Nursing Studies (Registered Nurse Children's Nursing) BSc (Hons) – 2020 entry

Why choose this course

Surrey’s well-respected nursing courses are ranked 4th in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2019 and 7^th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019.

Taught by inspiring, research-engaged staff, this course will support you to become a highly-competent children’s nurse.

You’ll learn through an equal balance of theory and practice, getting to work with experienced NHS staff in one of eight available placement localities. Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

You’ll also have access to our new multimillion pound facility, featuring a new state-of-the-art simulation suite.

What you will study

This course is grounded in the philosophy of individualised care that meets the needs of each child or young person.

You’ll learn to care for infants, children and young people, from the neonate to the adolescent, in a variety of settings. You’ll also see how to support and educate families so they can be involved in their child's care.

In addition to developing a range of clinical nursing skills, you’ll take part in simulations to explore and practise important principles within children’s nursing, including communication, child development, ethical care principles and children’s rights. All students will also have the opportunity to take at least one placement within the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Registered practitioners: If you’re a registered practitioner looking for an undergraduate course to further your learning, please visit our continuing professional development page.

Professional recognition

BSc (Hons) - Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for the purpose of registration as a qualified nurse (child).

Careers and graduate prospects

We offer careers information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University.

Nursing is the largest healthcare profession in the country and nurses play a role in most healthcare services.

Although many qualified nurses work in hospitals, they can also work in general practice surgeries, community settings, home healthcare, outpatient day surgeries, schools, mental health agencies and hospices.

Our nursing graduates have excellent employment prospects. Many of our graduates are first employed by the NHS Trust where they had their practice experience, before going on to further studies and employment elsewhere.

Some nurses develop careers in education or research, promoting advances in many areas of healthcare and health promotion practice.

For more information about careers, visit the NHS careers website.

Nursing options for graduates

A two-year postgraduate diploma course may be possible for graduates of relevant disciplines (for example, biosciences or psychology) with relevant work experience.

We offer two courses: PGDip Nursing Studies (Adult Nursing) and PGDip Nursing Studies (Mental Health Nursing).

Study and work abroad

We give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities or by completing a Professional Training placement abroad. In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV. View our study and work abroad exchange information to find out more and see where you can go.

Please note: the status of the Erasmus+ scheme is dependent on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

Foundation year

The BSc Nursing with foundation has an additional year of study designed to support your transition on to latter years of the course. You will study full-time for one year at foundation level, and after successfully completing it you will be ready to move on to the next three years of the course.

This qualification is subject to approval. This means that it has received initial agreement from the University and is currently undergoing a detailed final approval exercise, through the University’s quality assurance processes.

Students will be required to undertake some local insight days as part of their foundation year programme. These local insight days will be arranged by the University. Students will be responsible for associated costs (i.e. travel).

Student life

Are you curious about life as a nursing student? Read our ‘Week in the life’ feature to discover what a typical week looks like for a first-year nursing student.

Placements

All nursing courses consist of 50 per cent theory and 50 per cent practice time.

You’ll complete the majority of the practice component within a specific locality in Surrey, Sussex, North Hampshire or East Berkshire. You’ll spend time in the safe environment of our simulation suite before going on placement, and will only go out to nurse patients and their families when you have satisfactorily completed instruction in essential clinical skills.

Placement experiences may be within NHS, private or charity organisations, and will include children’s units within acute hospitals, as well as working with children and families in their own homes and care settings within the community.

As your skills and confidence develop, you’ll be encouraged to perform increasingly complex activities in practice, until your mentors and teachers consider you to be competent for registration at the end of your third year.

Further information about localities and accommodation

We’ll provide you with further information about localities and accommodation options at the start of the course and during your local induction to the practice environments.

University accommodation is usually available for the first year of your course.

Clinical-practice placements commence in your first year, so you may need to travel to practice placements some distance away from Guildford while still living in University accommodation.

From the start of the second year, you’ll need to find your own accommodation. At this point, lots of our students find it advantageous to move to their allocated locality. This lowers the cost of travel and makes it easier to get to and from placement (which can start as early as 7am and end after 9pm), and attend night duty (which is a requirement of the course).

The accommodation provision varies between the localities. Students who don’t live locally often organise to privately rent a shared flat or house if they want to live within the locality in which their placement happens.

The theory component of the course is taught on the University campus in Guildford, regardless of the locality you are assigned to.

Process for allocating students to localities

You’ll be emailed a locality-allocation form around six weeks before you start the course. Once you have completed and returned this form, we’ll consider your allocation to a locality.

It’s important you return the form by the stated deadline. There are limited placements within each locality, so we distribute students across the localities to make sure everyone gets a high-quality practice experience.

We prioritise students when allocating localities, and consider the following:

• Sponsored students are placed within the locality where the sponsoring Trust has placements.
• Students with dependants are placed in the locality nearest to their home address, as far as capacity allows.
• Students living in their own homes (or the parental home) at the start of the programme are placed in a locality as near to their home address as possible, as far as capacity allows.
• Students who opt to live in University accommodation are allocated to the nearest possible locality to their address, dependant on capacity and availability.

Placements may still be some distance from your home, and you’ll be expected to travel to placements within a commutable distance of your allocated locality in order to meet the practice component of the nursing course.

There are limited opportunities to change your allocated locality, but this depends upon capacity at the preferred locality.

Student placement localities

We have a broad range of excellent placements across Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and East Berkshire.

You’ll be allocated to a distinct area within this large region and become a member of a community of healthcare practitioners. We refer to these distinct areas as ‘localities’.

There are eight localities serving children’s nursing courses at the University of Surrey. Each includes acute hospital placements, community-based placements and independent-sector placements. These placements are what give our students practical experience.

Each locality has a strong community of healthcare practitioners who work together to provide a high standard of care to children, young people and their families and carers. You’ll soon become familiar with the areas of your placements, and you’ll be well supported by mentors in your practice.

Many of our students choose to find their first post within their locality after registration.

Although the majority of placements take place within the assigned locality region, students may occasionally be allocated a placement further afield. The School of Health Sciences is committed to continually growing its placement network to provide the very best experience for students. An indicative list of our main student placement providers can be found below: