Nursing

Adult nursing is the profession concerned with caring for adults across the full range of health conditions, life stages, and care settings. Registered nurses assess patients, plan and deliver care, administer medicines, support recovery and rehabilitation, work with families, and coordinate with the wider multidisciplinary team. It is a profession that demands both clinical knowledge and the interpersonal skills to provide compassionate, person-centred care in often demanding and emotionally complex situations.

Nursing is also a profession with remarkable breadth: nurses work in emergency departments, surgical wards, intensive care, outpatient clinics, GP practices, community settings, care homes, and mental health services.

At Essex this three-year full-time BSc combines academic study with practical clinical placements, giving you the knowledge, confidence, communication skills, and clinical expertise to deliver safe and compassionate care. You will study the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of health and illness, develop your clinical skills in simulation and practice settings, and spend substantial time in placement working under supervision with real patients across a range of clinical environments. The course is the first step towards registration as an adult nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is the professional regulator for nursing in the UK.

Registration with the NMC is required to work as a nurse in the UK, and the degree is designed to prepare you fully for the requirements of professional registration.

Graduates work as registered nurses in the NHS and independent healthcare sector, with clear pathways to specialist nursing roles, advanced nurse practitioner status, nurse consultancy, and nursing leadership and management. Many nurses also go on to postgraduate study in specialist clinical areas, education, or research.