Acute Care (Professional Practice)

This group of flexible acute care awards will help you to enhance your care of adults who experience acute health deterioration, and help you to take your professional knowledge in the field of acute care, one step further.

The awards will help you to respond to some of the challenges of today’s increasingly complex patient population, improving your confidence and ability to formulate effective patient centred decisions. You will gain enhanced skills in the early recognition of acute health deterioration and develop your knowledge of evidence-based approaches to the effective management of acute deterioration.

Once the two core modules are studied (RAPID and Management of Acute Deterioration), you will be able to access a range of optional modules that help you to get the bespoke learning experience that you need, relevant to your clinical environment.

This course will help you to gain confidence in both assessment and clinical decision making during acute episodes of acute health deterioration. The acute care courses can be studied by any registered healthcare professional with 6 months or more experience of caring for adults who experience acute health deterioration.

• Clinically focussed content that addresses the challenges of the increasingly older and more complex patient population.
• An opportunity to develop your confidence and skills specifically in the recognition and management of acutely ill adults
• A strong focus on current issues in acute care, and the practical application of knowledge
• Each module has a bespoke Moodle virtual learning environment to support your continued learning off campus
• A big choice of optional modules allows you to build a bespoke learning experience, most appropriate to your career plans.
• Ongoing support from university staff to facilitate your development as a learner.

Entry requirements

Level 6 study

A BSc degree is awarded on completion of 300 credits of which at least 60 must be at Level 6 or above. At least 100 of these credits must be studied at BCU for the student to be eligible for a BCU award. Students who have a Dip.HE. or equivalent from BCU will need to complete 60 credits at Level 6 to gain their BSc.

Students who have a Dip HE or equivalent but do not have any previous BCU credits will need to complete at least 100 credits to gain a BSc award. These 100 credits can be achieved by completing five 20 credit modules at Level 6 or by completing three modules at Level 6 plus a 40 credit Level 5 portfolio module. The portfolio module is offered free of charge

Level 7 study

For entry into the Post Graduate Certificate students must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree or equivalent or a 60 credit Level 6 award in an appropriate subject area. Applicants with evidence of successfully completed Level 6 study within the preceding 2 years and a minimum of 5 years’ experience in the pathway speciality will also be considered. 

Students undertaking modules as standalone rather than as part of an award may do so regardless of number of previous credits as long as they are working in an appropriate area to achieve that module’s learning outcomes and have evidence of successfully completed Level 6 study.

Where appropriate students may be asked to provide a written pre-course assessment set by the subject pathway award leader for assessment in order to allow assessment of the students’ academic ability prior to commencing study.

In order to prevent duplication of study, a student that has previously completed a Level 6 pathway cannot access the equivalent pathway at Level 7.

A student who has completed the Level 6 version of a professional practice module (or similar module from a former programme or from another academic institution) within a preceding 5 year period cannot study the Level 7 version of that module.

EU/International students

IELTs of 6 with no element below 5.5.

Course structure

You can choose to study this course as a complete pathway (full or part-time) leading to the level 6 (graduate) or level 7 (post graduate) acute care awards listed below. You can also study the core modules of RAPID and Management of Acute Deterioration as standalone modules for 20 level 6 or 20 level 7 credits. Your choice will depend on your prior qualifications, your individual need and the needs of your organisation. If you would like some advice on which option might be best for you, please contact the pathway lead Claire Perkins Claire.perkins@bcu.ac.uk.

Degree (Level 6)

Postgraduate (Level 7)

Our Facilities

Our School of Nursing and Midwifery is based at our City South campus in leafy Edgbaston.

We’ve spent £41million expanding our facilities at City South. These facilities offer hands-on practical experience, replicating the spaces you will come across in professional practice.

In a sector where new techniques are constantly being discovered, we work hard to ensure that you learn using the most up-to-date equipment available. Alongside physical spaces such as a mock operating theatre and wards, we also make use of online and virtual technology, such as our virtual ward and virtual case creator.

See more of our skills facilities at City South

Centre for Skills and Simulation

The Centre for Skills and Simulation offers a range of different spaces which replicate situations that you will encounter in practice. These include hospital wards, an operating theatre and a home environment room.

Our mock wards enable you to get a feel of what a ward is really like before you head out for your first placement. The hospital wards can be adapted from low care to high dependency care environment with the necessary monitoring equipment.

The home environment room is the perfect space for teaching communications skills and allows us to simulate a community setting for our students. It is particularly useful for mental health nurses, learning disability nurses and midwives.

Simulation Manikins

We have several Simulation men (SIM men) and simulation babies (SIM babies) which are anatomically correct manikins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills. The manikins contain software which replicates real symptoms, and can manipulate indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and heart rate for extra realism. SIM man can even ‘talk’ to the students as they are treating him, to add another dimension to learning.

Computer Facilities

The Seacole building has two open-access IT Suites which offer PCs, printers, photocopiers and scanners. There is also an IT Helpdesk for quick and easy help with your computing or internet issues.

Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:

• Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
• Ability to save files to USB, DVD & CD
• Microsoft Office software
• Research and statistical software
• Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home

Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.

In addition to desktop PCs, we also offer a laptop loan facility, allowing students to borrow a laptop for up to six hours while on campus.

Course Enquiries

For all course enquiries please contact the Acute Care Pathway Leader, Claire Perkins on:

• Email: Claire.Perkins@bcu.ac.uk

International Enquiries

If you are an international student please contact the international office for more information on entry requirements:

• Tel: +44 (0)121 331 5389
• Email: international.enquiries@bcu.ac.uk 

Professional Navigator

The Professional Practice Programme consists of a selection of modules that can be studied on their own or as part of an award. For help in deciding which modules to study or your outcome award please contact our Professional Navigators on navigator@bcu.ac.uk