Children's Nursing
Children's Nursing is a specialist branch of nursing concerned with the health and wellbeing of children and young people from birth through to young adulthood. Children are not simply small adults: their physiology, their developmental stage, their emotional needs, and the importance of family-centred care all make paediatric nursing a genuinely distinct professional practice. Children's nurses work in hospital wards, neonatal units, paediatric intensive care, outpatient departments, community settings, and schools, providing care that must be technically skilled, developmentally sensitive, and responsive to the family as a whole.
At Bangor University, this three-year full-time programme is delivered with a distance learning component, reflecting the Welsh and rural context in which many students study and will eventually practise. The programme is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and graduates are eligible to register as children's nurses on the NMC register. A substantial proportion of the programme is spent in supervised clinical placements in paediatric settings, where you develop your clinical skills under the guidance of experienced practitioners.
The academic component covers child development, family-centred care, pharmacology, evidence-based practice, and the ethical and legal dimensions of caring for children.
Children's Nursing graduates are in consistent demand across the NHS, which has a persistent need for registered paediatric nurses across all settings. Hospital children's wards, neonatal units, children's accident and emergency departments, community children's nursing teams, and school nursing services all employ registered children's nurses. The armed forces, private paediatric healthcare, and international nursing opportunities are further options.
Many nurses go on to postgraduate training in specialist areas such as neonatal nursing, paediatric critical care, or children's oncology. Others move into nursing management, education, or research. The NMC registration provides a clear professional structure and strong career security.