Overview
How are the specific health needs of a child different to an adult? How can a child’s symptoms be understood through their behaviour and reactions? How can the whole family be supported through times of great change and stress? These are the questions you’ll be finding the answers to as a children’s nurse.
Nursing infants, children and young people is challenging and rewarding. If you’re compassionate, sensitive and have quick, sound judgement then you’ll thrive in a career where you can truly make a difference to children’s lives.
Nursing is the largest healthcare profession in the country. As a qualified nurse you’ll be entering a highly respected profession with excellent employment prospects.
We have recently upgraded our nursing skills suite to include state-of-the-art blending learning simulation suite. Our new Blended Learning Interactive Simulation suite (BLISs) offers an innovative unique learning space which brings multi-sensory environments into the modern classroom giving students innovative learning experiences.
At Brunel, you’ll learn through an equal balance of theory and practice, gaining your professional experience in a variety of healthcare settings where you’ll work closely with other healthcare professionals, service users and their families.
On this programme, you’ll learn clinical and communication skills focused on paediatric nursing. Your placement opportunities will develop these skills and your understanding of caring in hospital and community settings. Brunel is a renowned research-intensive university with an established and excellent reputation in health sciences, so you’ll be learning from the best in the field. You’ll graduate ready to start shaping the future of children’s nursing.
Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
As a nursing student, you'll receive at least £5,000 a year which you don't need to pay back. See the UK government website for more information.
The NHS Values are shaped by patients, public and staff have helped develop this expression of values that inspire passion in the NHS and that should underpin everything it does. Individual organisations will develop and build upon these values, tailoring them to their local needs. The NHS values provide common ground for co-operation to achieve shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS.
Course content
Through a blended learning approach, your programme combines face-to-face learning with online learning. The programme integrates theory with practice and half of your time will be spent on practice placements within a range of healthcare settings. Periods of campus-based learning will prepare you for practice placements.
All modules are compulsory and cover the broad spectrum of children’s nursing.
Compulsory
- Developing skills for practiceThis module will prepare the foundation for students to provide nursing intervention and support for people of all ages who require nursing procedures during the processes of assessment, diagnosis, care and treatment for mental, physical, cognitive and behavioural health challenges.
- Health and wellbeing across the life continuumThis module provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge and understanding of the role of the RN in relation to the aims and principles of health promotion, protection, improvement and the prevention of ill health when engaging with people.
- Human SciencesThis interprofessional module provides students with knowledge of the biosciences related to nursing practice. Students will learn about anatomy and physiology, and how it is integrated from the cellular level to the organ systems level. This will include the exploration of the human body throughout the life continuum in both health and disease.
- Nursing Practice Module for Year 1This module is supported by the Pan London Practice Assessment Document (PLPAD) which is designed to support and guide students towards successfully achieving the criteria set out in the Future nurse: Standards of proficiency for registered nurses and Standards for education and training (NMC 2018). Continuous assessment is an integral aspect of assessment in practice and students are expected to show evidence of consistent achievement. The module will equip students with the appropriate knowledge base required to deliver safe, person-centred care under guidance.
- Research Methods (1)This module is designed to enable students to develop an ability to reflect on their practice and keep abreast of new and emerging developments in nursing, health and care. The module themes provide skills to underpin the student’s academic development.
Compulsory
- Enhancing Skills for Child NursingThis module will build on and enable the child nursing student to further develop their knowledge and skills required for their role in assessing and initiating person-centred care. This will involve building upon the knowledge and skills gained clinically and theoretically in the first year to understand and apply a person-centred approach to nursing care, demonstrating shared assessment, planning, decision making and goal setting when working with infants, children, young people, their families and communities.
- Nursing in Society (Child)This module provides opportunities for child field students to gain knowledge and understanding of the role of the RN in relation to nursing infants, children and young people in community settings. The module identifies how Community Children’s Nurses contribute to the prevention of and protection against disease and ill health. It provides opportunities for engagement in public health, community development and global health agendas, and in the reduction of health inequalities.
- Nursing Practice Module for Year 2 (Child)This module will build on and enable the child nursing student to further develop their underpinning knowledge and skills required for their role in assessing and initiating person-centred care. Within the student’s chosen field of practice, the practice experiences will provide students with a variety of care settings to apply the clinical skills and underpinning knowledge they have developed in Simulated Practice and within their earlier modules.
- Pharmacology and Prescribing ReadyIn this module, students will gain critical knowledge and skills that are aligned with the principles of pharmacology and medicines management, which will enable the provision of high quality, evidence-based person-centred care. The module will enable students to further develop and apply their knowledge of body systems and physiology. The underpinning of pharmaco-therapeutic knowledge and skills will enable students to gain competency in supporting people with common physical and mental health conditions; providing a foundation for progression to gaining a prescribing qualification following registration.
- Research Methods (2)This module will enable students to understand how evidence is generated, why it is generated and how it influences nursing practice. It will develop an understanding of research methodologies and will enhance skills such as finding and critiquing the literature which will enable students to review current nursing practice. It will help prepare for the final dissertation.
Compulsory
- Nursing Practice Module for Year 3The student will work within their role as a team member, and develop knowledge and skills enabling them to meet the NMC learning outcomes. The practice placements will equip the student to develop knowledge and understanding through increasing independent practice where they will be supported in undertaking planned, legitimate, educational activities alongside a registered practitioner or receive coaching in care delivery activities. During this module the student will be encouraged to develop the skills underpinning children’s nursing practice when managing the care of infants, children and young people with complex needs in diverse health and social care environments. The student will plan their learning experiences through a Learning Contract and record them in the PLPAD.
- Reviewing the Literature to Inform PracticeThis module will enable students to critically appraise different types of evidence in field-specific areas of health and social care. It will aim to develop students’ knowledge and skills in relation to the systematic stages of an integrated literature review relevant to a field-specific area of nursing. The module will also enable students to systematically organise and make analytical and objective judgements on the reviewed evidence in their field-specific areas of practice.
- Skills for Registration (Child)This module aims to equip third year child field students with the underpinning knowledge and skills required for their role in providing and evaluating person-centred care. This module will prepare child field students to demonstrate the ability to provide nursing intervention and support for infants, children and young people who require nursing procedures during the processes of assessment, diagnosis, care and treatment for mental, physical, cognitive and behavioural health challenges. This will enable students to prepare for caring for infants, children and young people with more complex healthcare needs across a range of settings.
- Transition to Registered NurseThis module will equip students with the knowledge and skills required for their role as a newly registered nurse in leading and managing nursing care and working effectively as part of an interdisciplinary team. It will prepare students to safely and effectively lead and manage the nursing care of a group of people, demonstrating appropriate prioritisation, delegation and assignment of care responsibilities to others involved in providing care.
This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.
This course has a placement option. Find out more about work placements available.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Read more about the structure of undergraduate degrees at Brunel.
Careers and your future
Career Prospects for Nursing Graduates
Employment opportunities for children’s nurses are limitless, whether within the clinical environment, research, management or education fields. Nursing children involves caring for children from the age of 0 to 18. You may choose to work generically or to identify a specialist area.
Children’s nurses work in a variety of settings that include general and specialist children’s wards, neonatal and children’s intensive care units, community children’s nursing teams and Accident and Emergency Departments.
After graduating, there’ll be opportunities for you to further develop evidence-based practice within the clinical environment and by continuing your studies on a range of post-registration programmes.
Professional Registration
Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Successful completion of the programme also provides eligibility to apply for professional registration with regulatory bodies in other countries, for example: Canada, New Zealand, Australia and many others. For current information on the specific requirements and registration process for each country we recommend that you consult the webpages of the relevant regulatory body.
Rights to Work in the UK for International Students
International students graduating from this programme may be eligible to apply for a Health and Care Worker Visa that provides the right to work within the UK healthcare sector. This visa also provides the right for dependants to come to the UK and exemptions from UK health insurance surcharges.
Further information about the current benefits of the Health and Care Worker Visa and rules for applying can be found at the UKVI website.
Information on further visa options is available on our Post Study Work Options webpage.
UK entry requirements
2025/6 entry
- GCE A Level ABB-BBC.
- BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma DMM in Health & Social Care, Applied Science (all pathways) or most variations of Sport.
- BTEC Level 3 National Diploma DM in Health & Social Care, Applied Science or most variations of Sport with an A Level at grade C in Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry, Applied Science or Physics .
- BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate Merit in Health & Social Care, Applied Science or most variations of Sport, with two A Levels at grades BB including Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry, Applied Science or Physics.
- International Baccalaureate Diploma 29 points.
- Access to Higher Education Diploma Obtain a minimum of 112 UCAS tariff points in the Access to HE Diploma with 45 credits at Level 3. Subjects accepted : Health Science, Health and Human Sciences, Health Professions, Health and Social Care, Health Studies, Medicine, Medical Science, Nursing, Nursing & Health Professions, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Science, Science in Health Professions
- T levels : Merit overall in Health, Healthcare Science or Science, plus grade C in A level Science subject
Five GCSEs at grade C or grade 4 or above are also required, including English Language, Maths and Science.
Brunel University London is committed to raising the aspirations of our applicants and students. We will fully review your UCAS application and, where we’re able to offer a place, this will be personalised to you based on your application and education journey.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants as well as our full GCSE requirements and accepted equivalencies in place of GCSEs.
EU and International entry requirements
English language requirements
In accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), if your first language is not English you must have the following minimum International English Language Test Score (IELTS) results at the time of applying:
- 7.0 overall or equivalent
- 7.0 in the listening and reading sections
- 7.0 in the writing and speaking sections.
Or
Occupational English Test (OET)
- B (350 or above) for reading, listening, and speaking, and at least C+ (300 or above) for writing
Further information can be found on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s website: https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/joining-the-register/english-language-requirements/accepted-english-language-tests/ielts-academic/
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/25 entry
UK
£9,250 full-time
International
£23,615 full-time
More information on any additional course-related costs.
See our fees and funding page for full details of undergraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.
Please refer to the scholarships pages to view discounts available to eligible EU undergraduate applicants.
Teaching and learning
All sessions are delivered on campus as per NMC validation. Overall, the 3-year programme is 50% theory (minimum 2300 hours) and 50% practice (minimum 2,300 hours). You must attend 100% of the theory component of the programme and you must complete 100% of the practice hours. To supplement our full timetable of on-campus teaching, learning will be supported with a range of resources on our new Brightspace Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) including e.g. videos, interactive activities and quizzes. Module leaders may offer additional revision, and or Q&A sessions via online platforms where appropriate.
A variety of teaching and learning strategies are used throughout the programme. For example, Lectures; Team Based Learning; seminars; group work; simulation; role play; case discussions; peer learning; flipped classroom. A range of learning activities has been developed within the curriculum to allow you to experience interprofessional learning with students from other health programmes. For example, safeguarding workshops with Social Work and Apprentice Nursing Associate students.
Feedback, Personal Tutoring Hours, and Project Supervision discussions will be offered both in-person on-campus and via online platforms. This will allow you to easily receive feedback, advice and guidance without having to travel to campus on a day that you might otherwise not be attending.
Course work will be submitted via Wiseflow. Both practical and written exams will be on-campus.
The programme has been designed to support the integration of physical and mental health, as well as the integration of care across health and social care. This approach enables you to demonstrate the professional values expected to deliver high-quality evidence-informed care to all individuals, their families and their communities.
Team Based Learning engages you in activities that will help you learn how to use programme content to solve problems and explore issues relevant to your learning. Biology seminars deliver the underpinning anatomy and physiology and this knowledge will be applied during seminars and simulation sessions. Within skills-based teaching, key skills are demonstrated to you. Authentic scenario-based learning will provide you with the opportunity to participate in formative simulation based on patient scenarios across all four fields of nursing.
Access to a laptop or desktop PC is required for joining online activities, completing coursework and digital exams, and a minimum specification can be found here.
We have computers available across campus for your use and laptop loan schemes to support you through your studies. You can find out more here.
You’ll be taught by highly qualified and research-engaged nurse academics who will ensure that everything you learn is up-to-date and relevant to the NHS care setting. You’ll benefit from an innovative teaching approach that incorporates digital technology, team-based learning, face-to-face teaching and online learning. Your seminars will often include polling tool apps, so you’ll enhance your learning by taking part in quizzes and competitions in a fun, interactive way.
Simulation is used to teach concepts relating to the care of patients. You’ll practise your nursing skills through the mock-up of real-world nursing scenarios through simulation learning and working on manikins, so you’ll be confident and skilled when you go on your practice placements.
Assessment and feedback
Throughout your course you’ll receive feedback in the form of professional conversations arising from simulated practice, written feedback and automated immediate feedback (instant feedback given through digital technology). This will be timed in order to guide you through your studies and help you with your ongoing development. Assessments will include written assignments, examinations, OSCE’s (objective structured clinical examinations which assess your clinical competency and confidence) and presentations. You’ll receive assessments to resemble nursing activities in professional practice as well as testing graduate and transferable skills.
