Program Overview

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PG Cert Independent Prescribing and Clinical Decision Making

Why study this course with LJMU?

Our Postgraduate Certificates (PgCerts) enable you to study masters level modules in a specific area of practice relevant to your specialism or chosen area of development.

About this course

A comprehensive package of essential knowledge, skills and tools to enhance your professional development within this area of practice.

PgCert Independent Prescribing and Clinical Decision Making is delivered part-time over 6 months.

It comprises three 20 credit modules that enable health professionals to develop knowledge, skills and understanding key to development in a clinical practice setting.

The course prepares you to prescribe safely, appropriately and cost effectively in accordance with the legal, professional and regulatory requirements. It also provides you with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to safely undertake patient-centred, holistic assessment in order to autonomously manage an episode of care within your scope of practice.

It will also equip you with the knowledge and skills to apply pathophysiology theory to practice through a series of patient presentations.

Course modules

7100NPAPP - Independent and Supplementary Prescribing

The programme utilises a variety of teaching and learning approaches that are designed to engage and inspire students. These include lectures, seminars, group work activities, simulation and tutorials. The range of learning and teaching strategies that are applied across the programme seek to develop and foster independence in the acquisition of knowledge and facilitate the application of theoretical knowledge. Students will therefore:

• Be enabled in acquiring knowledge through supported independent learning. This will include being directed to scholarly activities that will prepare them for scheduled teaching activity that is provided directly by members of staff in real time, either face-to-face or synchronous online. This may take the form of lectures, seminars, tutorials and webcasts.
• Be supported in engaging in online asynchronous activity. Examples include asynchronous tutorial discussions, tutor-facilitated discussion boards, and tutor-facilitated collaborations. While they may not be present at the same times as the students, academic staff actively, iteratively and directly engage with students to facilitate and guide learning, and are visible, engaged and active in the virtual learning environment.

7002NAPPG - Clinical Assessment and Decision Making

The module consists of 6 lecture based sessions and 6 practical or workshop sessions over a 12-week period with an assessment at week 15.

This module will be facilitated through a blend of lectures and practical workshops. The module provides students with an opportunity for interprofessional learning within both a lecture and practical setting. It enables the student to critically explore clinical assessment and decision making to underpin differential diagnosis and formulate a management plan. Students will be expected to apply learning to within their own area of practice and identify their own opportunities to enhance further learning.

7008NAPPG - Applied Pathophysiology

This module will run over 15 weeks and will be facilitated through a combination of face to face delivery and online learning. This module will provide an opportunity for interprofessional learning in the application of pathophysiology to practice. Students will explore a series of clinical cases, covering a range of conditions and disease and will provide a deeper level of understanding of pathophysiology.

Your Learning Experience

The course uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches designed to engage and inspire you. These may include lectures, seminars, group work activities, simulation and tutorials, and may involve both on-campus and online learning.

As you progress through the PgCert, you will develop and use progressively higher-order and mastery-level skills, as well as further developing subject-specific knowledge. This will support you to become an inquiring and confident learner, fostering independence in the acquisition, and application of, theoretical knowledge.

You will be:

• Empowered to acquire knowledge through supported, independent learning. This will include being directed to scholarly activities that will prepare you for scheduled teaching activity.
• Supported in engaging in online asynchronous activity. Examples include tutorial discussions, tutor-facilitated discussion boards and collaborative or individual projects, such as wikis, padlets, blogs and e-portfolios. Dedicated and experienced academic staff will actively, iteratively and directly engage with you to facilitate and guide your learning.

Career paths

Further your career prospects

LJMU has an excellent employability record with 94% (HESA 2022) of our postgraduates in work or further study fifteen months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.

The knowledge, skills and clinical understanding provided within this course are highly sought after within enhanced and advanced clinical practice and health professionals seeking to develop as higher level practitioners. This continued professional development programme is designed to support further development of health professionals who may wish to develop these specialised skills in practice.

Tuition fees and funding

Home

Fee:

• £3,200

Fees

The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as library membership and student IT support with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources including programme-appropriate software and on campus wifi.

Financial Support

There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you’ll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages. The University offers a range of financial support for students. You'll find all the information you need on our specialist financial support pages including details of the Student Support Fund and other activities to support with the cost of living.

Additional Costs

In addition to fees, students should also keep in mind the cost of:

• Accommodation
• Travel costs and field trips unless paid for by LJMU
• Stationery, IT equipment, professional body membership and graduation gown hire

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

• BA/BSc (Hons) in relevant field at 2:2 or above, or evidence of potential to study at Masters Level.

Additional requirements

• Relevant work experience
• Applicants must be registered with either NMC as a Nurse (level 1)/Midwife/SCPHN, or HCPC with a minimum of 1 years post registration experience in the clinical field in which they are intending to prescribe.
• Applicants must be able to facilitate the achievement of the assessment of competency required with an appropriately qualified supervisor and within an appropriate clinical setting.

How to apply

To apply for this programme, you are required to complete an LJMU online application form. You will need to provide details of previous qualifications and a personal statement outlining why you wish to study this programme.

We are looking for practitioners within healthcare who embody the core NHS values and constitution, have the drive to enhance practice and innovate to effect positive change for patients are carers, in the role and speciality within which they work.

Additional requirements for entry are specified for the Independent Prescribing module within this programme. These are:

1. Applicants must be registered with either NMC as a Nurse (level 1)/Midwife/SCPHN, or HCPC with a minimum of 1 years post registration experience in the clinical field in which they are intending to prescribe.
2. Students applying to complete the independent and supplementary prescribing qualification at level 7 should have evidence of previous degree level study.
3. Confirmation of satisfactory references and DBS checks are also required and recorded via completion of the NWNMPEG application form.

Additional requirements for entry are specified for the Clinical Assessment and Decision Making module within this programme. These are:

1. Applicants must be able to facilitate the achievement of the assessment of competency required with an appropriately qualified supervisor and within an appropriate clinical setting.