Course summary

Please note that advanced entry is not available on any of our Pre-Registration Nursing Programmes at this time. Join our four-year dual qualification NMC degree in Child and Mental Health Nursing. Work with children and young people in acute and community settings and those accessing mental health services. Take the first step towards a career as a nurse with a range of placements that will help you build practice-based skills and knowledge. Study in our dedicated nursing skills labs in Cambridgeshire or Chelmsford and be a part of our supportive nursing community. When you graduate, you’ll be ready to start your career as a dual registered Child and Mental Health Nurse. Here at ARU, we are dedicated to the continual improvement of healthcare and stand by the values of the NHS Constitution. Our 4 year dual registered degree in both child and mental health will prepare you to become a highly skilled and sought after health professional who’ll be welcomed in both child and mental health settings in hospital and community practice. You’ll undertake both child and mental health specific placement and modules throughout your 4 years, allowing you fully support your patients both mentally and physically. We’ll work with you to help you grow into a competent nurse and concentrate on developing your leadership skills. We are proud to have been shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year in both 2019 and 2020 by the Student Nursing Times. This speaks volumes about the quality of our teaching. You’ll soon discover that our faculty is a stimulating place to learn, with excellent facilities and registered, practising tutors who will make sure you’re being taught the latest techniques and give you the support you need to succeed. We make use of technology to support your learning. Good examples are the use of virtual reality scenarios or monitoring your progress with real time assessment. Our Nursing and Midwifery Council validated course places equal value on clinical practice and theory. It’ll take you from university lectures, team work sessions and skills sessions to clinical placement covering a wide range of ages and settings. You may well find yourself at a GP surgery, attending home health visits or in the middle of a variety of hospital settings, from a general children's ward to paediatric A&E. Placements last around seven to twelve weeks and will include both acute and community settings. Placement opportunities include: Health Visiting, General Children’s ward, Neonatal Unit, Paediatric Assessment Unit and child and adolescent community settings (including mental health). You’ll be linked to one of our NHS healthcare trust partners for your placements in hospitals or community settings. If you study in Cambridge, your placements will be around Cambridgeshire or West Essex. If you study in Chelmsford, your placements will be around Essex or North East London. We want to make sure you experience a variety of placements and that you graduate as an effective practitioner. Our placement maps will help you plan your travel before you start on the course. Teaching on campus usually takes place between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. On placement, you’ll be expected to work the same shifts as your nursing team. This can mean early, late and night shifts, as well as working weekends and bank holidays. Each year, you’ll get allocated annual leave at set points to support you in balancing your course and relaxation time. You’ll have the chance to share experiences with students from other courses, and to see how the professions work together to provide effective and seamless care.