New OU agreement with HEIW gives healthcare staff ‘first step towards a career in nursing’

The Open University in Wales has unveiled a new partnership to support healthcare staff onto one of its flagship introduction modules.

K102: Introducing health and social care is a compulsory module for OU professional programmes in health and social care, including nursing.

The course content includes: 

• what it means to be a carer 
• human development (looking at example of migrants, victims of crime and people with a learning disability as case studies) 
• safeguarding 
• concepts of sociology.  

Fully-funded by Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), a limited number of places have been made available specifically for mental health or learning disability NHS Wales healthcare assistants (or from HEIW recognised independent providers). 

The module will begin in February 2025.  

'Introducing health and social care gives students a firm grounding in concepts, ideas and methods which can prepare them for future study – it can even be a first step towards a career in nursing,' said Dr Linda Walker, Nation Manager for Wales at the OU’s Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. 'Introductory modules like this are great for getting back into learning – especially if it’s been a while since you were last in school or college. They can also be a way for seeing if a degree is something you’d like to do, without committing to it right at the start.'

The OU’s nursing degree scheme allows healthcare assistants to study flexibly for a nursing degree while continuing to work in their local hospital or care home.