Continuing Professional Development

School of Health Sciences
Division of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work

Student Handbook 2024-2025

Version: August 2024

The contents of this handbook may be subject to change throughout the academic year. Please check Blackboard for any updates.

This handbook is to be read in conjunction with the SHS Student Handbook.

Introduction to the Programme

Programme Director’s welcome

Welcome to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme of study. Undertaking a unit of study from this provision allows you to undertake individual course units for reasons of continual professional development, without registration for the award of a degree.

We hope you find this handbook helpful to you as you progress through your studies and would strongly advise that you become familiar with the contents of the handbook, but you may also seek advice or clarification from the programme team at any time.

The underpinning philosophy of the CPD programme is theory embedded in practice. Specialist units exist within the programme which offer a selection of course units designed to enhance your clinical specialist knowledge and skills.

For those who wish, stand-alone units undertaken from the CPD portfolio may be counted towards a degree.

For level 6 students, the BSc (Hons) programme is 360 academic credits including 240 credits advanced standing (normally 120 credits at level 4 and 120 credits at level 5 or equivalent), the remaining 120 credits completed at level 6 whilst on the programme.

For level 7 students, the MSc programme is 180 academic credits with exit points at Post Graduate Certificate (60 Credits) and Post Graduate Diploma (120 Credits).

There is no limit to the maximum number of stand-alone modules a student can complete before registering for a degree programme but if you would like to access Student Finance Loans you should check the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) details as there are specific criteria for students who wish to use credits achieved previously as part of their current MSc pathway.

If you need any support in decided to undertake a degree, please make an appointment to discuss.

 

Samantha Freeman
Director of Postgraduate Taught Education for the Division of NMSW

Programme Roles

Programme Director Role and Support

The role of the Programme Director is to ensure the smooth running of the programme. This includes chairing the Programme Committee, overseeing the student evaluation process, considering changes to the programme and ensuring adherence to the university’s guidelines for academic practice.

Your Programme Director will be pleased to meet with you at any time during your period of study, or to take suggestions or comments on any aspect of the programme through the contact details below:

Samantha Freeman, Programme Director

Room 5.323b, Jean McFarlane Building

Samantha.Freeman@manchester.ac.uk

Unit Leaders Role and Support

Each unit has a designated leader who is responsible for managing the teaching and assessment process for a specific unit.  This individual is also there to guide you regarding all issues relating to the specific unit. As you are undertaking the unit a CPD standalone the unit lead also acts as your academic advisor.

Academic advisors are normally responsible for pastoral guidance during the course, although this person may change at any time by negotiation if students feel there is a need to change academic advisor.  If this is the case, students need to discuss the difficulties/problems with their academic advisor and then approach the Programme Director.  You can also seek advice from other quarters, for example, the Student Union Welfare Section, or the Student Health Care and Counselling Service.

Each student is assigned an Academic Advisor at the beginning of their degree. This will be a member of the academic staff in your department who can offer support and advice on academic and pastoral matters, and is key to the School’s student support structure.

You will meet with your Academic Advisor during Welcome Week and will then have one-to-one meetings throughout the semester to discuss academic progress, steps taken towards career planning, and professional and personal development.

Overall Programme Aim and Structure

 This is a Division-wide academic structure for continuing professional development which:

• Offers flexibility, choice and high quality postgraduate education that is responsive to individual and employer needs locally, nationally and internationally
• Facilitates an individual choice of units
• Shares teaching and research expertise from across the Division through inter-disciplinary provision and promotes opportunities for inter-disciplinary learning

This programme offers registrants from nursing, midwifery, social work and other allied health professionals an opportunity to engage in CPD education to deepen and enhance their practice through the acquisition, extension and critical appraisal of their knowledge and skills. The programme reflects professional, UK-wide government and international benchmarks for advanced level practice for the health and social care workforce to equip students with the contemporary knowledge, professional and leadership skills for advanced level practice.

Students gain the contemporary knowledge and skills in the areas of clinical practice; leadership and collaborative practice; improving quality, developing practice and developing self and others (Department of Health, 2010). The programme prepares students for the development of new efficient and ethical ways of working that offer better quality of life and quality of care by placing service users and carers at the centre of decision-making and service redesign.

Full and part-time study options will be available via face-to-face and blended learning models.

Complete details of each course unit can be found on our webpage https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/nursing/cpd/ or email cpd.nursing@manchester.ac.uk or via the website

The programme is delivered within the university two semesters of September and Jan/February start dates. The majority of individual course units are offered once per year.

The strategy for learning and teaching is to utilise a variety of methods suited to adult learners.  Flexibility ensures that methods match the group profile.  The experience that you, the student, bring to the course unit and shares, is recognised as an excellent resource, and highly valued in student evaluations.

Teaching methods seek to give mature students transferable skills, which you are very likely to use outside the programme, and to develop the independent learning that is essential to lifelong learning. The learning and teaching strategy utilised within the programme have been chosen to reflect the learning and teaching strategy of the Faculty and Division.

Course Unit Evaluation

Courses are continually developed to meet the needs of patient or service users, students, Public Services and government.  All course units undergo an annual review where information from a range of sources are reflected upon to enhance the quality of the unit.  All staff develop the course units through their specialisms and research undertaken.  In addition to this, External Examiners are appointed to each unit, these are colleagues delivering similar programmes in other institutions throughout the UK.  They not only make recommendations but assist in ensuring that the programme is delivered to a similar standard as programmes in other Universities.

Students contribute to this process through completing course unit related questionnaires, discussing matters with the External Examiner and through passing comments to your student representative which are then discussed at the Programme Committee Meeting, Quality Enhancement Days and the Teaching and Learning Committee (TLC).

Other sources outside the University that influence the development of programmes are practitioners within NHS Trusts, government departments, the private health sector and external agencies such as the Quality Assurance Agency, Nursing Midwifery Council and Health and Care Professions Council.

The Division operates a system of student evaluation of units, placements and programmes.  You will be asked to complete questionnaires and will be invited to participate in other evaluation exercises, such as group discussions. The results of evaluations are reviewed by the Unit Leaders, the Programme Director, the Programme Committee and the Head of Division.  All evaluations are reviewed together at the Quality Assurance Day. Any proposals for changes to the programme arising from the evaluations are considered by the Programme Committee.

Student evaluations are an important part of the Division’s quality assurance and enhancement processes. Please complete and return questionnaires.  Unit Leaders will always welcome any additional comments that you may wish to make informally.

Programme Schedule: Key dates

The majority of course units are delivered within the two semesters of September to December and January/February to May. For information on start dates for specific course units please contact shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk or cpd.nursing@manchester.ac.uk

Programme Regulations

As a registered student of The University of Manchester, you agree to comply with the rules and regulations under which the University and its students must operate. The principles underpinning these are set out in the University’s Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations, which are listed in the Founding Documents available at: http://www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate-degree-regulations/

Specific regulations regarding your programme of study are in the programme information section of this handbook.  The main elements of the rules and regulations of which you should be aware are summarised in the A-Z of Services.

The Use of Accreditation of Prior Learning (APEL)

The University regulations allow students to receive an award of credits towards a programme on the basis of demonstrated learning that has occurred at some point in the past and is appropriate to the programme both in content and currency. The award of credits can be based upon learning for which certification has been awarded by an educational institution or another education/training provider (APCL – e.g. relevant credit rated modules completed elsewhere) or uncertificated learning gained from experience (APEL).

All APEL applications must be approved in line with the University’s overall policy on the award of APEL and the maximum credits allowable from APEL (subject to any programme specific requirements) If you are interested in APEL please speak with the Director of PGT Education for the division. Advice will be given on the application process and guidance on the preparation and submission of evidence.

Assessment of documentation is carried out by the Director of PGT Education who will assess your documentation against the criteria of level, content, relevance, currency and validity.  A standardised pro-forma is used to ensure consistency in the assessment of documentation. The claim is then submitted to the APEL Committee (a sub-group of the Programme Committee), for decision-making and, where if approved, they are ratified.

Sharing of information between the University and Employers

Students who are seconded to the University from their employer or who hold a registration with a professional body i.e. the NMC for a Programme of study should note the following:

The University reserves the right to share information about student progress and attendance with seconding employers.

• The University will respond to reasonable requests by employers for such information and may on occasion seek information from employers.
• Agreement to the sharing of such information for seconded students is a pre-requisite for entry and continuation on programmes of study.
• Students who wish to be excluded from this agreement should formally notify the Programme Director in writing, who will relay this information to the seconding employer.

Confidentiality

By the nature of practice, students will be exposed to confidential information about patients/clients and others.  Breaching confidentiality may only be appropriate in exceptional circumstances.  Inappropriate breaching of confidentiality is a betrayal of trust, a serious matter and as such may lead to disciplinary action by the employer or university. You are reminded that information you are exposed to, may fall into two categories:

i) that for use within the Public Domain which is open and accessible, and

ii) that which falls within the Private Domain and is confidential.

There is also information that is deemed to be in the public’s interest but not necessarily readily available.  Care should be taken to ensure that these aspects of information/confidentiality are properly addressed within student work.  If you are unclear on this subject, you should seek clarification from your Course Unit Leader.

You must not give information to the Press regarding events which take place in the Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work or any of the placement areas.  Any enquiries from the Press must be directed to the Head of Division or the Senior Officer (if in a clinical placement). If you are requested to make a statement, help and advice should be sought from your personal tutor.

Although you are free to publish your own work, you are strongly advised to seek tutorial guidance first, since any work submitted for examination/assessment purposes remains the copyright of the Division.

For Level 6 Students: Changing Academic Level

On commencement of a course unit students will be given up to 2 weeks to change their academic level. After which point no further changes can be made. Students must contact the unit lead to enquire about any such request.

Taking Further Units

Once you have registered with us, you may decide you would like to take more course units, either in the same academic year (September to September) or in a subsequent year. There is no need to go through the admissions process again and this can be dealt with by your Programme Team. Depending on the unit there may be a need to assess your suitability but this can be discussed on a case by case basis.

Defer/Suspend 

Students may under exceptional circumstances be able to defer completion of a module up to 4 weeks after commencement. Students must request this in writing to the Programme Director and provide supporting independent 3rd party evidence. If approved, the student will be able to enrol on the next available intake without additional tuition fees being imposed. Any requests for deferral may result in the University contacting the student’s employer for clarification if appropriate.

Blackboard

Blackboard, the University’s ‘virtual learning environment’, will be used for online teaching.

What is Blackboard?

Blackboard is a web-based system that complements and builds upon traditional learning methods used at The University of Manchester. By using Blackboard you can:

• view course materials and learning resources,
• communicate with lectures and other students,
• collaborate in groups,
• get feedback
• submit assignments
• monitoring your own progress at a time and place of your own convenience.

Training in the use of software

The Faculty eLearning team have produced a short introduction to Blackboard for new students.  The recording is hosted in two places: the VLS and on YouTube:

• https://stream.manchester.ac.uk/Play.aspx?VideoId=30453
• https://youtu.be/47pA877MKJg

The recording is just over seven minutes long and covers most of the commonly used tools in Blackboard.

Online Skills Training Resource

The Faculty has developed a skills training resource to support you through your postgraduate taught programme. This online material should supplement the assessed learning material and activities undertaken in your taught programme.

Accessing the online skills resource

You can access Blackboard through the My Manchester portal (http://my.manchester.ac.uk). The skills training resource is available in an academic community space available to all registered PGT students in the Faculty through Blackboard. If you cannot see these units in your Blackboard please contact your Programme Administrator.

Content

Full details of all these resources can be found in the introduction to each unit. These resources have been designed to give you formative feedback on your progress through them. If you experience any problems and would like to talk to someone, please contact your Programme Director. If you have questions about referencing and how it applies to your own work, please contact your Programme Director or dissertation supervisor/module lead.

 * NOTE: the material in this online resource is for reference and formative learning purposes only. In some of your taught programme you may be required to undertake assessed course units for Research Methods, Qualitative Research or Statistics. If your programme involves taught units then you should refer to the Blackboard material relating to that course unit. Please contact your Programme Administrator if you are unsure which material relates to your assessed work. You will still be able to refer to the online skills resource in later years.

External Examiners Reports

External Examiners’ reports relating to this programme will be shared with student representatives at the Staff Student Liaison Committee (SSLC)/programme committee/other appropriate forum (specify), where details of any actions carried out by the programme team/Division in response to the External Examiners’ comments will be discussed. Students should contact their student representatives if they require any further information about External Examiners’ reports or the process for considering them

The External Examiner for this programme is:

Name: Alison James
Name of Institution: Cardiff University
Position at current Institution:  Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with External Examiners under any circumstances, in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments.  Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the UMSU Advice Centre. In cases where a student does contact an External Examiner directly, External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries. Instead, External Examiners should report the matter to their Division contact who will then contact the student to remind them of the other methods available for students. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact their Programme Office (or equivalent).