Nursing (Child Health) with Integrated Foundation Year
Child health nursing, also known as paediatric nursing, is a specialism that requires all the clinical competence of adult nursing combined with the additional knowledge, sensitivity, and communication skills needed to care for children and young people from infancy through adolescence, and to support their families through often frightening and difficult experiences. Paediatric nurses work in neonatal units, paediatric wards, outpatient clinics, community settings, and children's intensive care, and the ability to build trust with both children and parents is as central to the role as clinical expertise.
This four-year programme at the University of Plymouth includes an integrated foundation year that provides the scientific and academic grounding needed before you progress to the main nursing curriculum. You will study the biological and physiological foundations of child health, including microbiology, immunology, and the science of how the developing body responds to infection and disease, alongside the full scope of child health nursing theory and practice. Clinical placements are central to the programme, taking you into real paediatric settings where you develop the competence and professional judgement that the NMC requires for registration as a children's nurse.
On successful completion you will be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a registered nurse in the children's and young people's field. Career opportunities span NHS children's hospitals and units, community paediatric nursing, school nursing, health visiting, neonatal care, specialist children's services, and international paediatric settings. The profession offers clear progression routes into specialist clinical roles, advanced practice, clinical leadership, research, and education.
Paediatric nursing is a career of genuine depth and meaning, with strong employment prospects and the satisfaction of making a real difference to children's lives.