MNurs Children's and Mental Health
Nursing is one of the most demanding and rewarding professions in healthcare, requiring a combination of clinical knowledge, practical skill, and the human qualities of empathy, resilience, and clear communication. This programme at the University of Chester leads to a Master of Nursing (MNurs) qualification with dual registration in both children's nursing and mental health nursing, a combination that reflects the complex and often overlapping needs of young people who experience mental health difficulties alongside other health conditions.
This four-year full-time programme integrates substantial clinical placement experience with academic study from the outset. You will learn the theoretical and evidence base underpinning both fields, including child development and paediatric care, mental health assessment and therapeutic approaches, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, safeguarding, and professional ethics. Across both fields, the programme develops your ability to work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, with families and carers, and directly with children and young people in a range of settings.
The dual qualification is demanding precisely because it prepares you to work across two distinct but related areas of practice, which significantly extends your professional flexibility and your capacity to respond to the complexity of real clinical situations. A typical entry tariff of 136 points is required.
Graduates register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in both fields, which gives them the legal authority to practise as a registered nurse in children's and mental health settings. Career opportunities include roles in paediatric wards, community children's nursing, child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), school nursing, specialist eating disorder services, and learning disability teams. Many graduates go on to develop specialist clinical expertise, take on leadership and management responsibilities, or continue to postgraduate study in advanced practice, clinical education, or a specific clinical speciality.