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Nursing Associate

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About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Nursing

Would you like to become a nursing associate? Our course provides specialist training and support for you to become a nursing associate registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in two years.

As a nursing associate, you'll play a vital role in the nursing team working across all four areas of nursing: adult, children's, learning disabilities, and mental health nursing. Working closely with healthcare assistants and registered nurses, you'll care for people across the lifespan in a range of settings, from the home to community and inpatient settings.

At the end of this course, you'll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and practise as a nursing associate. You'll also be able to complete further training through a top-up course or degree apprenticeship to qualify as a nurse.

**Course Overview**
The programme is studied over 2 years, and you will attend study and placements during the weeks specified on the programme planner. This will be made available to you on commencement of the course.

Equal value is placed on theory and practice for the duration of the FdSc Nursing Associate programme, so 50% of your time on this course will be spent on placement covering all areas of nursing practice (adult, children's, mental health and learning disability) in the NHS and private, voluntary and independent sectors. Placement settings will include hospitals, nursing homes, GP surgeries, clinics, and more.

Throughout the length of the course, you will be introduced to essential knowledge that a nursing associate is required to understand to enable the delivery of effective person-centred care, including the ability to research and study independently and work with student colleagues.

The University of Cumbria has excellent clinical skills and simulation facilities including simulated ward areas, high dependency care areas, home spaces and a dedicated ‘immersive simulation room’ enabling experience of ‘real life’ scenarios.

**On this course you will**

- Develop and accomplish the knowledge and skills you need to practise and provide evidenced-based and compassionate care as a registered nursing associate.

- Learn and work alongside all fields of nursing and the multi-disciplinary team whilst on placement, and recognise the contribution of different health professionals' roles and expertise.

- Develop skills through a range of nursing placements that will be a mixture of hospital and community settings, and through skills teaching and simulated practice.

- Prepare you to deliver a wide range of clinical, care and interpersonal skills underpinned by a systematic knowledge base.

**Year One**
- Applied Biological Sciences for Health

- Professional Practice and Accountability

- Developing Evidence Based Practice

- Introduction to Communication and Interpersonal Skills

- Concepts of Health and Social Policy

- Introduction to Nursing Associate Practice

**Year Two**

- Pharmacology and Medicine Therapeutics

- Living with Long Term Conditions Across the Lifespan

- Learning from the 'Lived' Experience

- Communication and Relationship Management in a Therapeutic Context

- Understanding Care Needs

- The Nursing Associate as Leader

Assessment methods

Coursework; practical exams and written exams.
Qualificatory practice units.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£13,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course locations:

Lancaster

Carlisle - Fusehill Street

Department:

Nursing, Health and Professional Practice

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

36%
Nursing

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Nursing (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

59%
Staff make the subject interesting
68%
Staff are good at explaining things
59%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
64%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

71%
Library resources
76%
IT resources
58%
Course specific equipment and facilities
5%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

99%
UK students
1%
International students
8%
Male students
92%
Female students
63%
2:1 or above
24%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Nursing (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£22,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education
98%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

97%
Nursing and midwifery professionals
3%
Health professionals
1%
Childcare and related personal services

19,890 nursing qualifications were awarded in 2015, making it much the most popular degree in the country. Despite that, we have a serious shortage of nurses - estimates suggest that we're over 20,000 nurses short - that is only set to continue. So it's no surprise to see that the very large majority of nursing graduates go on to become nurses, and that starting salaries are pretty competitive. There are lots of different specialties to choose from (including midwifery), and the most common by far is adult nursing, but the typical end result for graduates is the same — they go on to become nurses (or midwives). That’s not to say that you can’t do anything else. Some nursing graduates get other jobs - usually, but not always, in health or caring professions, or management, and with nurses in such demand, there are always going to be options for you. Do be aware that even this doesn't necessarily guarantee you can get the exact nursing job you want exactly where you want though - some flexibility in type of job and location will still help your career.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Nursing (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£29k

£29k

£31k

£31k

£30k

£30k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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