Nursing

Adult nursing is a profession that places you at the centre of patient care across the full range of conditions and life stages that people experience, from acute surgical recovery and long-term condition management to rehabilitation and end-of-life care. Adult nurses work in hospital wards, intensive care units, community settings, outpatient clinics and patients' own homes, developing a relationship with patients and their families that is at once highly technical and deeply human. The ability to combine clinical competence with genuine compassion is what the profession demands, and what training in nursing is designed to develop.

At the University of Derby this programme, which includes a foundation year and leads to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, prepares you to work as a confident, capable and compassionate adult nurse. The foundation year provides a supported entry into nursing education, building the scientific literacy, academic skills and understanding of healthcare that the main nursing programme requires. Across the degree you will develop knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology and the clinical sciences alongside the assessment, care planning, communication and professional skills that nursing practice demands.

Clinical placements are central to the programme, with a significant proportion of your time spent in real NHS and healthcare settings under the supervision of registered nurses.

Graduates register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and work across the NHS and independent healthcare sector in adult nursing roles. With experience, adult nurses develop into specialist and advanced practitioner positions in areas including intensive care, cardiac nursing, cancer care, diabetes, community nursing and district nursing. Nursing management, education and research are longer-term career pathways, and some graduates go on to postgraduate study in areas such as advanced clinical practice, prescribing or public health.

Adult nursing is a profession where the demand for qualified practitioners consistently exceeds supply, making it a field with strong employment prospects.