Nursing Science, Registered Nurse
Adult nursing is a demanding and deeply rewarding profession, concerned with delivering skilled and compassionate care to people across the full range of health conditions and care settings, from acute hospital wards and emergency departments to community clinics and people's own homes. Nurses are the largest professional group in the NHS and the healthcare workers most consistently present with patients through their treatment and recovery. The profession requires clinical knowledge, technical skill, sound professional judgement, and the interpersonal capabilities to support people and their families at times of vulnerability.
At the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, this three-year full-time programme embodies the Nursing and Midwifery Council's FutureNurse standards, which set out the competencies and professional values that all registered nurses must demonstrate. The programme is developed and delivered in close partnership with NHS providers in the North East, ensuring that the clinical experience you gain is shaped by current professional practice. You will study health sciences, pharmacology, nursing assessment and care planning, evidence-based practice, and the legal and ethical frameworks of nursing, while spending substantial time on clinical placements across different healthcare settings.
Clinical placements are fundamental to nursing education: you cannot develop the judgement and skill that nursing requires without significant experience of caring for real patients under professional supervision, and Northumbria's NHS partnerships ensure that this experience is rich and varied.
Graduates who meet the required standards are eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as registered nurses (adult). Career pathways include acute medicine, surgery, emergency care, community nursing, district nursing, and a wide range of specialist clinical areas. Many nurses continue to postgraduate study for specialist or advanced practice qualifications.