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Fundamentals of Primary Care Nursing (Nursing Homes) - AdvDip / BSc / GradCert

Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.

If you work in the Nursing or Care Home setting, this course will equip you with all the core skills required for the role and to further develop your career.

  • Level Top-Up Pathways
  • Study mode Part Time
  • Location City South
  • Award AdvDip / BSc / GradCert
  • Start date March 2024
  • School School of Nursing and Midwifery
  • Faculty Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences

Overview

If you work in the Nursing or Care Home setting, this course will equip you with all the core skills required for the role and to further develop your career.

This course is not open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

The course will develop your clinical and academic skills and prepare you develop as a practitioner leading the delivery of quality care. The focus will be on the adult resident in nursing and care home settings alongside generic community and primary care skills.

This 12-month course is delivered at the University, alongside online activities and supervised practice with a nurse mentor. Practical skills such as catheterisation, infection control, minor injury and illness, frailty and medicines management are covered. There is a strong focus on communication and assessment skills as well as chronic disease management including dementia, mental health and learning disability.

We have experienced lecturers with a background in primary care and community nursing and supported by subject specialist lecturers. You will learn through a variety of methods including role play, debate and case study approaches. You will receive support for you and your mentor in practice to achieve the practical elements and will be supported by a personal tutor from the teaching team throughout the programme.

The course has been developed alongside Health Education England and Birmingham Cross City Commissioning Group to provide a quality assured standardised course for the nursing home workforce.

Why Choose Us?

  • All your essential training and education will be in one place.
  • You'll benefit from learning in small groups, peer support and networking.
  • You'll have support from an experienced teaching team.
  • We have excellent links to practice.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply
  • UK Student
  • International Student

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.

Award: AdvDip

Starting: Mar 2024

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Part Time
  • 12 months
  • TBC

Award: BSc

Starting: Mar 2024

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Part Time
  • 12 months
  • TBC

Award: GradCert

Starting: Mar 2024

  • Mode
  • Duration
  • Fees
  • Part Time
  • 12 months
  • TBC

International students

Sorry, this course is not available to International students.

Access to computer equipment

You will require use of a laptop, and most students do prefer to have their own. However, you can borrow a laptop from the university or use one of our shared computer rooms.

Printing

You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment.

Field trips

All essential field trips and associated travel costs will be included in your course fees.

Access to Microsoft Office 365

Every student at the University can download a free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use whilst at university and for 18 months after graduation.

Key Software

You will be able to download SPSS and Nvivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research.

Key subscriptions

Subscriptions to key journals and websites are available through our library.

Excess printing (optional)

Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet.

Books (optional)

All module key texts will be in the University library, but in limited numbers. You may choose to purchase a copy.

Subscriptions (optional)

You may wish to purchase subscriptions to additional journals and websites.

Memberships (optional)

You may wish to join a union or professional body related to this course.

Accommodation and living costs

The cost of accommodation and other living costs are not included within your course fees. More information on the cost of accommodation can be found in our accommodation pages.

Entry requirements

To successfully apply for this course, you must:

  • Be a NMC Registered Nurse 
  • Be employed in a nursing or residential home setting
  • 120 Level 5 credits and 120 Level 4 credits are necessary to enrol for the BSc Award
  • You will need the support of a Practice Assessor to support you in work based learning

Students who have a Dip HE or equivalent, but do not have any previous BCU credits will need to complete at least 100 credits to gain a BSc award. To achieve these 100 credits students need to complete, five x 20 credit modules at level 6, or by completing three modules at level 6 plus a 40-credit level 5 module. The 40 credit level 5 module comprises of a portfolio and is offered free of charge from BCU. Prospective students should contact the Academic Development Department to access this module. Please email Sherron Parkes Sherron.parkes@bcu.ac.uk to make an appointment.

How to apply

Complete the online application form via the link above depending on the route you wish to take.

Course in Depth

Modules

Level 6:

In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 60 credits):

Download course specification

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Course Structure

This course is a 60 credit BSc top up degree. The award you graduate with will depend on your level of qualification on entry. For example, if you already have a diploma you will exit with a BSc, but you already have a degree you will exit with a Graduate Certificate.

You will be expected to commit one day a week to directed study and work-based learning. 

The course is delivered through a combination of remote learning and face to face sessions at City South Campus. You will be assessed in a variety of ways including a reflective portfolio, written assignments and presentations.

Experiential learning will be incorporated into all aspects of learning and teaching, which will encourage a reflective approach. 

Alongside individual tutorials, you'll also have the additional support of e-learning through the Moodle platform. Opportunities will be provided for simulated learning including role play, ‘hands on’ practical skills sessions using a range of simulation, video recording and playback.

Facilities & Staff

 

Our Facilities

Our School of Nursing and Midwifery is 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

Sue Shortland

Associate Professor – Primary Care

Sue qualified as a registered nurse in 1984 and a registered midwife in 1986. Sue worked for over 20 years in general practice as a general practice nurse and then as an advanced nurse practitioner and non-medical prescriber. Sue joined Birmingham City University in 2008 as a Senior Lecturer on the MSc Advanced Practice Course whilst also...

More about Sue

Enquiries

Course enquiries

For course enquiries please contact Sue Shortland on: