide range of complex health care issues experienced by children, young people and their families/carers. You’ll analyse research and evidence to inform decision making and support effective partnership and collaborative multi-professional working. We’ll equip you with the essential knowledge and skills required to provide comprehensive holistic family and child-centred care for children and young people with diverse and complex healthcare needs. You’ll learn to identify the challenges of addressing comorbidities, psychological factors and social influences when assessing and prioritising care while developing the ability to make evidence-based clinical decisions in complex and challenging situations. You’ll explore the implications of polypharmacy in children and young people and gain an understanding of the requirements for non-medical prescribing following NMC registration. We’ll support you through your Undergraduate Major Project to develop skills in sharing knowledge and understanding through poster presentations and writing for publication.
Assessment is central to mental health nursing practice and involves collaboration in the identification of an individual’s needs and goals. Assessment is the scaffolding for nursing care plans, and enables the development of individualised, person-centred interventions. The need for mental health nurses to be able to plan, and undertake a comprehensive assessment that encompasses the mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, social, and cultural needs of the individual is the basis for the delivery of care. Comprehensive mental health nursing assessment involves the knowledge of acute illness and long-term conditions; it encompasses the application of enhanced communication skills within a biopsychosocial framework, underpinned by the principles of recovery. Applying such knowledge and skills, mental health nurses are required to engage with and develop specialised understanding of a wide construct of mental illness and mental wellbeing and working with people across the lifespan. You’ll explore the context of mental health nursing assessment, both the underpinning values and specific knowledge and skills across a range of domains. You’ll explore and develop enhanced communication skills as they relate to specialist mental health nursing from engagement with psychosocial theory.
Care planning is the process by which the health care professional and patients discuss and reach a shared understanding about the service user’s problems, needs and priorities, the desired outcomes or goals; the intentions leading to a certain goal, with the aim to reduce symptoms, distress associated with problem; and it involves identification of methods for progress and outcomes (Norman and Ryrie, 2018) You’ll explore how care planning is inextricably linked to assessment in mental health nursing as it is the term that is used to describe all the activities that nurses engage in, from the time a patient is admitted into their care to when they are discharged. It’s the activity of negotiating with the service user, discussing how interventions or actions might meet the service user’s needs and represent some sort of a solution, and exploring with the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) what solutions might be suitable. You’ll explore how care planning is the process by which the nurse arrives at a shared understanding with the service user of the problems and needs and their respective priority; the desired or expected outcome, which is reflected in the goals and objectives; and the interaction(s)/intervention(s) which are the pathway to a certain goal, with the aim to reduce symptoms, distress and/or disability associated with the identified need. You’ll critically link care planning as a process that follows assessment, involves identifying the problem/need with the service user, establishing the goals, determining nursing interventions, evaluating care processes and setting review dates. You’ll consider how care planning is an important aspects of the nurse’s role as it serves as a legal record of care given and evidence of the therapeutic tool used to encourage recovery. You’ll analyse how, if care planning is performed well, it improves the care of the individual. You’ll be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of care planning as a description or blueprint of an action or intervention that is intended to bring about a change for the service user, understanding that care plans are strategies. They should be transparent, easy to follow, logical and clearly explained, so that all people either receiving or delivering individualized care can read it and know what to do.
We’ll provide you with the opportunities to develop and practice clinical skills in order to achieve all the NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses (NMC 2018) identified in the England Practice Assessment Document 3 in mental health nursing. We’ll support your transition to an autonomous practitioner in readiness for joining the NMC register. You’ll practice with increased confidence and competence as you apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout Part 3 of the course, to a real-world clinical setting, working with a variety of people who use services and their carers in a range of different settings. You’ll enhance your skills around accountability, professionalism, assessment and care planning, providing and evaluating care, leading and managing nursing care, working in teams, and improving safety and quality of care as part of a wider inter-professional team. Simulation in the University skills laboratory will be used to support evidence based practice in a safe environment, and you’ll undertake practice learning via simulation as part of this module. You’ll have a named Practice Assessor and Practice Supervisors during the practice module. In collaboration with the Practice Assessor/Supervisor, you’ll identify a learning goal for each shift, and will receive feedback on the achievement of that goal. The Practice Assessor, in consultation with the Practice Supervisors, Academic assessor, and yourself, will assess your achievement of professional values, and performance criteria using the England Practice Assessment Document to confirm that you are practising independently with minimal supervision, and leading and co-ordinating care with confidence.
Over the past few years mental health nurses have seen significant increases in demand for mental health support at a time when delivery of that support has been very challenging. In this module, you’ll learn to deliver and evaluate care using a range of evidence-based interventions, tailored to meet individual needs, preferences and goals, drawing on your knowledge, skills, compassion, and personal resilience. You’ll analyse research and evidence to inform decision making and support effective partnership and collaborative multi-professional working. Mental health nursing also requires leadership at every level. We’ll develop your skills in using the evidence and data, alongside your leadership skills, to review and evaluate mental health care and identify ways in which you can bring about continuous improvements in care. We’ll support you through your Undergraduate Major Project to develop skills in sharing knowledge and understanding through poster presentations and writing for publication.
This module encourages the acquisition of skills and knowledge around therapeutic engagement and interventions within mental health care. The spectrum of interventions ranging from prevention, to treatments, to continuing development will be examined. You will analyse how socially inclusive practice and focusing on the promotion of dignity influences participation and the result of interventions. Subjective and objective appraisals will be included to illustrate perceptions and measurements of intervention outcome. This will help you understand the function of transparent clinical actions and will provide vital consideration for your future practice.