Nursing - Child - BSc (Hons)
Currently viewing course to start in 2024/25 Entry. Switch to 2025/26 Entry
Are you a compassionate individual with an interest in caring for children? Our Children’s Nursing BSc (Hons) course expertly supports you in gaining the knowledge and skills to deliver professional and compassionate Family Centred Care.
- Level Undergraduate
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City South
- Award BSc (Hons)
- Start date January 2025
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Nursing and Midwifery
- Faculty Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences
This course is:
Open to International Students
Overview
Course is Full for 2024/25 Entry
This course is now full for 2024/25. If you'd like to apply for 2025/26, applications are open now.
If you'd still like to apply for September 2024 - take a look at some of our other available courses.
Are you a compassionate individual with an interest in caring for children? Our Children’s Nursing BSc (Hons) course expertly supports you in gaining the knowledge and skills to deliver professional and compassionate Family Centred Care.
The University is commissioned to deliver one of the UK’s largest cohorts of nurses every year, so you’ll benefit from studying at one of the country’s biggest nursing schools and be part of a community of student nurses in a diverse and vibrant city.
Successful completion of the course will make you eligible to apply for professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
What's covered in this course?
Our aim is to develop you into a graduate nurse who is able to work flexibly across a range of settings and meet the health needs of the whole person throughout their lifespan. We will work with you on your development to help you become a skilled, knowledgeable, emotionally intelligent nurse, able to lead and co-ordinate compassionate, evidence-based, person- and family-centred care while working as an integral member of interdisciplinary teams.
The university-based elements of the first two years of your course are integrated, with all fields of nursing working together. In your final year, the theory you learn will be specific to child nursing. You will study five modules each year. In year one, you will complete a year-long practice module which will prepare and support you to develop your confidence and competence in practice as you work towards independently leading and co-ordinating care.
In your first year, you will gain theoretical and practice knowledge to develop a range of key skills. This will include: exploring the evidence that underpins person- and family-centred care; professional values; self-leadership; and the role of the registered nurse. Second year modules will further enhance your first-year learning and explore evidence-based complex care incorporating a wide range of research, skills, team leadership and principles of co-ordinating care. During your third year you will continue build on your previous learning and develop proficiency in child nursing. The modules you study will develop you as a leader who uses research-informed critical thinking to co-ordinate care, supervise other health professionals and gain confidence in the safe management of medication. You will also have access to personal tuition throughout the course which will enrich your learning experiences and will enable to reflect meaningfully on your practice and the development of your individual field identity.
Your practice placements will be specific to your field, child nursing, throughout the three years. To help you become a more rounded nurse, you will also have opportunities to learn across the four fields of nursing. Your placement learning experiences may be within community, hospital or home environment settings and at a location anywhere within the West Midlands and potentially into neighbouring counties. While on placement you will be supported, supervised and assessed by practice and academic staff to develop your knowledge and skills.
We are committed to providing excellent, innovative, learning, teaching and assessment experiences through the use of technology, which we use to enhance your learning, through lectures, seminars, skills simulation and virtual learning. Engaging with practice partners and service users is also integral to our approach.
Our BSc (Hons) Nursing course has been designed to comply with the new Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards (2018) meaning that successful completion of this course makes you eligible to apply and be entered onto the NMC register in one of the four fields of nursing: Adult, Child, Learning Disabilities or Mental Health.
Accredited By
This course is accredited by:
I knew I would enjoy working with children, but when I started placement I was surprised how satisfying it was, even after a 13 hour shift. Honestly placement for me is the best part of my course, because you get to put into practice what you have learnt.
Sarah Gyamfi
Bethany Dennis
Beth has always gone above and beyond to make a difference in children’s healthcare. She knew that BCU’s placement opportunities could help her become the best nurse possible and pursue her passion for helping young people.
Read in fullWhy Choose Us?
- Funding - Nursing students will receive at least £5,000 a year in additional funding for maintenance and associated study costs. Download the funding FAQs
- Birmingham is one of the UK’s most diverse cities outside of London, which provides you with a wide variety of experience that will be valuable to take forward into your future career
- Opportunities to go abroad, if this is something you would like to explore during your time studying with us
- Our strong partnerships with local employers result in fantastic employability.
- You will study at our recently extended £71 million City South Campus, complete with real-life hospital environments and simulation equipment so you can practice your practical skills at all times – not just on placement.
- We offer two intakes a year in January and September so that you can start at the right time for you. Contact our Admissions team to find out more
- Strong links with some of the largest NHS Trusts in the country, including University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Women’s Children`s Hospital and many others, enabling you to build a network of invaluable contacts and gain valuable experience
- Real-world placements are supplemented by our Virtual Case Creator specialist software whilst on campus, enabling you to learn valuable observation, analytic, diagnostic, problem-solving and decision-making skills in an online simulated environment
- Student finance - have you already had a student loan to study an undergraduate degree but would like to do a second degree in nursing, midwifery or the allied health professions? You may still be eligible for funding.
Similar Courses
Open Days
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to learn about this course in detail, chat to students, explore our campus and tour accommodation.
Next Open Day: 19 October 2024
Entry Requirements
These entry requirements apply for entry in 2024/25.
All required qualifications/grades must have been achieved and evidenced at the earliest opportunity after accepting an offer to help confirm admission and allow for on-time enrolment. This can also include other requirements, like a fee status form and relevant documents. Applicants can track their application and outstanding information requests through their BCU mySRS account.
Essential requirements
120 UCAS tariff points
Please note: If you qualify for our BCU Accelerate scheme, you could receive an offer that is two grades below our normal entry requirements. Find out more about BCU Accelerate.
Applicants will also need to complete an interview for this course; see interview arrangements below.
If your level 3 qualifications do not meet the UCAS tariff for this course, you may be offered a place on our Foundation Year instead. You do not need to submit a separate application but will automatically be considered for this if your predicted grades fall below the UCAS entry tariff.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
Successful candidates will be required to obtain a satisfactory occupational health check, an enhanced DBS check and registration with the Independent Safeguarding Authority prior to enrolling on this course. If you have any queries please refer to DBS Frequently Asked Questions or contact admissions@bcu.ac.uk.
If you have a qualification that is not listed, please contact us.
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BSc (Hons)
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 3 years
- £9,250 in 2024/25
- Applications Closed
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: BSc (Hons)
Starting: Jan 2025
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 3 years
- £16,085 in 2024/25
- Applications Closed
This course offers both September and January start dates. If our places for your chosen start date are full, successful applicants will be offered a place for the next available start date instead.
Please note that applications are processed in the order in which they are submitted, so please apply early to ensure you have the best chance of securing your preferred start date if your application is successful.
You do not need to apply for both intakes as we will consider your application for the first available place if there are no places for your preferred intake.
This course is now full for 2024/25 but you can apply for 2025/26 now via UCAS.
Frequently asked questions
How will I know what has happened with my UCAS application when I have submitted it?
You'll be notified via UCAS if your application is unsuccessful. If your application is successful you'll be invited to attend an interview from our Health Admissions department.
What will the interview consist of?
You'll have a face-to-face interview with academic and clinical staff.
How will I know the outcome of my interview?
You'll be notified via UCAS track.
If I'm not offered a place, can I have some feedback?
Yes, you can request feedback from NMSW.Admissions@bcu.ac.uk
Course in Depth
Year One
In order to fully complete this course and be eligible for application for entry onto the NMC register, a student must successfully achieve all 360 credits.
The NMC standards aim to ensure that nurses are able to work in ways that are not only fit for today, but also for the future. Nurses are being asked to undertake more complex roles than ever before in an evolving health and care landscape requiring a depth and breadth of a range of topics (Smith, 2017). This module aims to provide an introduction to fundamental nursing knowledge and skills, as well as develop a pride in the profession and the role of the nurse.
Good nursing care is based on the identification of the needs of the person and should be appropriate to the nursing context in which the assessment takes place (DH, 2014). This module will focus specifically on the first two steps of the cyclical nursing process, a model that helps to deliver appropriate and effective care and resolve peoples’ needs by setting goals. Undertaking a comprehensive assessment is the first stage of the nursing process and one in which the nurse is required to ensure the person and, if appropriate, their family and carers are fully involved. A thorough assessment enables the second stage of the nursing process; that of planning care. It is at this stage that person-centred, holistic care can then be identified prior to the third and fourth stages of the process, which are known as providing and evaluating care.
This module will focus specifically on the final stages of the nursing process which includes a systematic and collaborative approach to providing and evaluating care for people and families across the lifespan. You will learn how to support individuals and if appropriate their families and carers, to make informed choices through effective communication, relationship management skills and shared decision making. You will develop an evidence based approach to working in partnership with people, families and carers to continuously monitor, evaluate and reassess the effectiveness of all agreed nursing care plans and readjust agreed goals as necessary.
The aim of this module is to help you start to enhance your skills in leadership, management and team-working, in addition to the development of your ability to promote health and assist people to modify their lifestyles to enhance healthier lives. Nurses are leaders who are participative, facilitative and emotionally intelligent. Effective leadership styles contribute to team cohesion, lower stress, and higher empowerment and self-efficacy. Leadership is a predictor of quality outcomes in health care settings. Authentic leaders offer good role modelling consistent with ethical values and vision for health care. They offer individualised consideration of staff, provide motivation and stimulate creativity and innovation (RCN 2017).
The module provides you with an introduction to and ongoing support for practice elements of your programme. The module is designed to enable you to achieve practice proficiencies within your chosen field of practice through ongoing guided participation in care within the practice setting. The module offers preparation, development and consolidation to grow your confidence and acquire competence within the practice learning environment.
You will be able to practice and develop your nursing skills within a safe, supportive environment, participate in teaching and learning sessions that support begin to allow you to identify and reflect on your own learning needs and experiences in practice.
Year Two
This module aims to provide you with the knowledge and strategies to develop problem solving and decision making skills. These skills will enable you to undertake the assessment and planning of complex situations and health conditions across the life span in a variety of nursing settings.
This module builds on previous learning to further advance your knowledge and skills to provide holistic care across a variety of care settings. You will explore theory in order to lead, deliver and evaluate complex care for a range of service users across the lifespan. Expanding on the modules in level four and complex care 1, you will continue to develop nursing care which is person centred, encompasses empowerment, uses effective communication and employs evidence based interventions.
In this module, you will get the opportunity to focus on issues of quality and safety in health care, incorporating a public health perspective in both a national and global context. Building on level four modules you will further your understanding of health policy, exploring what influences public health and causes health inequalities. Well-being as a concept will be further explored particularly in relation to sexual health, as will the service users/patient’s capacity to manage their own health and the role of the nurse in assisting patients/service users to make behaviour changes. This will also build on the work done in previous modules on empowerment and person and family centred care.
The NMC (2018) and HEE stress nursing leadership is a core nursing role in the delivery of modern health services. You will build on the skills developed at level four to further consider nursing leadership, legal aspects of nursing and management strategies required in contemporary health and social care settings.
The module provides you with the opportunity for further development and ongoing support for practice elements of your programme. The module is designed to enable you to achieve within your chosen field of practice through ongoing guided participation in care within the practice setting. The module offers year 2 preparation, development and consolidation to support confidence and competence within the practice learning environment.
Year Three
This module will build on the knowledge and skills developed at levels 4 and 5. The role of the nurse is to play a key role in improving and maintaining the mental, physical, cognitive, behavioural, social and spiritual health whilst working in partnership with the infant, child, young person and their family. We will help you further develop the skills learnt throughout the course in order to prioritise the needs of the child and family when assessing and reviewing all aspects of health and well-being. We will support you in learning how to interpret increasingly advanced assessments, how to respond, identify, plan and coordinate care that fulfils the needs of each child and family whilst ensuring evidence-based practice underpins your decisions.
This module aims to build on previous modules to prepare you to recognise and demonstrate accountability and professionalism in relation to pharmacology and medicines management. Understanding the importance of safe medication use in children and young people is paramount due to the complexities of prescribing and administration. Throughout the module you will be expected to debate strategies relating to medication concordance, family centred care, shared decision making and evaluation.
This module aims to help you examine your identity as a leader in children and young peoples’ health services. Caring for children young people and their families has recently been met with an unprecedented pace of change and increasing levels of complexity and demand for services. Therefore provision of effective leadership is more important than ever before. As a result of these changes and to meet service demand, a number of new roles have been developed and introduced to the nursing workforce.
This module aims to consolidate your risk assessment, decision making and appraisal skills to ensure safety and quality of nursing practice across a variety of settings. You will be equipped with the skills and knowledge to work in partnership with a range of professionals, interdisciplinary teams and most importantly the child, young person and their family. Through examination of your knowledge and experience, you will be expected to strengthen your emotional intelligence and resilience. Additionally, you will be supported to provide evidence-based rationales for the judgements that you make in complex, rapidly changing environments. This will enable you to think critically, apply knowledge and skills to deliver evidence based, high quality, safe family-centred care working in partnership with the child or young person.
The module provides you with further development and ongoing support for practice elements of your programme. The module is designed to enable you to achieve within your chosen field of practice. This will be through ongoing supervision and by practising independently with minimal supervision within the practice setting. The module offers year 3 preparation, development and consolidation to support confidence and competence within the practice learning environment.
Optional Modules
As a non-credited module there is no formal assessment or award of credits. You would be required to submit a updated curriculum vitae (CV) a 500 word professional development plan, and undertake an interview with the course team.
Before being approved onto the module:
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You must be in the second or third year of your course.
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You must meet with the course lead to discuss your suitability to undertake the course, this includes a discussion of your ability to undertake the module alongside your nursing course and a review of your current progress.
Download course specification
Download nowCourse structure
The course is delivered using a modular approach and divides the course into manageable elements of study and practice learning opportunities.
The first year prepares you for further study and facilitates the understanding of the principles which underpin nursing. This is supported by numerous placement learning experiences.
In year two there is an increasing field-specific focus. Core modules help to contextualise nursing whilst Field Specific modules prepare you for placement experiences.
In year three all the modules are Field Specific but there are opportunities for shared learning with the other fields of nursing and you will complete placement experiences.
You'll experience a mixture of teaching, self-directed study and practice-based clinical placements, spending half of your time each year on placement.
Upon successful completion you will graduate with a BSc (Hons) Nursing degree worth 360 credits and be eligible to apply for Registered Nurse status with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
This course is accredited by the following organisation:
The Nursing and Midwifery Council
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) works with partner organisations to set and maintain high standards of nursing and midwifery education across the UK.
This course has been approved and monitored by the NMC to make sure that the education and training on offer meets their standards.
To work as a nurse or midwife, you must pass an NMC approved course at a higher education institution (HEI) in pre-registration nursing and midwifery, leading to registration with the NMC.
Athena Swan Bronze Award
We have successfully secured the Athena SWAN Departmental Bronze Award recognising a commitment to gender equality.
The Athena Swan Charter is a framework which is used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research.
Employability
Employment opportunities
Once qualified and registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council you can practice in the UK and many countries overseas. As a qualified nurse you could find yourself working within the NHS, the private sector, in the community, at GP surgeries, at schools, plus many more - the options are endless.
Placements
Placements take place across a range of settings. You may experience care in acute, critical care, long-term care and community settings which are related to your Field. During your second year there will also be the opportunity to undertake a placement learning experience elsewhere in the UK or abroad* (*subject to selection criteria).
A placement is your chance to be a part of the working world of health and social care as it really is: your first taste of your career. For most of our courses, it's a compulsory part of your training; it's that important.
Placements help you with your confidence, by putting theory from the classroom into practice. We make sure you get a quality experience and that you are fully supported by a workplace mentor on hand throughout your placement.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Details of the entry requirements for our courses
- Some of the good reasons why you should study here
- How to improve your language skills before starting your studies
- Information relevant to applicants from your country
- Where to find financial support for your studies.
Facilities & Staff
Our Facilities
Our Nursing and Midwifery courses are based at our City South campus in leafy Edgbaston.
We’ve spent £41million expanding our facilities at City South. These facilities offer hands-on practical experience, replicating the spaces you will come across in professional practice.
In a sector where new techniques are constantly being discovered, we work hard to ensure that you learn using the most up-to-date equipment available. Alongside physical spaces such as a mock operating theatre and wards, we also make use of online and virtual technology, such as our virtual ward and virtual case creator.
See more of our skills facilities at City South
Centre for Skills and Simulation
The Centre for Skills and Simulation offers a range of different spaces which replicate situations that you will encounter in practice. These include hospital wards, an operating theatre and a home environment room.
Our mock wards enable you to get a feel of what a ward is really like before you head out for your first placement. The hospital wards can be adapted from low care to high dependency care environment with the necessary monitoring equipment.
The home environment room is the perfect space for teaching communications skills and allows us to simulate a community setting for our students. It is particularly useful for mental health nurses, learning disability nurses and midwives.
Simulation Manikins
We have several Simulation men (SIM men) and simulation babies (SIM babies) which are anatomically correct manikins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills. The manikins contain software which replicates real symptoms, and can manipulate indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and heart rate for extra realism. SIM man can even ‘talk’ to the students as they are treating him, to add another dimension to learning.
Computer Facilities
The Seacole building has two open-access IT Suites which offer PCs, printers, photocopiers and scanners. There is also an IT Helpdesk for quick and easy help with your computing or internet issues.
Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:
- Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
- Ability to save files to USB, DVD & CD
- Microsoft Office software
- Research and statistical software
- Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home
Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.
In addition to desktop PCs, we also offer a laptop loan facility, allowing students to borrow a laptop for up to six hours while on campus.
Our staff
Jody Perry
Course Lead for BSc Nursing and FdSc Assistant Practitioner (Health) and Senior Lecturer
Jody initially joined the University as a Health and Safety Advisor has a back ground in Risk Management/Clinical Governance as well as Learning and Development. Before joining the University, Jody worked in the NHS for almost twenty years. In 2014, Jody moved into academia as Senior Lecturer to undertake the role of Undergraduate Lead for...
More about Jody