BSc (Honours) Nursing

The OU pre-registration nursing programme has meant we can tap into the talent of our healthcare support workers and develop them. This is a life-changing opportunity that maximises people’s potential by helping them develop personally and progress professionally. The OU’s pre-registration nursing programme is an excellent and effective way for us to support professional development for our staff, it works out well for everyone.

Helen Wisdom
Employer representative, NHS Shetland

The nursing programme is a flexible, practice-based learning route leading to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the award of BSc (Hons) Nursing. The programme takes an innovative approach where students learn through a balanced mix of theory and practice.  From October 2020, our new Future Nurse curriculum will lead to a qualification in either Adult, Children and Young People, Learning Disabilities or Mental Health Nursing.

The programme addresses the NMC requirements for entry to the nursing professional register. It is available to students employed in healthcare practice who are either sponsored by their employer or self-finance their studies. It provides a unique opportunity to become a registered nurse while remaining employed in the workplace.

Whichever your chosen field of nursing, your programme of study has been designed to equip you with the appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the complex healthcare needs of members of the community across a range of practice settings promoting a population-based focus. Throughout the programme, key concepts support the development of professional behaviours, inter-professional working, and the values and attitudes expected of a compassionate nurse who can demonstrate connectedness, emotional intelligence and moral responsibility. This supports the integration of physical and mental health, as well as integration of care across health and social care. This will enable you, as a graduate of The Open University, to demonstrate the professional values expected to deliver high qualify, evidence informed care to children, young people, adults, families and carers. You will be a critical user of evidence enabling you to develop a well-informed and creative approach to care, which includes critical engagement with research as well as other forms of evidence.

How the programme works

The nursing degree programme is a balance of theory and practice studied either full-time over approximately 3 years or part-time over approximately 4 years, offering the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills of healthcare support workers.

We work in partnership with healthcare organisations and, as well as as being a national provider of nurse education, the OU is also a local provider through its national and locality staff.

The programme commences in February (England and Wales only) and September every year, and is multi-media facilitated and delivered via an online learning environment. You will have a tutor for each of the modules you study, as well as a team of people at the OU to support you in succeeding in your studies. See how the programme is structured here and how to apply here.