Course highlights
- A 10-week course for Allied Health Professionals and nurses
- Course supported by academics who have a wealth of skills, expertise and professional credibility related to the Professional Advocate in Healthcare role
- Course aims to equip you with the ability to confidently lead and deliver quality improvement initiatives
- Students will develop skills and knowledge in restorative clinical supervision
Become an effective Professional Advocate in Healthcare
This course equips you to become a Professional Advocate in Healthcare, a pivotal role designed to support and lead Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and the wider healthcare workforce. Through the application of the A-EQUIP model (Advocating and Educating for Quality Improvement), you will be empowered to drive meaningful change and foster continuous improvement across healthcare settings.
The A-EQUIP model and the professional advocate in healthcare role aims to:
- Provide a supportive function
- Support professional resilience
- Support AHPs and healthcare staff to provide high quality care and identify areas for improvement
- Support the advocacy role of AHPs and nurses
- Include strategies which develop and invest in healthcare staff
- Allow flexibility for local implementation
- Not to create additional financial pressures on providers
During this 10-week course, you'll gain the skills and knowledge to facilitate restorative supervision for colleagues and teams within healthcare services and beyond. You will be able to lead and deliver quality improvement initiatives in response to service demands and changing patient requirements.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Evaluate the role of the professional advocate in supporting healthcare professionals to provide high quality care through education and development
- Critically evaluate advocacy skills using restorative supervision to develop resilience and personal action for quality improvement
- Appraise the leadership of transformative changes, quality enhancements, and continuous improvements in healthcare practice
Course Content
This course will cover:
- The role of the supervisor within the context of national and local governance policies
- The role supervision plays in supporting healthcare professionals to consider their practice in relation to their Professional Code and the requirements for revalidation
- The educational principles which facilitate effective supervision
- Supervision frameworks and models which can be used for understanding and managing the supervisory relationship
- Skills which underpin the setting up and development of a successful supervisory relationship, including setting ground rules, negotiating, and working in partnership
- A range of supervisory approaches and methods including facilitation, coaching, motivational interviewing, reflection, debriefing and managing challenging conversations
- Approaches to evidence-based practice and quality improvement to ensure people experience safe, compassionate, person-centred care including the concept of advocacy
- Flows of compassion and self-compassion
- Adult learning theory and leadership development, leadership styles in the context of advocacy, change and quality improvement
- Ethical issues in clinical supervision which may affect the supervisory process for example, conflict of interest and maintaining professional boundaries
- Techniques and processes to evaluate the clinical supervision process, including eliciting and utilising feedback
- The need for on-going development of supervisory skills and for further reflection and updating of knowledge
Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.
Teaching and Learning
This course is delivered online. You will undertake self-paced study via our virtual learning environment, engaging with the online materials and activities.
You will engage with your tutors and fellow students via online discussion boards and there will be live online lectures each week delivered by the course tutor and PAiH’s working in practice. All online lectures will be recorded so that if you are not able to attend, you will be able to catch up later.
Course duration and pace of study
The Professional Advocate in Healthcare course is 10 weeks of part time online study. Overall, you will need to spend approx. 10-20 hours a week on the course which includes the live teaching sessions, working through the course materials and preparing for the final submission.
Student Support
Our student Wellbeing Service offers a range of support, advice and guidance for our students.
If you have an existing report in relation to specific learning needs from an educational psychologist, please indicate this in your application and you are then eligible for a support plan from the University.
Due to the length of this programme, students are not eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) or for a support assessment to be undertaken by the University.
However, you will be eligible for support towards additional equipment via the Access to Work scheme. Please note that the process to secure this can take 12 weeks and so we recommend that you apply for this before you apply for the course.
The Professional Advocate in Healthcare course is designed for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and nurses who are preparing for their first leadership roles or embarking on their level 7 academic journey. It is also well-suited for those seeking continued professional development following postgraduate study, such as the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice.
Upon successful completion of this course, participants with an interest in research may choose to progress to the MRes in Nursing and Midwifery. Alternatively, those who have not yet undertaken the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice may consider it as a next step in their academic and professional development.
Utilise our Careers and Employment Service
Whilst you are a student at the University of Derby, and for three years after you graduate, our Careers and Employment Service can assist you with job search advice, CV creation, workshops and events, as well as one-to-one appointments with employment advisers to help with career planning and interview preparation.
To apply, you will need to meet the following criteria:
- have evidence of previous level 6 study (Bachelor’s degree level) or level 7 postgraduate study
- be a current healthcare practitioner, registered with a professional, statutory regulatory* body such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or General Pharmaceutical Council (GPHc)
- be a healthcare professional, at Band 5 or above, and have completed your preceptorship
*this includes internationally based registered nurses and allied health professionals
English Language Qualifications
If English is not your first language, or you have not successfully completed your highest level of qualification in English, you will need an English language qualification. For this course you will need IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in all elements (or equivalent level in OET).
If you are currently studying a programme with us, you will not be able to study this module as a second course as it is not possible to be enrolled onto two courses at the same time.
Find out more about our English language requirements
‡2025/26 for new entrants
Starting between September 2025 and August 2026.
| | Per 20 credits | Modules | Cost |
|---|
| UK/EU/International |
£1,080 |
1 |
£1,080 |
About your fees
Prices are correct for the year of entry shown. These are subject to annual increase in subsequent academic years.
