BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing

Core units

• Academic Study Skills: You will gain the fundamental academic and research skills required for degree level study. The unit will introduce you to a broad grounding in literature searching, literature review, data collection, methodological approach, data analysis and interpretation and ethical practice. It will also support you to begin to develop a critical and analytical approach to your work and identify areas for personal development. 
• Applied Sciences: You'll gain a basic understanding of some fundamental aspects of science underpinning more specific disciplines, and an appreciation of how various scientific disciplines impact human life. You'll understand the differences between pure and applied science, as well as the roles of different ways applied science can be funded, and implications of these funding mechanisms. 
• Introduction to Biology: Biology is the study of life and hence knowledge of plant and animal cell biology is fundamental to understanding wider concepts in biology. This unit also introduces key themes in human, environmental and ecological sciences to provide a sound underpinning in knowledge for future studies. 
• Introduction to Psychology: This unit is designed to prepare you for advanced coursework in psychology. You will complete the unit with a good understanding of the various areas of psychology and how they seek to explain behaviour. 
• Mathematics in Science: You will build your confidence in mathematics, in order to perform calculations on a range of scientific data from biology, chemistry and psychology and to be able to represent the findings in an appropriate format, including graphs. In order to carry this out, it is essential to be able to convert the data between systems of units and to understand how to present very large and very small numbers in standard form. Basic statistical analysis of tabulated data will be carried out to introduce the concept of confidence limits and familiarisation of statistical testing.
• Foundation Year Project: You will carry out a research task on scientific topics chosen by the unit leader which you will be able to conduct a scientific investigation on. You will devise your own investigation and produce a literature review as a final scientific report. 

Core units

• Fundamentals of Nursing: You will learn the core skills, values and behaviours needed to become a safe and compassionate nurse. This unit introduces person-centred care, professional communication, and the fundamentals of supporting people with everyday needs such as mobility, nutrition, hygiene, dignity and comfort. 
• Biopsychosocial Dimensions of Health: You will explore how biological, psychological and social factors all shape a person’s health and wellbeing. This unit helps you understand people holistically, including how growth, development, stress and life experiences can influence health across the lifespan. 
• Changes in Health Status and Introduction to Pharmacology: You will learn how the body changes during illness and how common conditions can affect a person’s health and wellbeing. You will also be introduced to pharmacology, helping you understand how medicines work, how to monitor their effects, and how to support safe medication management. 
• Promoting Health and Preventing Ill-Health: You will learn how nurses help people, families and communities stay healthy and reduce the risk of illness. This unit explores health promotion, vaccinations, public health and the wider social factors that affect health, including a virtual public health placement experience. 
• Nursing Practice (Part 1): You will begin applying your classroom learning in real healthcare settings through supervised practice placements. Before placement, you will build confidence in essential nursing skills using simulation and skills labs, then develop your professional practice, reflection and clinical confidence while caring for patients alongside registered nurses. 

Core units

• Nursing People with Complex Health Needs: You will learn how to care for people with more complex and long-term physical and mental health needs across a range of healthcare settings. This unit helps you develop your clinical reasoning, decision-making and confidence when responding to more challenging care situations. 
• Palliative and End of Life Care: You will explore how to provide compassionate, person-centred care for people living with life-limiting illness and those approaching the end of life. This unit helps you understand symptom management, communication, ethical decision-making and how to support patients and their families. 
• Understanding the Evidence Base of Nursing: You will be introduced to research methods and learn how evidence is used to inform nursing practice and improve patient care. This unit develops your critical thinking skills and confidence in using research to support professional decision-making. 
• Providing Safe Caring Nursing Environments: You will learn how safe, effective and supportive care environments are created within healthcare settings. This unit explores patient safety, quality improvement, safeguarding, risk management and the importance of teamwork in delivering high-quality care. 
• Nursing Practice (Part 2): You will continue developing your clinical skills and professional confidence through supervised practice placements in real healthcare environments. This unit supports your progression towards greater responsibility while helping you achieve the required nursing proficiencies in practice.

Core units

• Clinical Assessment for Adults: You will develop the knowledge and practical skills needed to carry out holistic assessments of adult patients. This unit helps you strengthen your clinical reasoning, recognise signs of deterioration, and make informed decisions about patient care. 
• Nursing Management of People with Complex Health Needs: You will learn how to plan, coordinate and manage care for people with complex and long-term health needs in a range of healthcare settings. This unit develops your skills in prioritisation, care planning and working effectively with multidisciplinary teams. 
• Applying Evidence to Practice: You will learn how to use research and best practice guidance to inform nursing care and improve patient outcomes. This unit helps you develop critical thinking skills and confidence in applying evidence to real-world clinical decision-making. 
• Nursing Leadership and Management: You will explore how nurses lead teams, manage services and contribute to improving the quality of care. This unit develops your understanding of leadership, professional accountability and the role nurses play in service improvement. 
• Nursing Practice (Part 3): You will consolidate your clinical knowledge, skills and confidence through your final practice placements in real healthcare settings. This unit prepares you for registration by helping you demonstrate greater independence, leadership and safe decision-making in practice. 

BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing is delivered at our Lansdowne Campus, Bournemouth (home to the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and the latest healthcare simulation suites) and Talbot Campus for the Foundation Year. Once you’ve completed the Foundation Year, your teaching and learning will take place at Lansdowne Campus.

Practice-based placement opportunities are available across the South West, including areas such as South Somerset and Yeovil, West Dorset, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Poole.

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the university's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Download the programme specification (pdf 1mb)

Download the Foundation Year programme specification (pdf 338kb)

With practical learning being integral to your degree, we provide practice simulation facilities including hospital wards and community home simulation suites, to mirror both clinical and community workplace settings and provide a safe environment.

We’re continuing to enhance our state-of-the-art facilities too – with the purpose-built £48 million Bournemouth Gateway building, that houses our Health & Social Care courses.

Visit our facilities page to find out more – you can also take a 360° tour to get a feel for where you’ll be studying while you’re based on our Lansdowne Campus.

When on placement you will be expected to work full time hours and follow the shift pattern of your allocated Practice Supervisor. It is a requirement that you experience the full 24 hour/7 day a week shift pattern during the course. This will include following the placement shift patterns  (which may include 12-hour shift pattens (7am to 7:30pm or later) used in some placement areas) and include weekend working and night duty.

Clinical placements will be organised by locality in a variety of places across the South West region, including areas such as Somerset and Yeovil, West Dorset, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Poole, in order to provide the necessary breadth of experience.

Placement localities are allocated at the time of your offer for your course on a first come, first served basis therefore we may need to amend your placement locality if we reach capacity. You will not be able to change your main placement locality once you start. Once you have been allocated your locality this will remain for the remainder of your time on the course.

You will need to consider the realities of placements within the geographical area you have been given and be realistic as to whether this will be manageable and suitable for you – whilst being flexible may in some circumstances increase your chances of success, being unrealistic will lead to challenges. You should also consider where you choose accommodation during your studies. 

Although you will be allocated a placement locality, to ensure that you get to experience a range of placement experiences needed for successful course completion, you may be expected to change location for a portion of your placement time.

Below are some examples of the specialities of some of the hospitals we work with. Your placements will involve both clinical and community placements throughout your study. 

Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals

• Royal Bournemouth Hospital came in the top 10 in the first ever assessment of NHS hospital quality in England, based on what matters to people e.g. waiting time, infection control rates
• Radiology – the cutting edge of technology. Toshiba has chosen Royal Bournemouth Hospital as the first site for installation of its latest CT scanner – the first of its type in the world
• Pathology – Royal Bournemouth Hospital is the regional haemophilia centre for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorchester
• Colorectal surgery – Royal Bournemouth Hospital is one of the best performing trusts nationally for 30-day post operative mortality after major colorectal surgery
• Orthopaedics – third-largest joint replacement unit in the UK
• Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre - National and international reputation in the field of clinical diabetes
• Cardiology – Cardiologists here have the lowest levels of major adverse cardiac events in the country.

Salisbury District Hospital

• Cancer patients at Salisbury District Hospital have rated their care highly with 94% of those asked saying it was excellent or very good
• Salisbury is the Regional Centre for Genetics, Burns and Plastics and a supra-Regional Centre for spinal injuries
• Cancer patients at Salisbury District Hospital have rated their care highly with 94% of those asked saying it was excellent or very good
• New 3D printing service enabling surgeons to plan their operations and become more cost effective
• Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded £115,000 for the Salisbury District Hospital Stroke Unit to improve the technology that enable staff to access electronic patient records in the community and on hospital wards
• Specialist services include – Plastic Surgery Department, Spinal Treatment Centre and Rehabilitation Services.

The Somerset Partnership

• 13 Community Hospitals across the county of Somerset specialising in Stroke Care to Ambulatory care
• A range of 30 nursing disciplines at all levels in the Community Health, Mental Health and Learning Disability Services
• Clinical skills teams who provide on-site clinical skills training and support and advice when it is needed.

Our geographical footprint for placement is vast, covering areas across the South West region such as South Somerset and Yeovil, West Dorset, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Poole. This ensures we are able to provide you with a wealth of clinical experience across a variety of areas of the healthcare service, including opportunities to experience placements in both urban and rural communities.

Although your term time address and method of transport are taken into consideration when allocating your placements, there is an expectation that all students will have to travel across large areas including some of a more rural nature to reach their placements. In some cases this can be more than 40 miles away from Bournemouth, and some travel will be outside normal working hours due to the nature of shift work. You must ensure that you have means to travel to your placement location at unsociable hours and this may require you to use short-term accommodation options in order to participate in your placement.

As an Adult Nursing student, you will have the option to live in student halls or hospital accommodation. As you will experience the full 24 hour shift pattern, including weekend and night shifts, you should consider whether you would prefer to live near campus and travel to placement, or live near your placement locality and travel to campus for teaching and study.

Claiming travel expenses and dual accommodation costs

If you decide to live closer to the university campus than your placement locality, you may be able to claim travel expenses and dual accommodation costs (if necessary) through the NHS Learning Support Fund.

Please note: this funding is not available to support your travel costs to the university, should you decide to live closer to your placement (eligibility is calculated based on the distance between your term time address and placement being greater than that to the university).

Occupational Health (OH) Checks

Nursing is physically and mentally demanding and you will need to be mentally and physically able to undertake your chosen course. Places are offered subject to passing an OH check, and this will be carried out by the Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. Health conditions need to be dealt with on an individual basis e.g. deafness, blindness, eczema (or other dermatological allergic reactions) on exposed areas, epilepsy, back problems, or mental health conditions, eating disorders and other disabilities. These do not automatically exclude you but please ensure that you fully disclose your condition to OH. The University can then consider the recommendations made by OH and whether reasonable adjustments can be made to support you on your chosen course. If you require more guidance please contact us for more information.

You will be required to provide a record of your immunity status or be vaccinated or have the required blood tests. You may need to ask your GP or current Occupational Health (OH) department or find your childhood vaccination record for details of your past immunisation records. You should be aware that there may be charges made (for which you will be liable) relating to your gaining the appropriate immunity required prior to starting your training programme.

Refusing Immunisations

While covid vaccinations are still not mandatory, the latest policy advice is that without covid vaccinations it will be more difficult to arrange placements and it may therefore take more than three years to complete the programme successfully. The university has an expectation that all students will comply with the vaccination programme as it is Public Health England requirement for health care workers to have certain immunisations. This ensures that you will be able to undertake the wide range of training placements that your course will require and aims to keep you, as well as the people in your care as safe as possible. Please note that at this time Covid-19 vaccinations are not a mandatory requirement for healthcare workers and so are therefore not a mandatory requirement for healthcare students either. Occasionally some vaccinations are contraindicated in certain medical conditions. Occupational Health (OH) will advise the University in these cases. The University will consider students on an individual basis. Refusal to have immunisations may result in the student not being allowed to attend practice placement and being withdrawn from the course. There is no opportunity to appeal against the requirements of the immunisation policy

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (previously known as CRB)

All successful applicants will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barred List check; this will be a condition of offer and will need to be completed prior to commencing the course. Please see the Government website for the most up-to-date information.

Terms of Expectations

It is important that you understand what will be expected of you as a student studying for both an academic award and professional qualification in nursing. You must agree to adhere to the Student Nurse Terms of Expectation for studying at Bournemouth University as detailed in this document. Failure to comply with these expectations could lead to disciplinary action

AccessBU

AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships

We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry

We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, please submit your deferral request through our website.

Direct entry

We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please visit our RPL webpage for more information.

Please note: We do not accept applications for Year 3 entry.

Mature applicants

​We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application

We want committed, keen, enthusiastic students who are going to make a real difference to the course they are studying. Our students learn from each other, as well as their academic staff, so it is really important to us that you can show us how much you care about the course you are interested in. Your UCAS personal statement is a great place to do this.

Tell us about your personal achievements or any relevant work experience you have done, and show us how they make you the ideal candidate for a place on the course.

It is recommended that you have some care experience. If you do not have any relevant experience, you will be required to demonstrate at interview that you have a clear insight into the nature of the profession that you will be training to enter.

Our courses are built around the NHS constitution values, and when assessing your application we will take these values into consideration:

• Working together for patients
• Respect and dignity
• Commitment to quality of care
• Compassion
• Improving lives
• Everyone counts.

Find out more about the NHS Constitution principles.

In the healthcare sector, IT is now a vital tool for accessing and maintaining patient records, accessing literature to client care and conducting clinically-related research. As a student, you will receive an introduction to IT near the beginning of your course and you will be provided with computer access and your own email address.

During the course you will be expected to use your developing IT skills to produce assignments, to conduct literature searches, and to use client-related record systems in the clinical setting. Following instruction, some of your study will be undertaken through web-based learning tools, for example by participating in online discussions.

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU. View our flowchart for information on how we process applications for courses with additional selection measures. 
 
For our health and social care courses our admissions team use the DRIVE criteria to assess your application and evidence of this must be show in your personal statement. You can also find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply web pages. 
 
Please note that interviews are part of our selection process and you must be able to demonstrate at interview that you show the necessary insight into nursing, as well as the motivation and commitment to become a nurse 

What to expect at the interview

Your interview will take place online, on a free online video communication platform.

A member of the Admissions Team will email you with joining instructions and information about what to expect at interview.

Your individual interview is where you will have the opportunity to tell us a little more about yourself and why you would be a great candidate for the course. You will be scored using a common template and offers will be made based on these scores.

If you are invited to interview, you will also be able to access online on-demand information presentations, course talks, virtual campus tours and more which you can watch before your interview. On the day of your interview you may also be able to join a live chat-room where you can ask questions to our current student ambassadors and other members of staff.

Additional reference:

In addition to the reference on your UCAS form, once we’ve received your application we may contact you to ask for a second reference; depending on the course you’ve applied for, this may be an academic reference, or from an employer or person who knows you in a professional capacity.

Find out more about interviews with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

If you are unable to meet the entry requirements, we may be able to make you an offer through AccessBU if you meet certain criteria e.g. you have been in care or live in an area where fewer people typically progress to Higher Education. If you don't meet our published tariff, we will accept you at least 8 points below if your personal circumstances match our AccessBU criteria. 

The roles you can take on are diverse and the majority have excellent career progression routes, leading to the likes of advanced nurse practitioner and consultant nurse. Among the jobs you can move into are:

• Lecturer or specialist practitioner
• Advanced nurse practitioner
• Consultant nurse
• Manager
• Academic lecturer.

On graduating successfully from this course, you can apply for registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC).

• NHS (hospital and community)
• Private and independent healthcare sectors (nursing homes and private hospitals)
• Education
• Academic research.

Once you have completed an undergraduate Honours degree and perhaps following some time in clinical practice you may wish to consider returning to BU to further develop your education! There are various options including working towards a Masters qualification, a postgraduate research degree or choose from our portfolio of continued professional development (CPD) units and courses. 

Research degrees

If you are a BU graduate you are eligible for a 20% ‘loyalty’ discount on the published fees for further programmes with us! 

Depending on your qualifications and experiences, you can choose to undertake a MRes or PhD level research degree. Bournemouth University has a strong nursing research foundation within our Department of Nursing Science and through a number of research centres, including the Nursing for Long Term Health Research Centre, which explores theory, education and professional practice.

Visit our postgraduate research courses for further details about research degree options with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and the funding options available.

MSc Health Research

Our MSc Health Research degree has been designed to take you through the research process from formulating a suitable research question to designing the study and collecting appropriate data, and reporting the findings to different audiences. All of this will provide opportunities to work with academics and clinicians experienced in conducting health and social care research. The work you will do as part of this course will provide opportunities for you to create research outputs (e.g. manuscripts for publication) to contribute to a portfolio of research experience suitable for applications related to future research study (e.g. NIHR Clinical Doctoral Fellowship), or to further your career as part of a research team (e.g. research nurse). 

If you are a BU graduate you are eligible for a 20% ‘loyalty’ discount on the published fees for this course. Scholarship opportunities may also be available.

CPD

Once you have some experience of clinical practice you may wish to consider studying a unit or course from our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) portfolio. This may be related to an area you wish to specialise in or move into, or it may be to enhance your career opportunities. We have a wide range of options to consider. We understand that fitting study in around your busy working life can be a challenge, but we have a number of flexible courses that allow you to study bite-sized units at your convenience, while working towards a bigger qualification. 

Find out more about CPD at BU.

UK nursing students may be eligible for a government training grant of at least £5,000 a year which you will not need to pay back. The grant will be given to all eligible new and continuing degree-level nursing, midwifery and many allied health students.

Further funding available for eligible students, includes:

• Parental Support allowance of £2000, on top of the £1,000 already on offer. 
• Up to £1000 specialist subject payment for subjects such as mental health nursing. 
• A regional incentive payment in areas of the country which have seen a decrease in people accepted on some nursing, midwifery and allied health courses.

Students will not need to apply for specialist subject or incentive payments as they will be automatically added to their account, if eligible. 

If eligible, this means that some students could receive up to £8,000 per year, with everyone getting at least £5,000. 

Please note that this funding is not available for students on the Foundation Year, however you will be able to access it once you complete the foundation year and move onto the degree. Eligibility criteria applies to any grants.

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

• Professional body accreditation of the course.
• Occupational Health services and checks are included but you will be charged if you do not attend Occupational Health appointments without giving appropriate notice. You are also responsible for travel costs to Occupational Health appointments.
• We will provide you with one standard set of uniform. Additional uniform items must be ordered by students, and this will incur an additional cost. Students will need to purchase their own appropriate footwear, however you may be able to claim government tax relief for the cost of shoes. 
• Materials for laboratory and mandatory field-based teaching activity.
• Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and/or fieldwork and non-financial support whilst on placement.
• A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
• The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
• Access to Brightspace, our virtual learning environment, which offers a responsive and personalised learning experience with powerful learning analytics capabilities, integrated social media and advanced video features.
• IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
• Disability and additional learning support.
• The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
• 24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.
• Free software download to your personal device of Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus while you are studying, as well as access to applications provided on AppsAnywhere, subject to licensing and compatibility restrictions.

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices.
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shop stocks a wide range of stationery supplies.
• Accommodation and living costs. Visit our Accommodation for students with health and social care placements webpage
• You will need to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as a condition of enrolment, including any Post Office verification charges.
• Travel costs to and from the University campus for taught sessions (and occupational health referrals if required). An annual bus pass is included in your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation.
• Travel costs to and from your placement which could be based at various locations across the South West region. Eligible UK students may claim reimbursement towards travel and dual accommodation costs. Visit the NHS Learning Support Fund webpage for more information. International students will need to cover these costs in addition to their course fee. 
• There may be an additional charge for replacement uniforms.
• You may have the opportunity to study abroad as part of your programme, and there may be some additional costs attached to this.  
• SportBU membership.
• You may need to pay for immunisations if they are not covered by your GP, and you will be charged for missed immunisation appointments.

If you need to repeat one or more units during your studies (with or without attendance) the pricing will be pro-rata of the full-time fee.

Emma Lucas is an Academic Lecturer in Adult Nursing with the Bournemouth University Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. She is an experienced Senior Registered Nurse and continues to practice within her clinical area of Urgent and Emergency Care. She qualified from Bournemouth University with a First Class (Hons) Degree in 2016 and continued to develop her nursing skill set within a range of practice areas, which included Cardiology, Community, Palliative Care and Urgent and Emergency Care. Emma is a keen supporter of the NHS and advocates working in a compassionate and inclusive culture in partnership with all people and patients.