Overview

Take the next step in your nursing career and develop your expertise in community practice.

Designed for registered nurses, the MSc Community Nursing will help you deepen your knowledge, develop your clinical and professional skills and respond to changing health and social care needs across community settings.

Whether you want to develop specialist expertise, progress your practice or build a deeper understanding of community nursing, this course gives you the knowledge and confidence to take your next professional step.

You may explore areas including:

specialist areas of community nursing practice
public health
research
leadership
advanced health assessment
digital health technologies
ethics.

Throughout the course, you will learn from experienced academics, guest speakers and nurses working across community and social care. You will also have opportunities to learn alongside other nursing professionals and share experience from different areas of practice.

The course supports nurses working across all four fields of nursing and offers different study routes depending on your professional background, current role and career goals.

Clinical route

If you are working in an appropriate nursing role in the UK, you may be able to follow a clinical route that combines university study with work-based learning.

Depending on the route completed and the relevant professional requirements, this can support progression towards named awards in Clinical Nurse Specialist or Advanced Clinical Nurse Specialist practice.

Progression route

If you have already completed an eligible Specialist Practitioner District Nursing or Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification, you may be able to progress to the MSc Community Nursing. This is usually achieved through completion of the dissertation module.

Theoretical route

If you are an international nurse who is not working in an appropriate nursing role in the UK, you can follow the full-time theoretical route.

This allows you to develop advanced knowledge of community nursing and explore practice. This route leads to a university academic award but does not provide UK professional registration or a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) qualification. There are no clinical placements attached to this route.

Why study Community Nursing at GCU?

Study with Scotland’s largest provider of postgraduate and continuing development nursing education.
Develop advanced knowledge and skills for community nursing, with learning shaped around current health and social care needs and your area of practice.
Learn within a globally connected nursing environment. GCU is home to the UK’s only WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation, supporting global nursing, community and public health initiatives.
Benefit from a course developed in close collaboration with health and social care partners, helping ensure your learning reflects current practice and service needs.
Study at the University for the Common Good, where nursing education is shaped by a commitment to social justice, community wellbeing and improving health outcomes.

What you will study

We aim to display the most up-to-date information possible.

The modules listed on this page and the Programme Specification are intended to give you an idea of what you may be able to study on this course. Please note that course content, modules, teaching and assessment may change each year and after you have accepted your offer to study at GCU. This might be because we are required to do so by law, by a governmental authority, regulator or accrediting body. We may also make changes for quality assurance reasons, or to enhance the course.

Core modules

Advanced Research Methods

Masters Dissertation

Optional modules

Return To Practice

Diabetes Care – A Multi Professional Approach

Pathophysiology and Chronic Complications of Diabetes

The Lower Limb and Foot in Diabetes – Evaluation of Risk

Advanced Clinical Assessment and Decision Making in Acute and Primary Care

Prescribing for Healthcare Practitioners

Understanding and Supporting the Healthcare Needs of Autistic People Across the Lifespan

Careers

The MSc Community Nursing is designed to support your continued development as an experienced registered nurse working in, or developing expertise in, community practice.

Depending on the route you follow, your current role and the relevant professional requirements, the course can support progression into areas such as:

specialist nursing practice
advanced clinical specialist practice
leadership roles in community nursing
service development and improvement
further academic or clinical research.

If you follow an eligible clinical route while working in an appropriate UK nursing role, you may be able to work towards a named award in Clinical Nurse Specialist or Advanced Clinical Nurse Specialist practice.

If you follow the theoretical route, you will graduate with an academic award that can help you deepen your expertise in community nursing and apply this learning within your own professional context. This route does not provide UK professional registration or a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) qualification.

Whichever route you take, you will develop the knowledge, critical thinking and leadership skills to contribute to the development of community nursing and the delivery of health and social care.

Course information

Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Full time	1 year	Jan 27	Glasgow	Enquire Apply
Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Part time	1 year	Jan 27	Glasgow	Enquire Apply
Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Full time	1 Year	Sep 27	Glasgow	Enquire Apply
Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Part time	1 Year	Sep 27	Glasgow	Enquire Apply
Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Full time	1 year	Jan 28	Glasgow	Enquire Apply
Award	Mode of study	Duration	Start date	Location
MSc	Part time	1 year	Jan 28	Glasgow	Enquire Apply

Please note that admission to GCU is considered on a competitive basis, and the academic entry requirements stated here may be the minimum required to be eligible for an offer.

International students can get information on entry requirements specific to their country in our International Study section.

Minimum academic requirements

UK honours degree 2:2 (or equivalent). Must be a registered nurse (NMC registered if undertaking clinical or progression pathway).

English language requirements

IELTS score of 6.5 (or equivalent) with no element below 6.0.

Additional information for international applicants

Entry requirements by country
Application deadlines
English language tests
Knowledge of English - Applicants from a majority English speaking country may not be required to provide further proof of your English language proficiency. Information about this requirement is available on the Student Visa section of the gov.uk website.

Additional information for all applicants

Relevant experience (Recognition of Prior Learning)

GCU's flexible entry policies exist to allow relevant work experience and prior learning to be considered towards standard entry or advanced entry into a course.

If you do not have the typical academic entry qualifications, but can demonstrate relevant work experience and/or credits from recognised professional bodies, you may be eligible to enter this course via the University's Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) scheme.

Learning and teaching methods

You’ll learn through a mix of:

lectures
seminars
groupwork
flipped classroom approaches
online learning.

Your learning will go beyond lectures and seminars. Through discussions, presentations and problem-based scenarios, you will explore current challenges in nursing and advanced practice. You will be encouraged to question current thinking, evaluate evidence and reflect on your own professional practice.

Where relevant to your pathway, your learning will also support the development of capabilities within your workplace.

Assessment methods

Assessment methods vary between modules and may include:

essays and reports
case studies
presentations and structured conversations
examinations and class tests
group work
posterportfolios
practical assessments
a dissertation.

You may also have opportunities to communicate your professional expertise through different types of assessment.

These approaches will help you develop your communication skills and gain experience presenting your ideas to peers and experts.

Clinical pathways and workplace assessment 

If you follow a specialist clinical pathway, your learning will connect directly with your professional practice.

Alongside academic study, you may develop and demonstrate relevant clinical competencies in your workplace, supported by workplace clinical supervision.

Clinical pathways use a range of on-campus and workplace assessments, which may include:

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)
viva examinations
case-based discussions
Demonstrations of Practice (DoPs)
clinical logs
portfolios of workplace evidence.

These assessments allow you to demonstrate your knowledge and clinical skills in practice, with assessment by clinical experts.

Common Good

GCU is the University for the Common Good. Throughout the course, you will explore what this means for you as a nursing professional and the contribution you can make through your practice.

You will be encouraged to question current thinking, reflect on your practice and take greater responsibility for your own professional development.

Consider how nursing can respond to local and global healthcare challenges. You may have the oppertunity todevelop the skills to lead and influence change, improve healthcare delivery and contribute to the communities you serve.

Through evidence-based practice, leadership and professional decision making, you will be equipped to contribute to healthcare improvement at local, national and international levels.

Download the programme specification

In addition to the core modules that all students must undertake, some courses offer students a choice from a selection of optional modules to shape the focus of their degree. Optional modules where available, form part of the overall credit structure of the course.

Download the programme specification for a detailed breakdown of the course structure, including modules, what you'll learn and other useful information.

Terms and Conditions

Details of the University’s terms and conditions are available here.