Please note, there are three variations of this course depending on your profession/other requirements and existing Non Medical Prescribing qualification.  Please see the “How to apply” section at the bottom of this page for further details before applying. 
The Institute of Health and Social Care at LSBU has been delivering high quality Royal College of Nursing (RCN) accredited Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) education for over 20 years, with an excellent reputation and demand increasing each year. The Advanced Nurse Practitioner Mental Health Course commenced in 2016 and was the first of its kind. This course is now multi-professional, providing advanced clinical practice education for experienced qualified registered nurses, allied health professionals and pharmacists where at least 50% of their current role consists of working with people with mental health issues across the life span.    
Students can exit with 120 credits to gain the PgDip Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health). However, we anticipate that the majority will progress to complete a taught third year to gain the full MSc award in recognition of the importance of this level of award in the national context for advanced clinical practice and for future promotion.
Full details on the course are available from the University Course Prospectus. 

This programme is accredited by Health Education England’s Centre for Advancing Practice. https://advanced-practice.hee.nhs.uk/

Entry requirements

In order to be considered for entry to MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) course applicants will be required to have the following:

PROFESSIONAL:

• Current professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) or Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) or The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• A minimum of 3 years post-registration experience on entry to the course
• Currently must have at least 50% of their role working with people with mental health issues.   

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Evidence of a minimum of 90 undergraduate degree level healthcare related credits. 

PRACTICE EXPERIENCE & ACCESS TO SUPERVISION:

• Be employed at minimum of Band 6 or equivalent
• Employed* for a minimum of 30 hours per week in one relevant clinical environment, with access to appropriate clinical support and supervision for the development of knowledge and skills to an advanced level.  *This excludes students who are working in a locum or agency basis.  

Applicants must also be able to demonstrate employer support for all of the following (even where individuals are self-funding):

• For the applicant to undertake this course at LSBU
• Support for development of the applicant to an advanced level within the workplace while on the course, to enable evolution of the scope of practice and responsibilities
•  Willingness to release the student to enable them to dedicate the equivalent of 3 hours minimum per week throughout the calendar year (in addition to the study days in university) as protected learning time to enable the student to work in a 'supernumerary capacity' to focus on their clinical/professional development evidenced by completion of the Practice Based Learning activity requirements and the Practice Based Learning records.
• For the student to organise for a Doctor/qualified Advanced Practitioner to act as their designated "Practice Facilitator" to supervise and support the applicants overall clinical development and facilitate completion of specified practice-based learning activities. Sign off for specific aspects of learning is required during the course (this responsibility can be shared with other senior experienced clinical colleagues however nomination of an overall Practice Facilitator is required).
• Provision of day-to-day supervision and support by an experienced clinical team to enable the development of the knowledge, skills, behaviours, competence and confidence commensurate with this level of practice 

Selection process:

Advanced level clinical practice is by its very nature challenging and demanding. It is therefore important that appropriate students are selected who have the determination, professional attitudes and calibre that is needed for academic success and maximum impact in practice. Students are therefore selected for the course using the following strategies:

• Submission of an online application form including the personal statement, academic credit and level, professional registration and current role and duration of experience.
• An interview with representatives from the course team and a service-user.  This will assess motivation, understanding of the course requirements and potential challenges, and appreciation of the potential benefits offered by the course for personal and professional development and to the patient care on an individual and organisational basis. The following are also reviewed:

1. A supportive reference from the student’s current line manager.
2. Provision of a completed Practice Facilitators nomination and acceptance form.
3. Completion of a Clinical Practice Learning Environment profile which evaluates capacity of the student’s work environment (and other clinical opportunities) to meet the learning requirements for the course and includes an Action Plan to redress any issues.  This is signed by the student’s Line Manager and the Practice Facilitator.
4. Submission of a 1,000 word referenced essay, which critically analyses the opportunities for advanced clinical practice within their work setting

Where students are unsuccessful, advice will be offered on alternative study or development opportunities.

Recognition of prior learning:

• This is considered on an individual basis, in accordance with the University Academic Regulations.  Credit awarded by another university may under certain circumstances contribute to the credit required for a London South Bank University award. For example, increasing numbers of applicants are already Independent Prescribers, having completed Non Medical Prescribing (NMP) courses at Level 6 or 7 so will be able to APEL this aspect if they can verify that they continue to prescribe in their current role.
• For credit to be transferred, the learning must be relevant to the module for which the claim for credit is being made. The learning must also have been at a comparable academic level and must have been assessed. The amount of credit transferred must be equal to or less than the amount of credit awarded by the university at which the learning took place.  For learning other than NMP, the learning activity must have taken place less than 4 years prior to entry to the MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) course. At least half of the credit required for an award of the University must normally be accumulated as a result of learning undertaken and assessed at London South Bank University.  The use of the same allocation of credit in order to meet the requirements of more than one academic award at the same level (“double counting”) is not permitted and students should not receive more than one allocation of credit for a single learning activity.
• The university also has a process for accreditation of prior experiential learning, with the details and submission requirements for each claim considered individually. 

Career benefits

Yearly Graduate Surveys have demonstrated that all graduates have benefited from studying Advanced Clinical Practice with London South Bank University.  The majority have gained substantive posts as Advanced Practitioners. Some have subsequently become Leads for Advanced Practice, Consultant Practitioners, and Partners in General Practice.  

Course structure and delivery

This course comprises a set series of modules that build in a specific order to form the final award. This provides a cohesive framework for development of the knowledge, skills and behaviours across the four pillars of advanced clinical practice: Clinical, Leadership/Management, Education and Research (HEE, 2017).

The full MSc comprises six 20 credit modules plus either the Non Medical Prescribing module (40 credits) or the alternative of a Core 20 credit module and a 20 credit Option module.

Each 20-credit module accounts for 200 hours of total student effort. This typically comprises 36-42 classroom contact hours, 14 blended learning activity hours and practice-based learning hours (equivalent to a minimum of 3 hours per week).  Students should undertake private study for a minimum of 11 hours per module per week.

The academic year at LSBU is organised into two semesters.  Each module is normally run over a semester comprising 15 weeks where the final week is focused on completion of assessments.  All teaching takes place on the Southwark Campus.     

The course starts with a compulsory two-day Induction. Teaching follows with attendance for modules on a one day a week basis across two semesters per year.  Attendance of additional study days for skills and professional development is also required. Teaching sessions are delivered in the morning or afternoon according to the module timetable.  There are no evening or weekend teaching sessions.  Assessments normally take place in January for semester 1 modules and May/June for semester 2 modules.

Some modules are taught together and some separately depending on when the student starts and any recognition of prior learning.

The set order of modules is as follows:

• WHM_7_061 Physical Health Needs in Mental Health Care
• ACP_7_010 Advanced Clinical Assessment Skils
• Non Medical Prescribing [40 credits] OR WBL_7-001 Enhancing Practice through Work Based Learning and undertaking an Option module amounting to 20 credits at Level 7
• ACP_7_019 Clinical Reasoning and Advanced Assessment Skills for Mental Health Practice
• ACP_7_007 Leadership, Research and Education for Advanced Clinical Practice

Students can exit at this point with the PgDip Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) or progress to undertake the final taught part to gain the full MSc Advanced Clinical Practice (Mental Health) award

• ACP_7008 Professional Development for Advanced Clinical Practice
• Undertaking an Option module amounting to 20 credits at Level 7
• ACP_7_020 Clinical Complexity in Advanced Mental Health Practice

Applicants will be given the timing and sequence of modules within the choices listed under “APPLY”

 Practice Based Learning

A key aspect of this course is the expectation for students to apply their new knowledge and skills within their workplace.  All students are required to dedicate the equivalent of 3 hours minimum per week throughout the calendar year (in addition to the study days in university) as protected learning time.  During these hours the student should work in a 'supernumerary capacity' to focus on their clinical/professional development.  Evidence of this aspect is required through completion of a series of Practice Based Learning records. The selection criteria include identification of a designated "Practice Facilitator" to supervise and support the applicants overall clinical development and facilitate completion of specified practice-based learning activities.  Alongside this, students need day-to-day supervision and support by an experienced clinical team to enable the development of the knowledge, skills, behaviours, competence and confidence commensurate with this level of practice.

     How to apply

Before applying online, please contact the Course Director directly on collid10@lsbu.ac.uk as there is a pre application process to go through. 

There are three options for this course:

o   With Non Medical Prescribing (NMP) - for professionals who can and wish to prescribe.

o   With an alternative to Non Medical Prescribing (NMP) - for professionals who do not wish to or cannot prescribe.

o   for existing Non Medical Prescribers (existing NMP) - for professionals who are already Non Medical Prescribers.

Following the pre application process, if successful, you will be directed to the correct portal to apply through from the three options above.

You can only apply for one academic year of study at a time to allow for demonstration of the source of funding on a yearly basis.

For students who start their course in January, their structure of the course will straddle academic years, this will be; year 1 (first half), year 1 (second half) and year 2 (first half), year 2 (second half) and year 3 (first half), year 3 (second half) and they will need to do a total of four applications, but one application per academic year (September through to June).