Nursing Child and Mental Health

Nursing children and young people with mental health needs requires a distinctive and integrated perspective. Children and young people experience physical and psychological health in ways that are shaped by their developmental stage, their family environment and their social context, and these dimensions are rarely separable in practice. Developing as a nurse who can work confidently across both children's physical health and child and adolescent mental health means acquiring a breadth of clinical understanding, a refined sensitivity to communication with young people at different stages of development, and the ability to support families through complex and often distressing healthcare journeys.

At the University of Southampton, this four-year full-time integrated master's degree leads to NMC registration in two fields of nursing: children's nursing and mental health nursing. The intensive programme develops a deep understanding of children's physical and mental health, preparing you to care for young people and their families across the full range of healthcare settings. You will study the science of child development, physiology, pharmacology and mental health conditions, alongside the clinical skills, communication techniques and professional values that nursing requires.

The integrated master's level qualification reflects the depth and rigour of the training and positions graduates for leadership and advanced practice roles as the profession develops.

Practice placements are distributed across the four years, placing you in a variety of clinical environments and giving you the sustained hands-on experience that is fundamental to nursing education. You will develop clinical competence alongside the capacity for evidence-based reflection and professional development that characterises excellent nursing practice.

Graduates register with the NMC in two fields and move into paediatric nursing, CAMHS, community children's nursing, inpatient mental health, neonatal care, school nursing, specialist services and private healthcare. The dual registration opens a wider range of career pathways than single-field nursing, and the master's level qualification supports progression into advanced and leadership roles.