Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing

The purpose of the Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing is career-focused and will provide the learners with clinical and managerial skills as well as comprehensive and systematic knowledge in mental health care nursing.

The qualification aims to produce competent professional nurse and specialist mental health nurses within a wide range of health service settings, produce competent, independent and critically thinking mental health nurse within a wide range of mental health services thereby contributing to meaningful and sustained mental health practice within a wide range of health service settings.

Learners will develop a wide range of skills, knowledge and attributes that will enable them to make a meaningful and sustained contribution to health services.

Learners will further be equipped with a developed sense of equality, justice and service ethics that will ensure that they work in a responsible and accountable manner, irrespective of their chosen workplace.

The qualification offers a wide range of transferable skills for application in other professions, disciplines and general life including:

• Methodical solution-based approach to problem-solving
• An empowerment-based approach to the development of self and others
• Competence in written and oral communication
• Capacity to assess and implement health and other policies
• Ability to plan, implement and manage projects of a varied nature
• Research capacity

Upon completion of the qualification, qualifying learners will be able to

• Practice and facilitate specialist nursing or midwifery, nursing education or health services management within the ethical-legal parameters of the profession.
• Apply the knowledge of and facilitate evidence-based practice, nursing education or management in the specialist field to solve contextual problems and develop policies and guidelines.
• Appraise and develop self, peers and nurse/midwife specialist students by facilitating self-directedness/leadership and lifelong learning to maintain competence.
• Advocate for the profession and provision of specialist professional support for personnel, patients or clients, families and communities.
• Engage in planning, commissioning and managing a specialist unit, an educational entity or a health service.

Rationale

The qualification seeks to combine nursing and mental health care that provides for curative, prevention of diseases, and promotion of mental health across all lifespans for individuals, families and communities in hospitals and in the community, urban and rural to affect a strong primary health care approach.

This is a career-focused qualification that offers intense training to enable professional nurses to be specialists in mental health care. The qualification seeks to prepare mental health nurse specialists to address the increasing demand for mental health care to support the national health system in the face of the emerging burden of disease as well as contribute to the human resource development to ensure an adequate supply of trained mental health nurse specialists to manage mental health and other related conditions.

The qualification will

• Enable the student to render comprehensive care across all spheres of life, and function as a clinically focused, service-oriented and independent mental health nurse.
• Provide the student with a comprehensive view within the mental health nursing field and the necessary skills to screen and refer mental health clients as required; and enable him or her to work with low and high-risk clients, take responsibility for mental health care in any context, and the managing of health care facility.
• Allow for a variety of students from all spheres of life (provided they meet the admission criteria and are healthy enough), to carry out the duties required of them. The qualification is grounded in mental health nursing practice, and it is intended to provide access to further academic routes, and research.
• The qualifying learner will be a mental health nurse specialist and able to provide care and management in the mental health nursing area in all health care settings.

The qualification is intended to prepare mental health nurse specialists who will be able to meet the service delivery needs of the country, especially the individual, family and community health priorities as experienced currently, using cost-effective measures in line with the stipulations of the primary health care approach.

The recognition of prior learning process is used to increase access to qualifications by individuals through experience at the workplace, experiences through daily life or credit-bearing exemption. In the case of postgraduate diploma programmes experience has to be aligned to nursing and midwifery as well as to the speciality of choice.

• Learners can enter a programme by exemption, based on the fact that the module/s have already been completed. The student may not be exempted from more than 50% of the prescribed credits towards obtaining the qualification.
• Recognition of Prior Learning may be considered when a student enters a programme through non-traditional means, e.g., learners who do not meet the academic requirements for admission into a programme may access that programme based on their work experience.

Learners may be asked to compile a portfolio of evidence detailing their experience, or they may challenge an examination on that module that they require recognition of. The outcome may determine admission or an award of credits toward the module.

Admission through RPL must not reflect on the student's record, but a detailed record of the assessment conducted and all the documentation pertaining to such an assessment activity must be kept in the archives of the institution and must be available when required.

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor of Nursing, NQF Level 7.

Or

• Advanced Diploma in Occupational Health Nursing, NQF Level 7.

And

Proof of registration with the South African Nursing Council as a registered/professional nurse and midwife.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory modules at National Qualifications Framework Level 8 totalling 144 Credits.

Compulsory modules, Level 8, 144 Credits

• Ethos and professional practice, 8 Credits.
• Evidence-based Practice and Research, 12 Credits.
• Professional and Career Development, 8 Credits.
• Mental Health Nursing Skills and Methods, 44 Credits.
• Mental Health Nurse Specialist, 40 Credits.
• Community Mental Health, 32 Credits.

1. Practice and facilitate specialist nursing or midwifery, nursing education or health services management within the ethical-legal parameters of the profession.
2. Apply the knowledge of and facilitate evidence-based practice, nursing education or management in the specialist field to solve contextual problems and develop policies and guidelines.
3. Appraise and develop self, peers and nurse/midwife specialist students by facilitating self-directedness/leadership and lifelong learning to maintain competence.
4. Advocate for the profession and provision of specialist professional support for personnel, patients or clients, families and communities.
5. Engage in planning, commissioning and managing a specialist unit, an educational entity or a health service.
6. Engage in scholarly activities to inform evidence-based practice, education or management.
7. Utilise, manage and communicate data to support decision-making and research.

Associated Assessment Criteria

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 1.

• Illustrate conformity to the relevant code of ethics in the practice of specialist nursing or midwifery, nursing education and health services management.
• Apply moral reasoning models and principles used to make clinical judgements and resolve ethical dilemmas within the specialist practice.
• Account for own professional judgement, actions, outcomes of specialist care, nursing education or health services management provided and continued competence is demonstrated.
• Illustrate conformity to the relevant code of ethics in the practice of specialist nursing or midwifery, nursing education and health services management.
• Make clinical decisions and moral reasoning models and principles are used to make clinical judgements and resolve ethical dilemmas within the specialist practice.
• Document care decisions accurately, comprehensively and timeously taking into account the legal requirements for record keeping.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 2.

• Engage in specialist practice and demonstrate an understanding of the process of evidence-based practice.
• Apply evidence-based specialist practice, nursing education and health services management takes into consideration the appropriate methodology of gathering evidence for practice, education and management, for example, systematic or scoping reviews, appraisal of articles, practice-based research and publication.
• Apply evidence-based practice, nursing education and health service management knowledge and critical analysis of the various levels of evidence.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 3.

• Illustrate leadership skills through the application of appropriate leadership styles, principles and theories of health services management.
• Facilitate Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for self and others for lifelong learning by creating a positive learning climate in the workplace through the processes of mentorship, preceptorship, supervision, performance appraisal, etc.
• Engage in performance appraisal and show an understanding of the purpose and processes of the performance management and development system.
• Illustrate an understanding of the various risk factors that impact health and wellness within the workplace and apply strategies to care for self, peers, employees and learners.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 4.

• Illustrate an understanding of the purpose of the advocacy role for a nurse specialist or midwife specialist practice.
• Apply advocacy principles to ensure safe and quality care in various healthcare settings or nursing education or health services management.
• Illustrate the use of appropriate communication skills and channels in facilitating advocacy.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 5.

• Illustrate an understanding of levels and or classification of the respective specialist units, health services or educational entities.
• Commission the tasks taking into consideration the burden of diseases and priority services as determined by current events.
• Participate in the evaluation of the existing specialist unit, health or education entity and demonstrate knowledge of guidelines for provisioning a specialist unit/ health service or educational entity.
• Engage in planning an understanding of the role and responsibilities in this task within the inter and intra-professional team.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 6.

• Practice in the respective specializations demonstrates knowledge of appropriate search engines and databases for review of literature to inform evidence-based practice, nursing education and health services management.
• Apply appropriate methods to generate evidence for utilization in specialist practice (e.g. research, systematic reviews etc.) education and health services management.
• Illustrate awareness of peer-reviewed journals and use them for sharing of evidence.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcomes 7.

• Document all data or information gathered in the context of specialist practice, education and health services for utilization and storage in accordance with the set standards.
• Utilise comprehensive data, information and emerging evidence pertinent to the respective specialist practice.
• Identify, diagnoses and opportunities for improvement based on gathered and critically analysed assessment data from the patients/clients, families, communities, students or employees including current scientific evidence.