BSc (Honours) Nursing

The Open University’s BSc (Hons) Nursing programme supports employers across the UK to develop their healthcare workforce to become Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Registered Nurses in the fields of Adult, Children and Young People, Learning Disabilities or Mental Health nursing.

Delivered in partnership with employers, the OU’s nursing degree is a unique combination of supported distance learning and practice-based learning within the workplace. The curriculum has been created by a specialist team from the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care from their field or practice expertise, and has been developed alongside contributions form employers, service users and students.

We have successfully delivered nurse education since 2002 and have extensive experience supporting over 2,500 learners to become qualified as registered nurses.

In England, a Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship route is also available, enabling eligible employers to make use of their apprenticeship levy.

The BSc (Hons) Nursing programme:

• Is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Addresses nursing workforce shortages by investing in staff training and nurturing talent in order to support the growth and efficiency of your organisation.
• Enables students to apply new evidence-based learning into practice, for the positive benefit of service users.
• Is delivered flexibly and aims to meet the demands of your organisation by enabling students to balance study with personal commitments and minimise time away from the workplace via our tutor-supported online learning model.
• Online materials are accessible 24/7 and provide consistently high-quality education for students, regardless of their location.
• Helps you develop applicants from all backgrounds, with us helping them to develop study skills through our experience in supporting learners, whatever their prior attainment.
• Enables you to develop your workforce with a tried-and-trusted programme, giving you access to the OU’s nearly 50 years of experience in providing knowledge and skills to busy working adults with a proven history of delivering training to organisations from the NHS to FTSE 100 companies.

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The nursing degree is suitable for growing and sustaining your organisation’s healthcare workforce. It is for individuals who have demonstrated the capabilities and commitment to progress their career to NMC Registered Nurse status.

We have well-established credit transfer and migration systems for assessing academic credit achieved by people who have undertaken prior relevant qualifications, such as Registered Nursing Associates and Healthcare Assistant Practitioners. Depending on prior studies, up to 180 credits can be transferred to the OU nursing degree.

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The Open University (OU) has an inclusive approach to higher education and sets no formal entry requirements, other than those set by the NMC:

• Literacy and numeracy, evidenced by functional skills level 2 or equivalent, e.g. GCSE Grade C or above in English (or Welsh in Wales) and Maths, or a minimum of equivalency to SQA SCQF Level 5 Core Skills Numeracy and SQA Core Skills Communication Skills in Scotland.
• Good character, evidenced through self-declaration, plus:
  • A satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) report for England, Northern Ireland and Wales or Protecting Vulnerable Grounds (PVG) scheme membership in Scotland
  • two references – one of which must come from the current employer (where applicable).
• Good health, evidenced through self-declaration of health status, occupational health screening, review of previous sickness and absence record, and two references.
• Successful completion of interview and assessment of personal values matched to the requirements for person centred care as outlined in the NMC Code (2018).

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The degree:

• Is an equal balance of theory and practice. Learning is delivered through a combination of practice-based learning experience on placement(s), and theory taught through an enquiry-based learning (EBL) approach delivered via supported online distance learning.
• Develops effective, evidence-based practice and underpinning knowledge, in an interprofessional and interdisciplinary environment.
• Develops your existing healthcare workforce.
• Increases staff retention by offering a clear and structured career progression to valued employees.
• Supports widening participation initiatives.

The programme has start dates in February (England and Wales only) and October (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) each year. It takes approximately 3-4 years to complete.

The programme is a partnership between the OU and your organisation, starting with the recruitment and selection process which is led by your local OU Nursing Team. The nursing degree programme consists of at least 4,600 hours which are equally split between theory and practice. The OU delivers the theory elements via online learning, with formative and summative assessment processes in place throughout the programme.

The programme is split into three stages, with a 60-credit theory module and a 60-credit practice module in each stage.  At each stage of the programme, the student will undertake 770 hours of supernumerary practice, split into three practice learning periods. The first two practice learning periods in each stage are based in alternative practice settings, to be organised by your organisation in collaboration with the OU. The third practice learning period is usually based in the student’s primary base (e.g. the student’s normal place of work), except in Northern Ireland where all placements are undertaken externally.  For more information, please visit the dedicated Northern Ireland nursing webpage. In Scotland, placements are arranged via the employer or supporting Universities. For more information about external facing placements in Scotland, please contact the Scotland Nursing Team at scotland-nursing-applications-hwsc@open.ac.uk.

Each student must have a nominated practice assessor and have access to a range of practice supervisors as per the NMC (2018) Standards for student supervision and assessment. These individuals will supervise and assess the student’s learning in practice to achieve the proficiencies, skills and practice-based assessments within the Practice Assessment Document (PAD), the bilingual electronic Practice Assessment Document (ePAD) in Wales, or the electronic Northern Ireland Practice Assessment Document (eNIPAD) in Northern Ireland.

On successfully completing all theory and practice assessments, the student will be awarded a BSc (Hons) Nursing Degree and be eligible for registration with the NMC in their chosen field of nursing practice.

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The Open University has the experience and support in place to help students succeed and make a positive impact on practice.

The OU will deploy expert staff to support your organisation and your learners. They will work collaboratively with the relevant roles in your organisation.