Overview
As a children’s nurse, you will help give children the best possible start in life. Caring for babies, children and young people with a wide range of needs, every day is different. What stays the same is your focus on safe, compassionate and family-centred care.
You might:
- support a premature newborn in neonatal care
- help a child in A&E
- work with young people managing long-term mental health conditions.
Our BSc (Hons) Nursing Studies (Child) programme prepares you for this rewarding role. You’ll build the knowledge, practical skills and professional values to deliver high-quality care in hospitals, homes, schools and community services. From your first day, we'll support you to grow into a confident children’s nurse.
Blending academic study and hands-on experience, you’ll learn how children grow, develop and communicate. Clinical placements make up half your learning, giving you real experience with children and families across different age groups, settings and specialisms.
Unlike adults, children can’t always express their feelings, so we focus on specialist communication skills to connect with children and support them and their families. A core feature of children's nursing is working in partnership with children, young people and their families to manage care with other health and social care professionals.
As Scotland’s largest single-campus provider of pre-registration nursing education, you’ll train in our Interprofessional Simulation Centre. There, you can build confidence working alongside allied health professionals in lifelike settings using real equipment and advanced patient manikins.
You’ll graduate ready to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Registered Children’s Nurse. You can then begin a rewarding career making a lasting impact on young lives.
Please note:
The BSc Nursing (Child) and BSc (Hons) Nursing (Child) follow the same structure in the first three years.
The BSc focuses on the core knowledge and clinical skills needed to become a Registered Nurse. The BSc (Hons) provides an additional fourth year of specialist study and academic dissertation. Both the BSc and BSc (Hons) lead to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Registered Nurse following completion of the first three years.
Important: You must apply for your preferred route. Opportunities to transfer between the BSc and BSc (Hons) once you accept your offer are very limited and will not be considered until Year 3.
Why study Nursing Studies (Child) at GCU?
- Give children the best start in life. Learn how to communicate across age groups, engage with young people and empower families to support their children.
- Study at the largest single-campus provider of pre-registration nursing education in Scotland.
- Practice clinical skills in lifelike hospital wards and community settings. Build confidence with real equipment and advanced patient manikins at our Interprofessional Simulation Centre.
- Set yourself up to thrive as part of a dynamic multi-agency team, working regularly with students from other health and social care courses.
- 50% of the course is dedicated to clinical placements. Engage with patients face-to-face and get hands-on experience of real-life settings.
Accreditations
What you will study
Please note that full module information is in the process of being finalised for publication and will be made available here shortly.
In the meantime, you can view and download the Programme Specification at the bottom of this page. This document provides an overview of the course structure, including indicative modules, learning content and further key information. The modules listed on the Programme Specification are for the current academic year and are intended to give you an idea of what you may be able to study on this course.
Careers
When you complete Year 3 of this course, you'll be eligible for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a Registered Children’s Nurse.
You will be ready to apply for a wide range of positions across the NHS and other sectors, working closely with:
- patients
- parents
- clients
- service users
- carers.
You might also want to go into management or research roles.
You’ll benefit from great employment opportunities through our practice partners. These currently include a number of NHS Boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Ayrshire and Arran, as well as private and third sector agencies.
Some graduates have also sought employment in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA.
Course information
Take a virtual tour with us
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 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.
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