Neonatal Care: Qualified in Speciality

The programme is designed as multiprofessional mode of study, to enrich your knowledge of different aspects of neonatal care provision across the various professions involved in delivery of holistic neonatal and family centred care. We aim to provide you with a teaching, learning and assessment experience that allows you to develop as a reflective practitioner who is in possession of in-depth knowledge of neonatal physiology and pathophysiology. This understanding will also incorporate the application of global evidence-based care strategies which will support you in becoming a knowledgeable, competent, and skilled professional in your field of practice.  It also aims to develop you as a critical thinker. We aim to provide you with teaching and learning experiences that will support your growth and development as a reflective and critical thinker who can apply research skills to neonatal care and contribute positively to neonatal practice. This learning opportunity will not only focus on training for the demands of professional practice, but it will also explore the moral responsibilities that come with local, national and global citizenship.

This part time online course will take up to a year to complete and is structured to support the student through their journey. You'll learn by a variety of teaching methods including lectures, guest lectures, tutorials and independent study. Your knowledge and understanding will be developed using a variety of online teaching, learning and assessment methods, utilising both asynchronous and synchronous learning opportunities.

Live lectures will be delivered using WebEx, allowing for live discussion with peers. These synchronous activities will not only help you to develop specific discussion skills, but they will also help you to develop relationships with your fellow students. Asynchronous activities will be set within each module site of the university's virtual learning environment in the form of workbooks (learning materials and activities to engage the learner online), academic activities (such as reviewing literature; accessing, reviewing case studies and other learning resources, viewing podcasts and recorded sessions), peer and tutor led discussion boards, action learning sets and other forums for presenting/engaging in further discussion/review and application of learning. These activities will be mounted within each module site within the university's virtual learning environment. The nature of these asynchronous learning activities means that you can complete these activities within a time rather than at a set time.

The programme is constructed using two distinct modules. Knowledge gained in the first module, Special and Transitional Care of the Neonate is the foundation module and an underpinning component of the second module, High Dependency and Intensive Care of the Neonate.

The first 20 credit module Special and Transitional Care of the Neonate will focus on the newborn baby who requires care in a special or transitional neonatal care setting. This module will support you in developing your knowledge and understanding of neonates as they transition to extra uterine life, together with the needs of their parents and families. The content will be based on relevant, embryology and fetal development. It will include exploration of maternal and perinatal factors that impact on the outcome of newborns as they adapt to extrauterine life. There will be dedicated time spent revising normal physiology, then learning the altered physiology and the pathophysiology relevant to the newborn baby. Alongside this, you will critically engage with the global evidence base which guides how we provide care and treatment options for these babies.

In the second 40-credit module High Dependency and Intensive Care of the Neonate your learning will be centered around complex physiology and pathological process related to the respiratory, cardiovascular, central nervous, endocrine, renal, gastrointestinal and immunological systems of the premature and ill neonate as they transition to extra uterine life. This will enable you to recognise developing illness and initiate plans of care. Alongside this, you will critically engage with the global evidence base which guides how you provide care and treatment options for these babies. The principles of family integrated care will be critically appraised throughout, as will the concepts and practice of neonatal neuro developmental supportive care.

Lead academic

Anne Moylan is programme leader. She has extensive experience in neonatal care both nationally and internationally and a clinical career in neonatology spanning 35 years including many years as an advanced neonatal nurse practitioner. As an educator she has taught within several universities in both in Scotland and abroad and is committed to developing neonatal nurse education programmes that are committed to contemporary neonatal care.

Entry requirements

Postgraduate

Students will be eligible to apply if they have gained a Bachelor degree with C+, GPA of 2.5/4.0 or Good or better