Cardio-Respiratory Nursing

The aim of the course is to provide you with an academically challenging and innovative approach to advance thinking in cardiorespiratory nursing. It is intended for nurses wishing to combine studies related to their clinical area with strong intellectual training. It is also relevant for those wishing to undertake studies to underpin roles within education, research and practice development. The MSc places research and dissemination alongside familiar management, practical and teaching roles. It aims to give you the intellectual tools to collect, analyse and interpret information at a high level. Thus, this postgraduate qualification will provide the education, training and skills necessary for you to follow a senior career in cardio-respiratory nursing.

Modules

Cardiac Nursing:

This modules enables students to explore the current delivery of cardiac care and so contribute towards the development of effective quality care. During the module the evidence-base for existing and innovative practices is discussed. The module includes subjects such as; anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, cardiovascular disease, the management of arrythmias, the management of heart failure, adult congenital heart disease.The module runs between October and December.

Respiratory Nursing:

This modules enables students to explore the current delivery of respiratory care and so contribute towards the development of effective quality care. During the module the evidence-base for existing and innovative practices is discussed. The module includes subjects such as; anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, the managment of the patient with asthma, managing breathlessness, end-of life care and oxygen therapy. The module runs between October and December.
Cystic Fibrosis:

This module provides students with an in-depth knowledge of cystic fibrosis and contemporary issues in patient management. The module includes subjects such as; the genetics of inheritance and newborn screening, pathophysiology, clinical management, psychosocial aspects, and the transition from paediatric to adult care. The module takes place over five consecutive taught study days.
Lung Failure:

This module provides students with an in-depth knowledge of lung failure. It includes detailed discussion on the causes of lung failure, differentiating between acute failure causing and complicating critical illness, and acute-on-chronic lung failure. Students will also deveop in-depth knowledge and understanding of  either extra-corporeal lung support (ECLS) or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) (depending on individual student choice). The module takes place over ten taught study days between January and March.
Clinical examination and history taking:

This module teaches students the knowledge and skills to undertake a focused clincial history and clinical examination ( focussing on three systems; cardiovascular, respiratory and abdominal). The module takes place between January and June. The main teaching methods include lectures, bed-side teaching and practicals.

Resuscitation:

This module provides students with the knowledge and understanding of advanced life support. The module incorporates the advanced life support certification (resus council (UK)). 
Smoking cessation programmes:

This module aims to provide knowledge of the link between tobacco smoking and cardiorespiratory illhealth, the public health, social and environmental context of tobacco smoking, addiction to tobacco, motivational issues in smoking cessation and the principles of tobacco treatment with a focus on the role of the health professional. This module takes place place over six study days. There are four consecutive study days at the start of the module and two consecutive days about three months later. The main teaching methods include face-to-face lectures, practicals and distance learning using Web-CT.
Applied Healthcare research I and II:

These 2 modules provides students with the knowledge and skills to critically appraise quantitative and qualitative research. Topics include: how to critically appraise research, data collection methods, data analysis and interpretation (including descriptive and inferential statistics and drawing themes from qualitative data), and assessing the rigour of a research design. The modules run between October and December of both years and include both lectures and distance learning approaches.

Evidence-based healthcare:

This module explores the principles of evidence based health care in order to assist students promote its use in the care of the patient in a variety of cardiorespiratory clinical settings. Key principles of evidence-based healthcare are reviewed and students gain skills in reading clinical papers including papers that discuss sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests, establish the effectiveness of treatments, appraise meta-analyses and review papers that look at prognosis. This module includes taught study days and incorporates distance learning approaches. It runs between October and December for students in their second year.
Policy and practice:

This module enables practitioners to explore and promote advances in the practice of nursing  and enables the student to further develop their professional clinical leadership role.

Heart Failure:

 This module aims to develop a practitioner with knowledge and skills to manage the care of the patient with advanced heart failure within the multi-disciplinary team and play a decisive role in developing heart failure services.  Key issues that will be discussed include; epidemiology and patho-physiology of heart failure, current evidence behind pharmacological and non-pharmacological management, managing the patient with multiple co-morbidities. This module includes taught study days and incorporates distance learning approaches. It runs between April and May.

The compulsory modules are: -  Applied healthcare research I - 7.5 credits  Applied healthcare research II - 7.5 credits  Nursing Practice Development - 7.5 credits  Evidence Based Health Care - 7.5 credits  Dissertation – 30 credits Optional modules are: -  Cystic Fibrosis - 7.5 credits  Cardiac nursing - 7.5 credits  Respiratory nursing – 7.5 credits  History taking and clinical examination - 7.5 credits  Theory and Practice of Advanced Life Support - 7.5 credits  Lung Failure - 7.5 credits  Smoking cessation - 7.5 credits  Heart failure – 7.5 creditsModule leaders have defined the individual module content. Although there will be general guidelines for contact time, module leaders will agree the lecturer contact time and self directed study time. Module aims, objectives, learning outcomes, indicative content, indicative reading and key texts will be explained, with assessment and evaluation procedures clearly outlined for each module in a module specific handbook. Choices of module options should be made by the end of October of each year. Students can be allocated to each module. Thereafter changes can be made to module choice if places are available. Optional modules will only run if there is sufficient student interest. Dissertation The aim of the dissertation module is to utilise your skills of critical analysis, synthesis and original thought, contributing to the academic knowledge base within the field of cardio-respiratory nursing. It is intended that the dissertation is practice led, and that possible ways of exploring contemporary practice through inductive or deductive reasoning. Therefore, a further aim is to enable you to develop your practice and the practice of others within the health care setting. The dissertation must be submitted by September of the second year. All students have a viva in October/early November.
Course delivery:
Year 1 Term 1 (October 2012)
1. Applied healthcare research I (Compulsory) 2. Respiratory Nursing (Optional)
Term 2 (January 2013) 1. Lung failure (Optional) 2. History taking and clinical examination (Optional) 3. Theory and Practice of Advanced Life Support (Optional) 4. Smoking cessation (Optional)
Term 3 (April 2013) 1. Practice development (Compulsory) 2. Heart failure (Optional) June – Exams (Compulsory)
Term 4 (July – October 2013) Dissertation (Compulsory)
Year 2 Term 1 (October 2013)
1. Evidence Based Health Care (Compulsory) 2. Applied healthcare research II (Compulsory) 3. Dissertation - ongoing (Compulsory) 3. Cardiac Nursing (Optional)
Term 2 (January 2012) 1. Lung failure (Optional) 2. History taking and clinical examination (Harefield) (Optional) 3. Theory and Practice of Advanced Life Support (Optional) 4. Smoking cessation (Optional) 4. Dissertation - ongoing (Compulsory)
Term 3 (April 2012) 1. Heart Failure (Optional) 2. Cystic fibrosis (Optional) 3. Respiratory Nursing (Optional) 4. Dissertation (Compulsory)Optional modules will only be available if sufficient numbers of candidates require them. This is a preliminary outline of module delivery and more detail of term dates will be provided during the summer of each year.

UK degree with first or second class grading or equivalent and professional nursing registration (Registered General Nurse or Registered Sick Children’s Nurse) and minimum 3 years experience in cardio-respiratory nursing.

Dean's Master's Scholarships

Home/EU Students

• Full tuition fees and a stipend of £17,000

• 5 places are available

Overseas Students

• Full tuition fees and a stipend of £17,000

• 4 places are available

Stipends will be paid in monthly instalments, subject to satisfactory progression. Awardees on courses which last more than a year will have their £17,000 stipend spread over the full lengh of the degree. 

The Faculty offers a wide range of Master's degree courses, as well as PG Certificates and Diplomas, and all students will belong to the Graduate School, which provides a comprehensive Transferable Skills Programme. 

 For any queries not covered here, please email James Osborne (PGT Administrator, Faculty of Medicine) at james.osborne@imperial.ac.uk.

Please note that there may be other scholarships offered by Schools, Institutes and Departments that make up the Faculty of Medicine. These are separate from the Dean's and Faculty Master's Scholarships described here and entail a different application process. 

Eligibility

General Eligibility

These awards are open to all students who have made an application to the Faculty of Medicine by 30 April 2015 for admission to study for a full time or part time Master's course* at Imperial College London, starting in October 2015 (*or PG Cert for a course where that is the only route to the higher degree).

Please note that these awards can only be given to students who are studying a course run by the Faculty of Medicine. For a full list of these courses, please see our Master's Degree page. 

It is not essential for applicants to have already received an offer of a place on a course, but the initial course application must be made before applying for a scholarship.

Residence Eligibility

Applications are accepted from talented candidates from Imperial College London, the UK and worldwide. There are no restrictions on nationality.

Academic Eligibility

• Candidates are expected to be able to provide evidence of outstanding academic ability. This will usually mean being among the highest achievers in their undergraduate cohort and in receipt of, or due to receive, a first class UK Honours degree or equivalent.

• An applicant who does not meet this requirement (e.g. holds a second class undergraduate degree, is a health professional who did not undertake a degree course, or is from a non-traditional background*), will be considered if they are able to demonstrate that they have outstanding academic potential and substantial experience relevant to their chosen subject area. This should be included in the Personal Statement section of the application form. (*Those applicants without a degree will be required, where available, to pass a Special Qualifying Examination to gain entry to the chosen course).

• Candidates with degrees from overseas institutions are strongly urged to determine if their scores/grades are equivalent to the relevant eligibility criteria.

• Candidates who already have a postgraduate qualification should justify their request to have an additional postgraduate course funded by the faculty. This should be included in the Personal Statement section of the application form.

• Candidates who wish to apply for a Master's course which starts as a PG Cert or PG Dip will only be considered if they are committed to completing the course to Master's level.

• Scholarships awarded based on predicted grades will be conditional upon final results.

How to Apply
In order to be considered for the Dean's Master's Scholarships, potential candidates will need to have first applied for a place on a Master's course in the Faculty of Medicine. It is not essential to wait for an offer of a place to be made, but the initial course application must be made before submitting a scholarship application. To apply for a Master's course, please use our online admission system. 

Once the application for the course has been submitted, those who wish to apply for a scholarship should complete our online form (Note: the Scholarship award panel will assess candidates on their scholarship application form NOT their course application, so make sure all key information is included in your scholarship application). The form will need to be completed in a single session, so please have the following information prepared:

• Personal statement (not more than 1000 words).
• Details of qualifications, achievements, awards, relevant experience and publications.
• The title/s of the course/s which you have applied for.

Shortlisting will take place in May 2015. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interviews which are currently scheduled for the week commencing Monday 8 June 2015. All interviews will take place via Skype between 9.00 and 17.00 BST. The scholarship application form includes a question regarding your country of residence in June 2015. We will use this information to identify your time zone and try to tailor your interview time accordingly, although we cannot guarantee that the slot allocated to you will be convenient for your time zone. 

All candidates will be informed of the decision by the end of June 2015.

References

We will use the references that you provide as part of your course application process. Please do not send references to us directly as we will be unable to accept them. It is not essential that we receive your references in time to consider your scholarship application, although their absence may weaken your application. It is therefore recommended that you contact your referees directly to ask that they respond to your course application reference request before Friday 8 May 2015 (one week after scholarship applications close).

Terms and conditions

When applying for Faculty of Medicine Master's Degree Scholarships, candidates must agree to Imperial's terms and conditions regarding scholarships and bursaries. 

Please note, the following conditions override the standard Imperial terms and conditions:

• Both part time and full time students are eligible to apply.

• An offer of a place is not required before applying, but candidates must first apply for a Master's course run by the Faculty of Medicine before applying for a scholarship.

• Candidates who do not apply through the online form will not be considered for the Dean's Master's Scholarships.

• Successful applicants who receive a Dean's Master's Scholarship will not be allowed to accept any other form of scholarship or bursary provided by Imperial College London for study during the 2015/16 academic year.

• Scholarship stipends will be paid in monthly instalments over the length of the course, subject to satisfactory progress. Students on courses which are part time or start as a PG Cert will have their stipend paid in equal monthly instalments over the full length of the course.

• Awardees will be required to participate in a small number of promotional activities during the course of their studies and allow their image to be used by Imperial for publicity purposes. Such activities may include (but are not limited to) attending special events and producing occassional print or web copy.

​Deadline for applications is Midnight 30 April 2015

Applicants will be given a decision by 30 June 2015.

Applications are invited from outstanding candidates from Imperial College London, the UK and worldwide who have the potential to become leaders in their field.