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Summary:
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (B790)
Course Code: B790
Applying through UCAS? Apply here (B790)
Course Code: B790
Where Are You Applying From?
How Would You Like To Study?
When Do You Want To Start Your Studies?
Which Campus Would You Like To Study At?
Which Options Would You Like With Your Course?
Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education
98% of our Nursing graduates are in graduate-level employment (Guardian, 2024)
100% of Health graduates went into highly skilled employment or further education (HESA, 2023)
£5,000 a year available with the NHS bursary.
About the course
The new role of nursing associate is designed to bridge the gap between healthcare assistant and registered nurse. This flexible practice-led course is aimed at healthcare assistants currently supporting registered nurses to provide care.
As a nursing associate you will have the skills knowledge attitudes and behaviours to play an active part in improving people’s experience of healthcare.
This Foundation degree provides the study- and work-based learning you need to develop these wide-ranging skills and widen the scope of your service. It also meets the requirements of the national Nursing Associate Training programme curriculum as well as the NHS Constitution (see below).
Why choose this course?
- Attend university for the equivalent of one day a week so it fits easily alongside your current employment and other commitments
- Learn through a combination of lectures and seminars guided study and work-based learning
- Study a curriculum developed by experienced nurses and delivered in partnership with local employers and services
- Put your skills into practice in a range of healthcare settings
- Benefit from the support of a practice mentor and a personal academic tutor
The NHS Constitution brings together details of what staff patients and the public can expect from the National Health Service. It sets out the principles and values that guide how the NHS should act and make decisions. The NHS Constitution states that the NHS 'aspires to the highest standards of excellence and professionalism”. Applicants are expected to demonstrate their understanding and application of these values throughout the selection process.View the Constitution here
with Professional Practice Year
This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.
There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.
*Only available to UK/EU students.
with Foundation Year
A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.
Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.
With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.
The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.
This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.
Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?
- Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
- Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
- Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
- Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees
The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.
During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.
Course Leader - Kirstie Allen
I joined the School of Healthcare Practice in October 2019 from a clinical leadership position within Children's Public Health Nursing Services. I qualified as a Children's Nurse in 2012 in Manchester and worked in a variety of paediatric inpatient settings in the North West and South East including paediatric acute wards, assessment units, trauma and emergency care, surgical and neonatal environments. In 2015 I moved from the hospital setting into the community and completed by Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification specialising in Health Visiting in 2016.
Course Leader - Kirstie Allen
I joined the School of Healthcare Practice in October 2019 from a clinical leadership position within Children's Public Health Nursing Services. I qualified as a Children's Nurse in 2012 in Manchester and worked in a variety of paediatric inpatient settings in the North West and South East including paediatric acute wards, assessment units, trauma and emergency care, surgical and neonatal environments. In 2015 I moved from the hospital setting into the community and completed by Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification specialising in Health Visiting in 2016.
Course Leader - Kirstie Allen
I joined the School of Healthcare Practice in October 2019 from a clinical leadership position within Children's Public Health Nursing Services. I qualified as a Children's Nurse in 2012 in Manchester and worked in a variety of paediatric inpatient settings in the North West and South East including paediatric acute wards, assessment units, trauma and emergency care, surgical and neonatal environments. In 2015 I moved from the hospital setting into the community and completed by Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification specialising in Health Visiting in 2016.
Course Leader - Kirstie Allen
I joined the School of Healthcare Practice in October 2019 from a clinical leadership position within Children's Public Health Nursing Services. I qualified as a Children's Nurse in 2012 in Manchester and worked in a variety of paediatric inpatient settings in the North West and South East including paediatric acute wards, assessment units, trauma and emergency care, surgical and neonatal environments. In 2015 I moved from the hospital setting into the community and completed by Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification specialising in Health Visiting in 2016.
Course Leader - Kirstie Allen
I joined the School of Healthcare Practice in October 2019 from a clinical leadership position within Children's Public Health Nursing Services. I qualified as a Children's Nurse in 2012 in Manchester and worked in a variety of paediatric inpatient settings in the North West and South East including paediatric acute wards, assessment units, trauma and emergency care, surgical and neonatal environments. In 2015 I moved from the hospital setting into the community and completed by Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification specialising in Health Visiting in 2016.
What will you study?
Academic Skills Development For Nursing Associates
This unit will support your transition into Higher Education study and support your academic development as a student nursing associate. You engage with study skills, time management and planning skills and strategies that will enable you to become an independent learner and develop the academic skills to support your progress through the course. The nature of knowledge alongside an introduction to research and its place in developing and enhancing nursing knowledge and practice will prepare you for the development of research skills in subsequent years.
During the unit you will develop your numeracy, literacy and digital literacy skills. You will have an introduction to nursing associate practice through practice visits, in order to initiate your reflective skills. Underpinning these visits is an introduction to reflection and reflective writing.
Introduction To Nursing Associate Interventions
This explores the knowledge underpinning clinical skills for nursing associates. It provides you with the opportunity to develop your confidence in performing a range of basic nursing associate skills and interventions relevant to patient care. This unit links theory to practice by considering physical health and psychological wellbeing to enable you to learn and use evidence-based, best practice approaches when undertaking basic nursing associate interventions as outlined in the NMC (2018) Standards of proficiency for nursing associates.
Application Of Nursing Associate Theory And Practice
This unit is your introduction to nursing associate practice developing your awareness of meeting the health needs of service users and carers across the lifespan. You will engage directly in workplace environments to enable the development of the skills needed for the person-centred and holistic care of people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.
Understanding Health For Healthcare Practitioners
The concept of health underpins nursing and supports your developing understanding of people as individuals and groups from a range of perspectives. You will engage with life sciences, psychology and sociology in this unit to develop your understanding of the structure and function of the healthy body and mind. Topics to be explored include sociology and health psychology and their contribution to understanding health as well as the determinants of health and health inequalities.
Exploring Health And Primary Care Services In The Community
The Nursing and Midwifery (2018) Standards of proficiency for nursing associates includes a number of Platforms which are directly applicable to a practitioner’s knowledge and understanding of community-based healthcare and primary care services. This unit will introduce you to the principles of community healthcare and nursing associate practice in the primary care environment. You will consider the community and primary care needs of your areas of work and identify how this interplays with other care settings, such as, acute hospital environments.
You will explore relevant social, health and behaviour theory around health in the out of hospital setting and community environments, as well as policy and guidance from local and national bodies, which influence the achievement of community and primary care. Through an enquiry-based learning approach to assessment, you will consider the application of health principles to communities and how the role of the nursing associate fits with these principles.
Consolidating Nursing Associate Practice
Nursing Associates require skills of communication and professionalism which set effective practice context for all nursing associate skills. As the Nursing associate role is emerging, you will play a pivotal part in promotion of your profession in the workplace, with peers and with the general public.
The aim of this unit is to enable you to develop teaching skills and the skills to advocate and support development of the role of the nursing associate in workplace environments for patients, service users, their carers, and the general public. You will consolidate your prior learning from all workplace settings including skills development, communication and professionalism.
Integration Of Nursing Associate Theory And Practice
Nursing associates care for people with a great variety of health needs in a wide range of workplace environments.
This unit enables you to understand the journeys through healthcare that people experience and to be adaptable and flexible to meet needs whilst understanding the effective practice within the wider multi-disciplinary team.
The unit includes gaining an appreciation of closely together with other professionals to contribute to the delivery and coordination of care for service users in a variety of workplace settings with a focus on patient safety. You will examine how healthcare policies and legislation influence the delivery of care.
This unit builds on the Application of nursing associate theory and practice year 1 unit and plans to develop your knowledge and skills to be able to safely administer medicines in accordance with professional standards and legislation, to make appropriate decisions in relation to medicines and educate others about the pharmacological aspects of care. The unit addresses what you must know and do to fulfil the professional standards in relation to the law, safeguarding, consent, pharmacology and medicines administration and optimisation.
Nursing Associate Interventions And Person-Centred Care
Identifying needs and monitoring care is an essential component of the role of the nursing associate. This unit aims to further develop your nursing associate skills by equipping you with the knowledge and skills to provide and monitor patient centred care, in conjunction with the registered nurse and multi-disciplinary team.
This unit builds upon the knowledge and skills obtained from your first-year unit: Introduction to Nursing Associate Interventions
Public Health Principles And Practice For Nursing Associates
This unit will introduce you to the principles of public health, health promotion and the prevention of ill health within the public health arena. You will consider the public health needs of your areas of work and identify how this interplays with other national and local policy through health needs assessment activities.
You will explore relevant policy and drivers to public health across the lifespan and specifically to your workplace learning. You will explore the health needs of communities and also the responsibility you hold as Nursing Associate for the health and wellbeing of your own environment. Through an enquiry-based learning approach to assessment, you will also be able to consider the application of public health principles and practice to your chosen community and how the role of the Nursing Associate fits with these principles.
How will you be assessed?
The course assessment strategy is closely aligned to the teaching and learning strategy which is designed to have: immediate relevance to practice; draw on expertise-by-experience; foster active learning and be leaner-centred in approach. A distinct feature of the course is the range of assessment tasks including those that allow you to undertake workplace relevant assessments that can have an immediate impact in practice. Examples include: written assignments ranging from reflective pieces to academic essays culminating in a project at Foundation degree level assessed practice within your workplace; computer based examinations and oral presentations.
Your use of professional and theoretical literature will increase in complexity depth and breadth as you progress through the course. In the first year you will be expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the evidence-based literature and apply this to practice. In contrast the second year will demand deeper analysis and evaluation of the literature and its applications. For example you will develop your ability to study and practice more independently.
Careers
On completion of the Foundation degree you will be eligible to apply for nursing associate posts or Year 2 entry to one of our BSc (Hons) registered nursing courses (as long as you also meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council entry requirement).
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Entry Requirements
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a Foundation Degree for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250. These are the full course fees covering each year of study.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
International students cannot apply for Foundation Degrees.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a Foundation Degree for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250. These are the full course fees covering each year of study.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
International students cannot apply for Foundation Degrees.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a Foundation Degree for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250. These are the full course fees covering each year of study.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
International students cannot apply for Foundation Degrees.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a Foundation Degree for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250. These are the full course fees covering each year of study.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
International students cannot apply for Foundation Degrees.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
Fees for this course
UK
The full-time standard fee for a Foundation Degree for the Academic Year 2024/25 is £9,250. These are the full course fees covering each year of study.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
International
International students cannot apply for Foundation Degrees.
Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk
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