Advanced Clinical Practice (Critical Care) PgCert, PgDip and MSc

Are you a nurse or allied health professional that cares for critically ill patients? Perhaps you work in a high dependency or critical care area and wish to learn more about the management of your patients? Or maybe you care for patients in step-down units (SDUs)? If so, this advanced clinical practice pathway in critical care, is designed to provide you with the solid academic foundation you’ll need to progress as an advanced clinician.

On this course, you’ll develop advanced assessment and clinical reasoning skills for the acute management and rehabilitation of critically ill patients from intensive care units through to their discharge. You’ll learn a comprehensive knowledge of critical care, which will enable you to work at an advanced level of practice. By studying the latest practices, policy and research, you’ll be able to apply the theory you’ll learn in practice to help your patients and improve their quality of care and health outcomes.

The full master's course can be studied 1 year full-time or 3 years part-time starting in September. If you don’t want to commit to full or part-time study of the entire master's, you can develop your educational portfolio over a longer period of time by undertaking staged study that leads to the award of Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert), Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) and MSc in separate stages. Each stage can be studied 1 year part-time starting in September.

This course is designed to incorporate a multidisciplinary perspective that follows the patient pathway from admission to hospital discharge, which is essential when entering leadership roles in today’s healthcare systems. You’ll learn a holistic approach to patient care alongside clinical leadership skills and how to use evidence-based practice and research to make informed decisions that grow your knowledge and expertise in critical care.

Your learning will be underpinned by the national Advanced Clinical Practice framework as set out by Health Education England, encompassing the four pillars: clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research.

As well as studying key modules in advanced clinical practice, leadership, evidence-based practice and research, you’ll select modules to define your specialist pathway in critical care, where you’ll develop an advanced knowledge of anatomy and physiology. This forms the backbone of critical care practice.

You'll also be able to support your study learning portfolio by choosing from a range of optional modules from our Advanced Clinical Practice named specialist pathways; Cardiovascular Health, Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Neurological Rehabilitation, Occupational Therapy, and Pelvic Health.

At Brunel, we understand the challenges of fitting study around work and family life. For this reason, we have designed this course to be flexible, so that it can fit around your current commitments. You can study full-time, part-time or even just take one or more CPPD modules for your professional development and return to complete your course at a later date.

Following successful completion of this programme, you’ll be prepared for senior clinical or leadership positions within critical care settings at Band 7 or 8a level in critical care.

You’ll graduate as a practitioner that makes a positive impact on patient care. You’ll gain a deep understanding of a range of clinical skills and knowledge that will allow you to manage critically ill patients. Alternatively, you could advance to a PhD or research degree and enter into a clinical academic pathway.

All applicants must have a pre-registration degree in relevant allied health profession and the following of relevant experience as a minimum:

1. Students currently working in the UK - At least 1 year of post qualification clinical work experience in the specialism they have applied for. Typically this should be work experience from a ‘Band 6’ level role.
2. Students currently working outside of the UK – At least 2 years post qualification clinical work experience, ideally including at least 1 year in the specialism you have applied for.

You must have met the minimum work experience requirement at the point you apply for the programme. For example, if you submit your application in February 2023, you must have 1 / 2 years’ experience by February 2023 (depending on whether you are working in or outside the UK). This is to make sure that you will definitely have enough experience when you join the course. This does not include internships as they are supervised and therefore technically still part of your training. You should aim to provide documented evidence of your clinical work experience. All applicants should include a detailed CV as part of their application. Applicants who are working outside of the UK should could include letters of recommendations and/or confirmation of employment (we appreciate that what you can provide will vary from one person to another and be dependent on your specific background and employer, so please aim to provide as much documentary evidence when you apply).

• IELTS: 7 (min 6.5 in all areas)
• Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 68% (63% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 98 (min 23 in all areas) 

UK Staged Master £3,500 per stage.

International Staged Master £7,155 per stage.

The course uses a range of flexible and engaging approaches to assessment. You'll be assessed through exams, critical essays, portfolios, oral presentations, and your dissertation.

The choice of the specific type of assessment will be appropriate to the intended learning outcomes of the taught modules. The assessment strategies will balance the need to demonstrate knowledge and competencies with more in-depth and critical approaches to learning. Such assessment approaches will include examinations, presentations of relevant clinical case scenarios, and coursework, which will take the form of critical assessment of literature and research, critical essays, and the development of the selected portfolio of learning.

Finally, the dissertation provides demonstration of an ability to synthesise and critically evaluate current research underpinning clinical practice and to develop and undertake relevant research, as well as its dissemination.