An undergraduate course.

This course enables you to critically examine and develop your healthcare practice with children, young people and families. You will gain enhanced theoretical knowledge of the positions of children, young people and families in society. The course looks at rights, ethics and law and how these need to be considered alongside an appreciation of the perspectives of children, young people and families and the extent to which they should participate in decision making about their health care experiences. This will enable you to critically evaluate approaches to care and propose a personal role development and an action plan which would lead to enhanced care within your service.

Register for the course

What you will study

The course will deepen your insights into professional health care practice with children, young people and families through exploration of the traditions, social context and policy that shape and inform that practice, including ethical, social, legal, and political influences. It provides the opportunity for you to apply your new knowledge and understanding to your current practice, whether in the NHS, education, private or voluntary sectors in order to develop a plan for a specific role development to enhance health care for children, young people and families.

You will develop the following key skills on this course:

• ability to reflect on and analyse personal values and beliefs and how these have an impact on practice
• ability to work collaboratively with children, young people and families within interdisciplinary teams
• ability to learn in new and unfamiliar situations from differing sources and experiences
• appreciation of multiple perspectives on the health care experience and their effect on decision making
• ability to manage complexity and critically analyse, synthesise and evaluate new information in the context of its use
• ability to use information literacy, ICT tools and numeracy skills as appropriate to find, evaluate, process, present and communicate information.

Transferable skills

You’ll be able to access, retrieve, interpret and utilise information and evidence appropriately; demonstrate effective communication skills; demonstrate personal organisation and responsibility; exercise effective decision-making and initiative; and demonstrate a commitment to care involving service users, carers and supporters.

Vocational relevance

The course will help you to build on your current knowledge and experience, and encourage you to integrate new ideas into your practice and influence others to do so. You will therefore be able to promote and advance innovative health care practice with children, young people and families.

Entry

This course is available either as a module of the BSc (Hons) Nursing Practice degree or on a stand-alone basis.

You will need to be able to draw on your own existing practice experience with children, young people (under 18) and families in order to complete the assessments for this module. Therefore you will normally need to have regular contact with children, young people and/or their families in a health-related role.

If you intend to count this course as a module towards the BSc (Hons) Nursing Practice you must meet the entry requirements for the degree. You must have successfully completed a Diploma of Higher Education (Nursing) or equivalent and also be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). 

On a stand-alone basis, entry to the course is open and not restricted to qualified nurses. You will, however, normally need to have access to an appropriate practice environment.

If you haven’t studied for some time we recommend that you contact your national or regional centre to speak to a study adviser about starting OU study at Level 3. This will help you to understand what study skills will be expected of you and you can prepare yourself for study at this level. If you need to gain additional Level 2 credit in order to complete the BSc (Hons) Nursing Practice we recommend that you do that before starting your Level 3 study.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.

Preparatory work

You will receive guidance about how to get started online in your first course mailing. This will provide you with information on using your computer for OU study and working with the Computing Guide. For example, it explains how to access and use your website and online discussion forums. If you have time before the course starts, you can work through this and explore all the online services available to you.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Module Regulations and the Student Regulations which are available on our Essential documents website.

If you have a disability or additional requirement

Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.

Part of this course is delivered online through a website providing resources and including the use of online activities. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet and have concerns about accessing this type of material you are advised to talk to the Student Registration & Enquiry Service about support which can be given to meet your needs.

If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.

You can also find information about accessible study materials, the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.

Study materials

What's included

Course books and other printed materials. You will have access to a website through which teaching and Library resources are available. Electronic versions of the printed study materials are also provided on the website.

Computing requirements

You will need a computer with internet access to study this course which includes online activities. You can only access these using a web browser with Flash and Java.

• If you have purchased a new desktop or laptop computer since 2006 you should have no problems completing the online activities.
• If you’ve got a netbook, tablet or other mobile computing device check our Technical requirements section.
• If you use an Apple Mac you will need OS X 10.5 or later.

You can also visit the Technical requirements section for further computing information including the details of the support we provide.

Teaching and assessment

Support from your tutor

You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work, and who you can ask for advice and guidance. Your tutor will also offer online tutorials which will be delivered through the use of online forums or other collaborative tools. Please note there will be no face-to-face tutorials.

Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.

Assessment

The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.

You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.

Future availability

The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2012 when it will be available for the last time. A replacement course is not planned.

Students also studied

Students who studied this course also studied at some time:

• Enhancing the patient experience (K342)
• Mentorship and assessment in health and social care settings (K320)
• Death and dying (K260)
• An introduction to health and social care (K101)
• Human biology (SK277)

How to register

We regret that we are currently unable to accept registrations for this course. Where the course is to be presented again in the future, relevant registration information will be displayed on this page as soon as it becomes available.

Distance learning

The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high quality distance learning. Unlike other universities we are not campus based. You will study in a flexible way that works for you whether you’re at home, at work or on the move. As an OU student you’ll be supported throughout your studies – your tutor will guide and advise you, offer detailed feedback on your assignments, and help with any study issues. Tuition might be in face-to-face groups, via online tutorials, or by phone.

For more information about distance learning at the OU read Study explained.

Study explained

Time

– find out how much time is required to complete OU study. One credit point represents roughly 10 hours of study.

Costs

- find out how much you can expect to pay.

Study explained

- all you need to know about studying with the OU.

Your questions

We may have already answered it in our frequently asked questions.

Or contact an adviser in our Student Registration & Enquiry Service Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90 +44(0) 845 366 60 35

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