Nursing Studies (Registered Nurse Mental Health Nursing) Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)

Our BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Registered Nurse Mental Health Nursing) course aligns to the key principles of the NHS Constitution, derived from extensive discussions with staff, patients, carers and the public. These principles inspire passion in the NHS and provide a common ground for cooperation in achieving shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS, supporting health and promoting recovery.

At Aston you’ll learn in an inter-professional way, developing the theoretical, practical, and interpersonal skills you'll need to be able to register as a nurse specialising in mental health. When you successfully complete the course, you will be eligible to register as a mental health nurse with the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council). This is the governing body that nurses must register with to work clinically as a nurse within the UK.

A significant portion of your learning will be the application of theory into practice such as delivering care to people and their families at home, in the community, or in the hospital environment. The programme will help you to understand the key health priorities for adults, children and young people, to consider how you can enable people to have good mental health, to recovery from mental illness and how you can work with people and their families during difficult and vulnerable times.

Practice learning placements are a large part of your study experience. You will spend 50% of your study time in practice in various clinical environments. This will support you in gaining experience in different clinical areas in organisations that offer specialist services. You will also have the opportunity to experience a placement in an alternative setting in the UK, or abroad. We also partner with high-level NHS Trust clinical environments in the West Midlands, which provides a collaborative approach to learning, clinical placements and quality assurance.

This three-year course runs over 45 weeks each year. There are three year-long modules, incorporating both theory and practice. 

Key benefits:

* The programme is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

* Triple Gold TEF rating - Aston University received the highest rating for teaching quality (TEF 2023).

* Extensive patient contact – Benefit from extensive patient contact throughout the course through integrated clinical and community placements.

* Cutting-edge facilities - Train in our state-of-the-art clinical skills centre, complete with our new £1.5m hospital simulation suite wards and the latest medical equipment.

Integrated placements

You will benefit from extensive patient contact throughout the course with practice learning placements forming a large part of your study experience. You will spend approx 50% of your study time in practice, which will be undertaken in various clinical and community environments. There is opportunity for a negotiated placement in year 2 where you can experience nursing in an alternative setting in the UK, or abroad.

Career prospects\
The field of mental health nursing is very diverse so there’s a wide range of career paths, and our programme will provide you with the academic requirements needed to register to work as a mental health nurse upon graduation. The field of mental health nursing is very diverse so there’s a range of career paths. Mental health nurses play a vital role in providing, leading and coordinating care for a variety of people in different healthcare settings such as in people’s homes, the community, a wide variety of mental health hospitals including acute wards, psychiatric intensive care wards, specialist services and rehabilitation.

You can also use your qualifications to work outside the UK.