I would like to wish you a warm welcome to The School of Nursing within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care at Canterbury Christ Church University. The School brings together the Nursing (Adult, Child, Mental Health, and Nursing Associate) staff into one vibrant community to deliver this pathway leading to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Registered Nursing Associate.
Steph Storer
Course Director
Academic Calendar: 12-week Trimesters (equal break)
View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2024-25 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.
The Nursing Associate is an evolving profession which sits within the nursing workforce. Your course provides a variety of practical and University-based learning experiences to prepare you to work across the four fields of nursing and a variety of health and social care settings.
The course runs over 2 years and has been designed in partnership with local employers and current trainees in consideration of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for the future nursing associate workforce as detailed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
You will engage in series of theoretical and practice modules throughout the course and there is an equal split between classroom based learning and practice learning designed to enable you to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills to practise in a person-centred way. We will utilise a blended approach to your learning and so will use online, classroom, directed individual and group activities to meet the course outcomes. You will study nursing skills and knowledge, communication skills, professional issues, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, health and health promotion. Your modules use a problem-based learning approach. Your learning will support your understanding by the integration of theory and practice.
You will have opportunity to learn within our simulation suites where you will be able to develop, enhance and embed practical application to be able to develop confidence and competence in a safe environment. Your concluding module focuses on you becoming a registered professional through the consideration of leadership and the development of others within the unregistered workforce.
The course is assessed by a variety of methods. These methods include written assignments, group presentations and written reflections. In practice you will be assessed by a Practice Assessor appointed within a health and social care setting. An assessment tool designed to assess both your professional behaviour and the acquisition of clinical skills will be used. Throughout the course, you will receive support with your assignments from your module tutors and your personal academic tutor. Should you be unsuccessful with any of your assessments re assessment opportunities are available.
On behalf of the whole team may I take this opportunity to wish you a successful and enjoyable time on the course.
Please ensure that you engage with occupational health clearance and DBS processes required by the Admissions Team. Failure to complete this by the time you register on the course may result in you not being able to proceed with your studies. Please also ensure you engage with the Placement Planning Form FoMHSC 2024/2025.
There are also a number of assessment forms as part of your apprenticeship which will be required to be completed in partnership with your local line manager or practice supervisor.
If you are a Canterbury student, click the button below labelled Canterbury, and if you are a Medway student click the button labelled Medway, for information that is specific to your particular campus.
We would encourage you to review the course structure and module options via your course page before you arrive.
Preparing yourself to study nursing associate is not always easy; it is not a traditional academic discipline and has no clear boundaries. There are a few general interest websites available that you could review:
Unfortunately, there is no single textbook covering the whole of nursing associate education. Texts are very specific and you will consult numerous books, journals and websites during your course.
Our students come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and so it is advisable to start reading, at a fundamental level, the subjects with which you are least familiar. For example, look out for the GCSE combined science textbooks or anything on anatomy and physiology. Read to gain a grasp of the broad concepts and don’t be too concerned about the detail.
You may wish to wait until you start and enjoy the student discount available at the University bookshop.
International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.
CourseSupport-health@canterbury.ac.uk