Higher Diploma in Health Science

Course Description

Higher Diploma in Health Sciences aims to to prepare individuals for more advanced health-related careers and higher qualification which allows them to progress to bachelors and later masters level.

Students of this programme are going to focus on advancing their knowledge, skills and competences that will help them to deal with people with health issues as well as with challenges presented in working with multidisciplinary teams in healthcare settings.

The content covers developmental, physical, psychological, spiritual and mental aspects of human health as well as tools to deal with illness and challenging behaviour.

This programme focuses on the Maltese legislations related to the sector and promotes the ‘Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct for Nurses and Midwives, Council for Nurses and Midwives, Malta, January 2020’.

The overall course objectives are:

Knowledge:

• Acquire an understanding of human health related problems linked to nutrition, biomedical and infection issues, mental health disorders and post-surgical care and the type of care administered in these areas.
• Evaluate situation based also on knowledge of relevant social issues.
• Give due consideration to ethical issues related to health care.
• Understand the role of health science in providing holistic health services through primary, secondary and tertiary care.
• Identify the resources at the community/hospital/health care facility setting to provide the relevant care.
• Develop an understanding of the body of knowledge that relates to community, mother and child, elderly, palliative and end of life care.
• Explore the factors and challenges of teamwork.
• Develop an awareness and appreciation of multifaceted aspects of management in health care.

Skills:

• Demonstrate transfer of theoretical and practical knowledge, in proposing solutions to health care problems of patients.
• Identify and use data to formulate responses to well-defined concrete and abstract problems and challenges in health care.
• Examine and apply theories and methodologies related to computer applications in healthcare and professional development.
• Assess the needs of people with health issues and understand the importance of knowing how to apply steps to deal with those issues.
• Recognise the needs of people with health issues and understand the importance of knowing how to apply established steps to deal with those issues.
• Analyse different techniques relevant to management of developmental, physical, psychological, spiritual and mental aspects of human health.
• Develop a plan of action for teamwork. · Identify criteria to assess the performance of a health team.
• Always prioritize people and show the highest respect to the patient.
• Practice effectively and uphold professional responsibilities and accountability.
• Work safely and show utmost respect towards colleagues.
• Promote professionalism and maintain public trust and confidence.

Competences: ·

• Manage patient(s) independently applying technical and problem- solving techniques where there are many factors, some of which interact and lead to unpredictable outcomes.
• Show creativity related to application of supervisory and people management skills related to working with multidisciplinary teams in providing a holistic approach to health care.
• Develop an engaging and comprehensive understanding of researched based literature on the subject of health care and solidarity with others.
• Assess the importance of personal experience and values and attitudes in working with others.
• Develop a capacity for independent thought and be reflectively self-critical.
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the importance of having teamwork competencies.

Work Placement Objectives

The main goal of the Work Placement is to ensure that the first level nurse is equipped with the knowledge, skills and competences necessary to practice as a competent and professional nurse.

Work Placement of 480 hours is carried out in 6 different health settings, each of 80 hours:

• Setting 1: Medical Care (80 hours)
• Setting 2: Surgical Care (80 hours)
• Setting 3: Elderly Care (80 hours) Setting 4: Mental Health Care (80 hours)
• Setting 5: Community Care (80 hours)
• Setting 6: Mother and Child Care (80 hours)

The candidate nurse works with qualified nursing staff on a daily basis for the duration of the whole Work Placement period. This enables the candidate nurse to develop the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours necessary to demonstrate the achievement of competence.

Each Work Placement setting provides a learning opportunity where second level nurses can work in clinical nursing practice to further develop their skills and competences to achieve six (6) learning outcomes addressing five domains of competences.

Entry Requirements

Candidates who apply for this course must:

• be a second level nurses in possession of a minimum Level 4 Certificate in Nursing (or comparable as per MQRIC).

OR

• Possess a qualification at MQF Level 4 (one ‘A’ Level or equivalent preferably in science) or if ‘A’ level is not in science subject then a a pass in Biology, Chemistry or Physics at MQF Level 3 (‘O’ Level or equivalent) is required.

Preference will be given to prospective applicants who have a minimum of 1-year work experience in healthcare sector.

*Students whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate English language capability at IELTS level 6.0 or equivalent.

Target Audience

The target group covers but is not limited to:

• 2nd level nurses who hold an MQF Level 4 certificate in Nursing.
• Candidates seeking a career in the Health Care sector.
• Candidates who are employed within the healthcare sector and possess an MQF Level 4 Diploma qualification (or equivalent) in healthcare/health science or other relevant and related sectors, examples include but are not limited to: Carers, Medical Assistants, Home Health Aides, Orderlies, Administrators, etc.

Career Paths

This Level 5 Higher Diploma provides an opportunity to candidates to progress in their studies and create a study route for further studies in Higher and Further Education while broadening the spectrum of advancement in own career path. 

The main objective of Level 5 Diploma in Health Sciences at 60 ECTSs together with a Work Placement of 480 hours carried out at health settings is to convert second level nurses to first level nurses.

Modules

You are required to complete all 19 compulsory modules (120 ECTS) to fulfil the requirements of the Higher Diploma in Health Sciences

How you’ll be assessed

This is a part-time programme and will typically take 15 months to complete. The programme comprises a total of 10 modules. The method of assessment is assignment-based.

The course comprises:

• 6 lectures per module;
• 3-hour lectures;
• 12 hours of guided learning, presentations, comprising synchronous online discussions, tutorials and/or videos;
•  Self-study hours comprising research, reading and assignment work;
• 480-hour work placement pegged with the 5 modules indicated by an asterisk (*)

Assessment

The programme includes different forms of assessment which allow for and promote students’ critical engagement. The formative and summative assessment tasks may include an in-class assignment and/or a home-based written assignment using diverse assessment tools which may take the form of online and in-class discussions, examinations, case studies, reports, proposals, essays, and presentations, etc., as applicable to the diverse modules.