You are here

  1. Home
  2. Our work
  3. OU Future Nurse Programmes

OU Future Nurse Programmes

Students can study one of four fields of nursing in preparation for entry to the NMC register.

Find the list of courses here

For over 17 years, we've delivered a highly successful work-based pre-registration nursing programme in partnership with healthcare employers.  From Autumn 2020, we introduced our exciting new Future Nurse curriculum to meet the new standards for nursing education published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2018).


In Northern Ireland we work closely in partnership with all five Health and Social Care Trusts across Northern Ireland to produce the nurses of the future and address the shortage of nurses within Northern Ireland.

In 2016, The Open University also began working in partnership with the independent sector to offer student nursing places to Healthcare Assistants employed within independent nursing homes. 

Currently there are over 600 employees registered on the Nursing programmes within both sectors and we have received 175 places for student nurses from the Department of Health.

For more information email our Nursing Team


 

Nursing is a career for all, and at The Open University we work proactively here in Northern Ireland with Queens University, Belfast and Ulster University to promote nursing as a highly rewarding career which is open to all people from all walks of life.

 


Future Nurse Future Midwife Programme Webinar 2024

Looking at pathways into Nursing? We recently held a webinar dedicated to covering the key information you need to know when it comes to our Future Nurse Future Midwife Programme in Northern Ireland. 

Blue block with the title "Webinar" and a picture of PC screen with a man talking

Webinar Recording

If you missed the live webinar, you can watch the recording at the link above. 

A blue box with the title "Presentation" and a PowerPoint logo below.

Webinar Presentation

You can view the PowerPoint slides from the live webinar by dowloading the PDF. 

A blue box with the title "FAQ" and a question mark below

FAQ

If you have any questions about the Nursing programme make sure you check out our handy Frequently Asked Questions document.


Meet our student nurses


Nursing Application Walkthrough

Alice: 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:34:15 Hello. My name is Alice and I am a member of The Open University Team in Nursing in Northern Ireland. I will be bringing you through the 2024 Online Pre-registration Nursing Program Application form. This is a short video to show you the functionality of the form to bring you through each section. Briefly. It is not an exhaustive overview. Please ensure that you refer to your guidance notes before starting this online form.

00:00:35:00 - 00:00:53:10 You cannot leave this form and return to this form at any time. There is no saving function. Please ensure when you sit down to do the form, you complete this in one sitting. Please ensure that you also gather all information relating to this form before sitting down to complete the form to make it quicker and easier for you.

00:00:53:12 - 00:01:22:08 Information you will need before starting this form will include education history, information around what qualifications you have in order to meet the minimum requirements for numeracy and literacy. In addition to this, please ensure you have an accurate overview of all employment you have had since leaving full time education. Please ensure there are no gaps between jobs and if there are gaps, there will be a section for you to complete in order to explain. Your guidance notes

00:01:22:08 - 00:01:28:12 gives you more information on this area.

00:01:28:13 - 00:01:52:09 The first section asks you for your personal details. Please ensure you have a personal identifier (PI) number organized before starting. There is more information on your guidance notes regarding this. You will be asked for this PI number at the end of the form. As I move through the form, I will enter letters in order to allow me to move to each section because each field requires an answer before you can move forward.

00:01:52:09 - 00:02:20:15 please ensure that you give accurate, full and honest answers to each section. You will be asked at the end of the form to declare that you are happy with all the answers provided. Please ensure to include an accurate email address. This will be our preferred contact method throughout the recruitment process.

00:02:21:01 - 00:02:53:01 If this has not been entered correctly, you may risk not receiving any information from us. If you would like to receive any materials from The Open University to a different address to the address noted above, you can enter that address here in this box.

00:02:53:03 - 00:03:17:07 Please ensure to include a field of practice that you're applying for. When applying, you are able to include two options if you wish, but if you are invited to interview, the panel will ask you what your preferred field is if you were given a place. Is this your first application to The Open University Nursing program? If yes, you will be able to move to the next section if no.

00:03:17:08 - 00:03:38:11 We will ask you to provide the year you'd previously submitted to show you what happens if you have not completed in full. I will remove the ticks from these two boxes under field of practice as I try to move to the next section. It will not let me. It will ask me to go back and answer in full.

00:03:38:11 - 00:04:08:07 In education history please be sure to enter the country or countries where you complete completed your full time education. The date when you started full time education. That would be primary when you started your primary education. Please select which of these statements applies to you. Please enter the name of the secondary school or sixth form college you have attended. Please also ensure to read all information on each question as it will guide you into answering it correctly.

00:04:08:08 - 00:04:31:11 If you have previously commenced a professionally regulated nursing, midwifery, health care, social work, education or teacher training program with another university, even if it was never completed, please select yes in the options below. We will ask you for more information, if that's the case. The name of the institution where you studied the qualification you were studying the years you studied.

00:04:31:12 - 00:04:59:02 Reason for leaving and the individual student number you held at that institution when you studied. If you're successful in getting a place on the on the Pre-registration nursing program, do you consent to us contacting the university for an academic reference qualifications? This section is us asking you to verify what qualifications you're submitting to illustrate, you meet the threshold for numeracy and literacy.

00:04:59:04 - 00:05:24:02 Have you successfully completed and have evidence of having completed maths numeracy level two? That would be GCSE C or above. You then provide the name of your qualification below and then you confirm what certificates you will be submitting to verify the above. More information on this section can be found in your guidance notes.

00:05:24:03 - 00:05:50:06 Sometimes candidates are unable to get a certificate. Please note that anyone who has completed their GCSEs after 2012 may have official records on their learner record system. Please refer to the guidance notes for more information on this. Not all records are always held there, so it's not an ideal scenario to be checking the learner record system in order to verify that you have the qualifications.

00:05:50:07 - 00:06:12:06 As the deadline could pass, the learner record system may not hold these. We are happy, however, to check these. If you want to answer, if you want to answer by putting your learner record number in below. Again, please refer to your guidance notes as there will be more information. Please use this section for additional qualifications.

00:06:12:07 - 00:06:33:01 We also ask you if you have ever completed any of the modules in part one of our nursing program, that would be K102 previously known as K101 or K104, previously known as K117 You can enter any of these boxes which is relevant to you. So if you have not completed any of our modules before, you just select this one at the bottom.

00:06:33:01 - 00:06:57:00 I have not completed, nor am I enrolled in any of the modules noted above. Credit transfer. If you have completed health care related modules or qualifications at higher education level within the last five years, you may be able to count that study towards the OU’s Pre-registration Nursing program. You will need to complete a credit transfer application form.

00:06:57:02 - 00:07:26:04 Speaker 1 More information relating to this form will be sent to you if you're successful in shortlisting and are invited to interview. Note if your previous study was completed more than five years ago, but not more than ten years ago, it may be eligible for an award of credit. This will be assessed on an individual discretionary basis. We are asking you this question at this stage to gather enough information to know if you will need more information on credit transfer if they're successful at shortlisting.

00:07:26:05 - 00:07:49:13 So this gives us a good idea. If you need further information when you're shortlisted. So if you're not sure but think you may be eligible, please feel free to click the maybe box and enter the qualification you are querying below. It will not, let me move to the next section as I have not entered anything into this field.

00:07:49:14 - 00:08:05:03 We would like you to complete this section and it refers to your current employment. More information can be found in your guidance notes.

00:08:05:04 - 00:08:18:05 These are sure to include your line manager and your manager's email.

00:08:18:06 - 00:08:46:06 You must hold a permanent contract of 26 hours or more if you're applying to this program. Employment History. Please capture all information carefully. It says to start with your current job and work backwards. You have already completed the previous section, which was your current job information.

00:08:46:10 - 00:09:10:11 Please note there can be no gaps between jobs, even if it's three months, four months, five months. If there are any gaps, you will have an opportunity at the and to explain those gaps in a separate box. So we ask you for your employer and address of the employer to be entered here. Start date, end date your duties.

00:09:10:12 - 00:09:30:14 And then you have the option of adding another employer. Yes or no? If you say yes, there will be another section. If you say no, it will bring you straight to the section asking you about employment gaps. So please use this space if you have any gaps between the jobs. Please ensure that you answer where the gaps are and the reason for the gaps.

00:09:30:15 - 00:09:46:06 This could be traveling. This could be caring for a family member. This could be maternity leave. Just please ensure that you include it in here so we're able to marry up that data with your employment history.

00:09:46:08 - 00:10:28:15 Additional information. Please use the space below to provide any information which you think is relevant but is not covered elsewhere within your application. Please refer to the guidance notes. There's a bit more information on this there. Declaration of character current character status, declaration of criminal record. I will move through this section quickly. Please refer to your guidance notes so you're able to answer these in full and accurately.

00:10:29:00 - 00:10:48:09 At the end we ask you for a declaration. So I confirm that the information I have provided and the Pre-registration Nursing Program application form and in all other application documents is a true, complete and accurate record and that no information has been omitted. I am aware that information about me obtained as part of the application process will be shared with my employer.

00:10:48:11 - 00:11:13:15 I understand that The Open University reviews the pre-registration, nursing program, recruitment and selection processes on a regular basis and may contact me to ask me to participate in this review whether I am successful or not getting a place in the program. We ask for your name the date and we will ask you again for your PI number to confirm.

00:11:14:00 - 00:11:36:13 This last section is to explain what the next stage is. You will see more information about this in your guidance notes. This is when you send your supporting documents to Ireland nursing applications. So please confirm by selecting each option that you understand these must be submitted to Ireland-nursing-applications@open.ac.uk once your online application has been submitted.

00:11:36:15 - 00:11:56:10 Please note if you fail to select all the options below, do not send in all supporting documents by the deadline. Then your application may not be shortlisted. That will be your personal statement. There is more information attached to the email that was sent to you about the application form. Part two. This will be your manager, senior manager and budget holder.

00:11:56:10 - 00:12:20:01 Support a digital copy of your maths certificate, your English certificate, photographic evidence. Again, you will see more information about this in your guidance notes and then finally your line manager reference. This is to be sent via email by the line manager directly. We will provide you with a document in the email that we send you and it will be a line manager reference template.

00:12:20:02 - 00:12:47:05 Please ensure to give this template to your manager to complete. Once they complete it and sign it, they must send it to us directly at Ireland-nursing-applications@open.ac.uk before the deadline. Please ensure that your line manager sends a share of reference before the deadline. Once everything is completed on your content, you can press submit.


Working in partnership with

Belfast Health and social care trust logo, northern health and social care trust logo, south eastern health and social care trust logo, southern health and social care trust logo, western health and social care trust logo