2025/26 entry Applications also open for 2024/25
MSc Advanced Clinical Practice
Why study Advanced Clinical Practice at Liverpool John Moores University?
- Newly validated for 2024 with updated module design to ensure clinical relevancy
- Mix of Core (compulsory) and Option modules reflecting current workforce development needs
- Taught by Advanced Clinical Practitioners and subject experts
- Supports the development of autonomous, evidence-based and holistically patient-focused practitioners
- Underpinned by the four pillars of advanced practice: clinical practice, research, education, and leadership and management
- Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) 2023 reports 100% of students find the course intellectually stimulating.
About this course
LJMU's MSc Advanced Clinical Practice masters degree allows you to individualise your advanced clinical practice learning journey. Through a choice of contemporary option modules reflecting a range of clinical specialties and areas of interest, you can tailor your study to best meet your career aspirations.
This Level 7 postgraduate degree is usually delivered across two years and is studied part-time. The exit award is Masters of Science (MSc) Advanced Clinical Practice, with a total credit value of 180 credits.
Year 1 of the programme consists of five core modules totalling 90 credits. All students will study the Core (compulsory) module 'An introduction to the principles of Advanced Clinical Practice'. The subsequent four modules focus on each of the four pillars of advanced practice and are evenly weighted. This ensures that you gain a solid foundation of knowledge, skills and attributes in line with the Multi-professional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice capabilities (HEE, 2017).
In Year 2, you will undertake modules totalling 90 credits. These are from a combination of 50 credits of Core modules, and two Option modules (20 credits each).
Fees and funding
There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students
Fees
The fees quoted at the top of this page cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- access to programme-appropriate software
- library and student IT support
- free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Additional costs
Although not all of the following are compulsory/relevant, you should keep in mind the costs of:
- accommodation and living expenditure
- books (should you wish to have your own copies)
- printing, photocopying and stationery
- PC/laptop (should you prefer to purchase your own for independent study and online learning activities)
- mobile phone/tablet (to access online services)
- field trips (travel and activity costs)
- placements (travel expenses and living costs)
- student visas (international students only)
- study abroad opportunities (travel costs, accommodation, visas and immunisations)
- academic conferences (travel costs)
- professional-body membership
- graduation (gown hire etc)
Funding
There are many ways to fund postgraduate study for home and international students. From loans to International Scholarships and subject-specific funding, you’ll find all of the information you need on our specialist postgraduate funding pages.
Please be aware that the UK’s departure from the EU may affect your tuition fees. Learn more about your fee status and which tuition fees are relevant to you.
Fees
The fees quoted above cover registration, tuition, supervision, assessment and examinations as well as:
- Library membership with access to printed, multimedia and digital resources
- Access to programme-appropriate software
- Library and student IT support
- Free on-campus wifi via eduroam
Funding
Opportunities for funding may be available through your workplace employer or alternatively through the Postgraduate Masters Loan scheme. More information can be found https://www.gov.uk/masters-loan
Employability
Further your career prospects
LJMU has an excellent employability record with 96% (HESA 2018) of our postgraduates in work or further study six months after graduation. Our applied learning techniques and strong industry connections ensure our students are fully prepared for the workplace on graduation and understand how to apply their knowledge in a real world context.
The programme is designed to reinforce the graduate attributes required to progress within the NHS workforce, and to support service demand within the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (2023) across the healthcare sector with the growth of Advanced Clinical Practitioner training places.
Upon graduating, you will be well placed to continue in, or apply for Advanced Clinical Practitioner roles within your specialist field.
Trainee ACP roles start at Agenda for Change Band 7, progressing to Band 8a on completion of the prerequisites. Lead roles exist nationally up to Band 9 for those wishing to pursue routes with greater focus on leadership, education and/or research.
The student experience
Discover life as a postgraduate student at LJMU.
Course modules
Discover the building blocks of your programme
Your programme is made up of a number of core modules which are part of the course framework. Some programmes also have optional modules that can be selected to enhance your learning in certain areas and many feature a dissertation, extended report or research project to demonstrate your advanced learning.
Core modules
Underpinning Principles of Advanced Clinical Practice
10 credits
Within this module the content covered will be:
- The role of the ACP within healthcare
- Underpinning legislation, political drivers and healthcare agenda
- Ethical and legal principles relating to the role
- The development of the autonomous practitioner
- Scope of practice and limitations
- Managing complexity, risk and uncertainty within practice
Clinical Assessment and Decision Making
20 credits
Module content will include:
- History taking and holistic assessment of physical and mental health,
- Advanced communication skills,
- Pathophysiology,
- Physical examination,
- Interpretation of routine diagnostic investigations
- Clinical decision making incorporating therapeutic interventions.
- Safe, high quality and evidence based patient-centred care
- Typical and complex patient presentations
- Clinical judgement, risk and referrals
- Differential diagnosis
- Therapeutic and person-centred approaches
The Research Pillar in Practice
20 credits
Within this module you will cover:
- Qualitative and quantitative methodologies
- Critical appraisal of literature and searching the evidence
- sources of evidence including technological sources (i.e. social media)
- Interpretation of the data
- Good practice research - ethics and governance
- Research dissemination
- Research in practice
- Identifying gaps in practice evidence
- outcomes of research for organisational and healthcare change
Multiprofessional Leadership and Management
20 credits
Within this module, you will cover:
- Multiprofessional teamworking and leadership perspectives
- Role modelling within your organisation
- Evaluating own and others' practice and responding to feedback
- Organisational cultures around risk, patient safety and escalating concerns within a healthcare organisation
- Techniques to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of service delivery and the response to feedback
- Approaches to service improvement, innovation and change within the health sector
- Consultancy and sharing best practice as a leader to enhance quality of clinical practice
- Sustainability and projections for future development in healthcare
- National and local policy and political drivers affecting the health sector
Principles of Clinical Education and Supervision
20 credits
Within this module the student will be developing knowledge relating to the theories of learning and education as applied to clinical practice. The module takes a pyramid approach to teaching and learning starting with the self, then moving onto individual support for others, team learning approaches and culminating in organisational culture. The perspectives that will be considered will be both macro and micro; from the approaches taken across the organisation to embed educational models and processes, to the supervision and educational support of the individual including the recognition of learning needs, and the process of feedback and peer-review. This is further underpinned by critical reflection of the students learning and development and how this is applied to the students areas of practice.
The module is run for 15 weeks and consists of 12 x 3 hour weekly face to face sessions with lectures, seminars, group discussion, directed and independent learning. An assessment is submitted in week 15 of the module.
This module aligns to the following Multiprofessional Framework Capabilities for Advanced Clinical Practice (NHS, 2017):
2.4; 3.1; 3.2; 3.4; 3.5; 3.6; 3.7, 3.8
Advanced Clinical Practice Inquiry
30 credits
This module encompasses elements of all four of the pillars in advanced clinical practice including the following:
- Research: Critical Appraisal - Synthesis - Evidence Base - Dissemination
- Leadership: Service-redesign
- Education: Organisational culture of learning
- Clinical: Scope of practice
Within this module the student is supported to consider the following:
- Consideration of an identified area of change within own scope of practice
- How to conduct a robust and methodological systematic review of the literature
- Analysis of the evidence and the development of critical discussion
- Appropriate recommendations that can be drawn from the data analysis
- Disseminations methods and options
Advanced Clinical Practice Proficiency
20 credits
The module is delivered through tutorial support as the student is guided and supported throughout their advanced clinical practice journey on the programme and in particular within the immediately preceding core module (7009NAPPG Advanced Practice Inquiry) to progress towards this achievement of assessment opportunity. The module consists of two assessments:
- Open book examination
- Presentation of practice (consisting of two elements; Oral presentation assessment and submission of a clinical practice change report)
Optional Modules
Developing the Specialist Practitioner
20 credits
Within this module the student will be supported to consider the following in relation to their own area of specialist practice:
- Enhancing clinical practice within their own sphere of influence
- Enhancing and driving quality
- promoting and sharing best practice
- Developing practice within the context of health needs of the population
- Effective communication and working in partnership
Emergency Management
20 credits
Within this module you will cover the following:
- Emergency care - context and setting
- Trauma management - how this differs in in and out of hospital settings
- Policies and drivers for trauma response - reflections on national incidents - JESOP
- Contemporary management and innovation in emergency care
- Managing emergency presentations
- Systems based presentations including, bleeding, head injury, cardiovascular collapse, drowning and hypothermia, overdose and reduced consciousness
- Mental Health assessment
- Metabolic emergencies
Applied Pathophysiology
20 credits
This module will allow students to
- Explore the applied pathophysiology of commonly presenting mental health conditions, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, renal and urological, neurological, haematological and immunological diseases.
- Understand how and genetic and environmental factors affect physiological mechanisms that lead to disease
- Develop understanding of how therapeutic interventions can change underlying pathophysiology and reduce the impact of disease
Acute Surgery: Presentations and Post-Operative Management
20 credits
The module will cover:
- Appropriate assessment of the presenting complaint
- Common and acute surgical presentations covering general surgery, cardiothoracic and vascular, colorectal, urological, gynaecology, ENT and plastic surgery
- Diagnostic investigations pertinent to acute medical presentations
- Analysis of policies and guidance relating to surgical preparation of the patient
- Post-operative management and complications
Acute Medicine: Presentations and Management
20 credits
The module will cover:
- Appropriate assessment of the patient with an acute medical presentation
- Common acute medical presentations
- Diagnostic investigations pertinent to acute medical presentations
- Developing clinical reasoning skills for defensible decision making in acute medicine
- Analysis of policies and guidance relating to acute medicine
Appraising Public Health Initiatives
20 credits
The module will cover:
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Key areas of public health focus as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan (2019); Prevention, Smoking, Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, Diet and Alcohol, Antimicrobial Resistance and Vaccinations, Cancer, Mental Health, Air Pollution, Children and Maternity Care and Gambling.
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Approaches to health education, health promotion and public health
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Empowering people to manage their health
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Social marketing and communication.
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Political and ethical issues relating to health education, health promotion, and public health
- Barriers and challenges related to improving the health of the public
Assessment and Management of Urgent Care Presentations
20 credits
Module content will cover:
- An overview of urgent care services including general practice, 111, walk-in-centres and urgent care centres
- Prioritising healthcare need through advanced assessment and triage
- Recognising red flags in patient presentations across the lifespan
- Common and rarer presentations in urgent care across the lifespan and the associated therapeutic interventions
- Clinical decision making in urgent care
- Scope of practice, professional boundaries and competence
Managing the Deteriorating Patient
20 credits
Managing the deteriorating patient allows the learner to explore the complexity associated with recognising and responding to early signs of deterioration in patients across a range of settings. Based on national patient safety guidance it entails in-depth exploration of the factors that influence incidents relating to deterioration and the underlying causes for these. It also enables the student to develop knowledge in the early recognition of signs and symptoms that present during early deterioration across a range of systems including the deteriorating neurological, respiratory, renal and septic patients, and compensatory mechanisms, and considers patient examples and how to escalate and manage care within different settings.
This module runs over 15 weeks including the assessment point and each session is 3 hours in length.
This module aligns to following capabilities within the Multiprofessional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practitioners (HEE, 2017):
1.1; 1.6; 1.8; 2.8; 2.10; 4.4.
Developing Practice in Cardiac Care
20 credits
This module will help you to develop your knowledge and skills so that you are able to provide high quality care that is based on sound clinical judgement and robust evidence. It will cover areas including:
- The evolution of cardiovascular care and the role of evidence
- Advanced anatomy and physiology of the heart and circulation
- Physical assessment of the cardiac patient
- Haemodynamic assessment and intervention
- Single and 12 lead ECG interpretation
- Introduction to biochemistry and haematology
- Cardiac pharmacology and patient concordance
- Care of the patient post cardiac intervention
- Managing patients with complex heart failure in the acute setting
- Advanced life support
- Promoting healthy behaviour change through cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention
- Supporting patients from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to navigate the healthcare systems
- Caring for patients who are nearing the end of life and supporting grieving families
First Episode Psychosis assessment and treatment
20 credits
This module is suitable for students wishing to develop an understanding of common mental health conditions and psychosis as an acute presentation.
This module will run for 15 weeks and will consist of 12 x 3 hour face to face 'lectures' with additional 'online' learning time allocated to the module delivery.
This module has been mapped to the following capabilities of the Multiprofessional Framework for Advanced Clinical Practice In England (HEE, 2017):
1.4; 1.5; 1.7;
Independent and Supplementary Prescribing
20 credits
Aimed at healthcare professionals registered with the HCPC & NMC, this module enables you to prescribe, safely, appropriately and cost-effectively as independent and/or supplementary prescribers, in accordance with both legal and professional requirements.
The module will prepare you to:
- complete an assessment of a patient/client/service users whilst developing a management plan in relation to their diagnosis/differential diagnosis.
- complete an episode of care through prescribing or deprescribing safety
All students who wish to undertake Independent & Supplementary Prescribing also known as V300 Non-Medical Prescribing will have to complete an additional 'North West Non-Medical Prescribing Application form' which will be approved by the prescribing programme team prior to commencement on the independent and supplementary prescribing programme.
Paediatric Clinical Examination and Minor Illness
20 credits
This module will centre on the major physiological systems and build upon students’ prior knowledge and expertise. This will inform greater understanding of the causes and management of common childhood illnesses, and their diagnosis. Wider determinants of health and associated risk factors will be considered to inform decision making and ensure safe practice. Issues related to professional development and advancing clinical practice will be discussed.
Suicide Prevention in Adults: a Psychosocial Approach
20 credits
This module will help you to develop a critical understanding of psychosocial suicide prevention approaches. You will be able to critically appraise and reflect on the application of these approaches in practice.
Outline syllabus:
- Evidence base for psychosocial suicide prevention
- Legal, ethical, professional aspects of psychosocial suicide prevention
- Philosophy of risk management
- Understanding of the influence of risk factors
- Risk formulation
- Safety planning
- Effective person centred care: collaboration/engagement, care, compassion and hope
Teaching
An insight into teaching on your course
Your modules offer a variety of teaching and learning approaches that are designed to engage and inspire you. These include lectures, seminars, group work activities, simulation and tutorials, both on-campus and online.
As you progress through the programme, you will develop and utilise progressively higher-order and mastery-level skills, as well as further developing subject specific knowledge. This will support you to become an inquiring and confident advanced practice learner, fostering independence in the acquisition, and application of, theoretical knowledge.
You will be:
- empowered to acquire knowledge through supported, independent learning. This will include being directed to scholarly activities that will prepare you for scheduled teaching activity.
- supported in engaging in online asynchronous activity. Examples include tutorial discussions, tutor-facilitated discussion boards and collaborative or individual projects, such as wikis, padlets, blogs and e-portfolios. While they may not always be present at the same times as the students, academic staff will be able to actively, iteratively and directly engage with you to facilitate and guide your learning.
Assessment
How learning is monitored on your programme
To cater for the wide-ranging content of our courses and the varied learning preferences of our students, we offer a range of assessment methods on each programme.
You will usually undertake one assessment for each module.
Assessment methods will be authentic to practice, enabling you to demonstrate knowledge and competency, and replicate or further advance ‘real-world’ tasks that you might be expected to experience in your professional career.
To help you prepare for written, verbal, practical and examination assessment, you will be given the opportunity to practise the appropriate related skills throughout your modules.
Course tutors
Our staff are committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning
Misti Ollier
Programme Lead
Misti began her nursing career in 2004 following successful completion of her DipHE in Adult nursing. She has been a qualified nurse for 20 years and has worked within both surgical and critical care specialisms. In 2015, Misti began her training as an advanced practitioner (AP) within surgery and qualified in 2017 after successfully completing her MSc in advanced practice. During this time, she cared for the general surgical patient and was a key player in the development of the surgical ambulatory care unit (SACU). Misti continued to develop as an AP and further develop the SACU until she moved into education in 2021. Misti now works as a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice and is a key contributor to the new 2024 MSc Advanced Clinical Practice programme. As programme lead for this programme Misti is focussed on developing the student journey within the postgraduate provision to ensure the students attain the best possible experience whilst here at LJMU.
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Lecturer/ Senior Lecturer
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Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
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Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
School facilities
What you can expect from your School
The School of Nursing and Advanced Practice is based within Tithebarn Building in the heart of Liverpool and close to rail and bus public transport connections. It adjoins the Avril Robarts Library, which offers a wealth of learning and study support resources.
Entry requirements
You will need:
Qualification requirements
Undergraduate degree
BA/BSc (Hons) in relevant field at 2:2 or above, or evidence of potential to study at Masters Level
GCSEs and equivalents
Applicants must have a minimum level of literacy and numeracy (Grade C/Grade 4 or above in GCSE English and Maths or its equivalent).
Additional requirements
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Relevant work experience
Evidence of current and active registration with an appropriate professional body related to Health (eg.NMC/HCPC/GPhC/SWE). Applicants will normally have a minimum of 3 years post-registration experience and would be employed within a patient facing or clinical environment. Evidence of meeting the entry requirements must be provided through the submission of a one-page CV using the proforma provided.
Further information
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Extra Requirements
Students who wish to undertake module 7100NPAPP during the programme must also be registered with either NMC as a Nurse (level 1)/Midwife/SCPHN, with a minimum of 1 years post registration experience in the clinical field in which they are intending to prescribe, OR with HCPC with three years relevant post-qualification experience in the clinical area in which they are intending to prescribe, and working at an advanced practitioner or equivalent level. Confirmation of satisfactory references and DBS checks are also required as well as completion of the NWNMPEG application form.
Students must have confirmation of support from appropriate workplace and/or employer to enable access to relevant workplace opportunities to achieve Multiprofessional Framework Capabilities for Advanced Clinical Practice (HEE, 2017) including appropriate supervision. All applicants must have a named workplace supervisor who is in a position to meet the Advanced Practice Workplace Supervision-Minimum Standards for Supervision (HEE, 2021).
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RPL
RPL may be considered for part of the programme in accordance with the LJMU RPEL policy and the academic regulations for postgraduate programmes
Application and selection
Securing your place at LJMU
To apply for this programme, you are required to complete an LJMU online application form. You will need to provide details of previous qualifications and a personal statement outlining why you wish to study this programme.
We are looking for practitioners within healthcare who embody the core NHS values and constitution, have the drive to enhance practice and innovate to effect positive change for patients are carers, in the role and speciality within which they work.
The University reserves the right to withdraw or make alterations to a course and facilities if necessary; this may be because such changes are deemed to be beneficial to students, are minor in nature and unlikely to impact negatively upon students or become necessary due to circumstances beyond the control of the University. Where this does happen, the University operates a policy of consultation, advice and support to all enrolled students affected by the proposed change to their course or module.