BSc (Hons) Community Specialist Practice
Why choose this course?
- If you want to provide the best care in the community then this course is for you.
- We'll help you to realise your full potential through practice placements where you'll be supported by a practice teacher.
- You'll spend half of your time on practice placement, so you'll get the hands on experience as well as learning the theory.
- By the end of the course you'll have a greater understanding of professional roles, so you can help bring about integrated and high quality health and social care, through working with other professionals effectively.
Fact file
Start date: September
Course length: full time: 1 year
Campus: Kedleston Road site, Derby Campus
About this course
This course is for qualified nurses who want to gain a professional qualification in either district nursing or practice nursing. And for those who hold either a Diploma or Advanced Diploma in nursing studies, it will enable you to top up your qualification to degree level. If you already have a nursing degree then you can progress onto our MSc Community Specialist Practice instead.
You'll study this course full time over 52 weeks and you'll spend half of your time on practice placement and half of your time in university. This means you'll gain a mixture of theory and practical experience ensuring you are ready to provide effective patient care when you graduate.
By completing this course you'll be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of clinical practice, care and programme management, clinical practice leadership, and clinical practice development. We'll teach you in a variety of ways including lectures, workshops, seminars and group discussions. You'll be assessed through assignments, exams, presentations and the production of a practice portfolio. You'll also be assessed on your placement by your practice teacher.
In order to study this course you'll need to organise for an NHS Primary Care Trust to sponsor you so they can support you throughout your practice placements and provide you with a practice teacher. Without this, unfortunately we won't be able to offer you a place.
What you will cover
Entry requirements
You'll need:
- to be registered on part one of the Nursing and Midwifery Council register
- to have sponsorship from an NHS Primary Care Trust
- 120 credits at Diploma level, or equivalent academic credits / Accreditation of Prior Learning.
- at least one year of post-registration experience.
If you're undertaking a recordable pathway, you must have completed a period of sufficient length to have consolidated pre-registration outcomes and to have gained a deeper understanding in relevant professional practice. This will normally be one year.
It will be the Employers responsibility to ensure that any necessary CRB checks and health checks are carried out prior to confirming the offer of a course place.
Fees and finance
This is a specialist course.
UK students
- Full time: £7,995 (each year)
*These fees apply if you're starting this course between September 2012 and August 2013. We recommend you check fee details with us though, as they can change. Costs can increase each year.
How you will learn
How you'll learn
You'll learn using a mixture of lectures, workshops, seminars, group discussions, action learning sets and problem based learning.
How you're assessed
You'll be assessed through assignments, exams, presentations, and the production of a practice portfolio. You'll also be assessed on your placement by your practice teacher.
Careers and employability
When you have completed this 52 week long course, you'll have the relevant skills to become a practitioner in your own area of expertise and become a confident district nurse. Within primary care, the role of the district nurse is changing to reflect the needs of communities. There is a lot more emphasis on bringing the care to patients so it is closer to their home environment. This course will encourage you to reflect on your practice and develop the knowledge and skills you'll need to keep your career moving forward.
When you've completed this course you could continue your professional development by studying a masters such as our MSc Advanced Practice and take your career to the next level. If you already have a bachelors degree in nursing then you should study our MSc Community Specialist Practice which will help you to become an advanced practitioner in your own area of expertise.
