Nursing (Child Health) BN



We’re 4th in the UK for Child Health Nursing, with a 90% student satisfaction rate
NSS 2022

Overview

Edinburgh Napier is the largest provider of child health nurses in Scotland and is the ideal starting point for anyone wishing to progress in a career in child health nursing.

The Child Health Nursing degree at Edinburgh Napier has been developed to give you an academic qualification and the vocational training to become a registered nurse.

You'll understand the theoretical aspects that are integral to this career in nursing and also develop the personal skills to communicate with children, young people and their families.

We work closely with local healthcare providers to organise placements which allow you to put theory into practice. Work placements make up 50% of the course content. 

We have a 90% satisfaction rate for our Nursing (Child Health) course (National Student Survey, 2022).

Medical staff visiting the bedside of a 'child' mannequin at the Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre at Napier University, Sighthill, Edinburgh

Mode of Study:

Full-time

Duration:

3 years

Start date:

Sep

UCAS code:

B731

Placement:

Yes

Study Abroad:

Yes

Course details

You will develop your professional knowledge and understanding in the child health field of nursing and learn how to apply your knowledge to practical situations, through practice placements and simulation. You’ll gain the skills needed to demonstrate your eligibility for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. These include:

  • Professional values
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Nursing practice and decision making
  • Leadership, management and team working abilities

This course will help you to become competent, knowledgeable, and skilled in caring for children and young people. The learning, teaching and assessment experiences will allow you to become a reflective graduate with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute positively to nursing practice.

Work placements make up 50% of the course content. These placements will be in hospital settings and a variety of community environments. 

Additional mandatory costs

Year 3: Students are expected to pay for the registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, £120.

  • calendar

    How you’ll be taught

    Your learning experience will be supported by lectures, tutorials, group work, skills simulation classes and work placements.

  • note and pen

    Assessments

    Academic writing, including care plans, completing presentations and reports and assessment in clinical placements.

     

     

  • briefcase

    Work placement

    We work closely with local healthcare providers to organise placements which allow you to put theory into practice, and you’ll get to prepare in advance in our simulated clinical environments.

  • study abroad

    Study abroad

    Volunteering opportunities are possible during the longer summer holidays in year 2.

Popular modules

Year 1

  • Caring for Self and Others
  • Assessing Community Health and Patient Wellness
  • Practice Learning Experience 1 and 2

Year 2

  • Assessing Need and Delivering Care in Child Nursing
  • Recognising and Responding to Altered Health in Child Nursing
  • Practice Learning Experience 3 and 4

Year 3

  • Managing Complex Care in Child Nursing
  • Leading in Health and Social Care Teams
  • Practice Learning Experience 5 and 6

ACCREDITED BY

Disclaimer

Study modules mentioned above are indicative only. Some changes may occur between now and the time that you study.

Full information is available in our disclaimer.

Entry requirements

What are the entry requirements for Nursing (Child Health)?

Our entry requirements indicate both Standard and Minimum qualifications with which we normally accept students. Competition for places varies from year to year and you aren't guaranteed a place if you meet the minimum qualifications.

Admission to the programme is also dependent upon a satisfactory Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG) check. This will be conducted as part of the induction week. The cost of the PVG check will be paid by the University. 

Selection Test 

Part of the selection process for entry to the programme of your choice will include a computer based Confident Caring Assessment (CCA) where you will be given a short video and related scenario with questions. This is an assessment of the attributes expected of a nurse/ midwife, not your clinical knowledge and skills. It is designed to assess the qualities needed to work as a nurse/ midwife and the proficiencies outlined in the:  

Nurses Standards of proficiency  

The Code and watch these short videos

It presents a series of work-related situations, and you will be questioned about how you would respond. All applicants are required to sit the CCA.

Can I make an appointment with an advisor to discuss further about the admission process?

If you want to get more information on the admission process, please get in touch with the undergraduate admissions team by submitting an enquiry form above.

 

Minimum Year 1

SQA Higher

Standard Offer Entry Requirement: BBC preferably to include English or a Literary subject* and a Science subject**. National 5 grade C in Maths OR Applications of Maths. For those who do not have Higher English and a Higher Science subject, National 5 English and a Science at grade C will be required.

Minimum Offer Entry Requirement: BCC preferably to include English or a Literary subject* and a Science subject**. National 5 grade C in Maths OR Applications of Maths. For those who do not have Higher English and a Higher Science subject, National 5 English and a Science at grade C will be required.

You may be given an adjusted offer of entry if you meet our specified minimum entry requirements within our widening participation criteria and outlined in our Contextual Admissions Policy. Click here for further information about our entry requirements and admissions policies.

A Level

  • BC preferably to include English or a Literary subject* and a Science subject**
  • GCSE grade C/4 in Maths
  • GCSE grade C/4 in English and a Science (or Double Award Science) required for candidates who do not have these subjects at A Level.

BTEC (QCF) National Extended Diploma Level 3

  • Minimum grades MMP (Merit, Merit, Pass) in any subject*
  • GCSE English, Maths and a Science at grade C/4
  • *Recommended subjects: Health and Social Care, Applied Science, Sports Science, Health Science

BTEC (QCF) National Diploma

  • Minimum grades DM (Distinction, Merit) in any subject*
  • GCSE English, Maths and a Science at grade C/4
  • *Recommended subjects: Health and Social Care, Applied Science, Sports Science, Health Science

Irish Leaving Certificate (first awarded in 2017)

  • H3, H3, H3 at Higher Level, preferably to include English or Literary subject* and a Science subject**
  • For those who do not have English, Maths and a Science subject at Higher level, grade O3 at Ordinary Level will be required.

HNC

  • Pass in any subject with grade C in the graded unit for Year 1 entry. For the subjects below, the National 5 requirements differ. For all other HNC's, National 5 grade C in Maths, English and a Science is also required.
  • Care and Administrative Practice/Healthcare Practice (No additional National 5 grades required)
  • Social Care, Social Services, Social Sciences, Childhood Practice, Early Education and Childcare (National 5 grade C in Maths and a Science also required)
  • Applied Science (National 5 grade C in Maths and English also required)

QQI Level 5 Pre-Nursing Studies

  • Minimum of 6 Distinctions must be achieved overall. Distinctions must be achieved in the Communication Unit and the Anatomy and Physiology Unit.
  • O3 in Ordinary Level Maths in the Irish Leaving Certificate or Maths passed as part of QQI Level 5 also required.

T level

  • Pass in any subject with grade C or above in the Core component.
  • GCSE English, Maths and a Science subject also required at grade C/4.

Access Courses

Please note the following points about local Access to Nursing courses offered by Further Education Colleges for those interested in Nursing and Midwifery courses at Edinburgh Napier University

Edinburgh Napier University has Partnership Agreements with 4 local Further Education Colleges – Borders, Edinburgh, Fife and West Lothian College for entry to Adult, Learning Disability, Child and Mental Health Nursing.

Well over 100 students study each year on appropriate preparation to nursing and midwifery courses at our Partner Colleges.

All students attending Access to Nursing courses are required to pass the internally assessed graded units with overall profile grades BBC for entry onto the Adult, Learning Disability, Child and Mental Health Nursing programmes. 

Students from the Rest of the UK

Pass Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 credits overall with a minimum of 18 credits at Pass and 27 credits at Merit.

English, Maths and a Science subject must be achieved at Level 2/3 within the diploma. 

Deferred Applications

Please note that we cannot accept applications for deferred entry for this course.

Previous Nursing Students

Please note that students who have already studied a Nursing degree are unlikely to receive funding for a second Nursing degree.

Mature students

Adequate and appropriate previous (and recent) study is essential. Please contact ugadmissions@napier.ac.uk if you are unsure whether or not you would be eligible to apply. Relevant work experience will be considered alongside recent study. It may be necessary for those with limited qualifications to undertake an Access course or other appropriate courses/studies in a Further Education setting.

Subjects required

*Literary subjects include: English/English Literature, History, Modern Studies, Religious Moral & Philosophical Studies/Christian Theology, Psychology, Geography, Sociology, Health and Social Care, Law

**Science Subjects include: Biology/Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, PE (only accepted as a Science subject if studied at Higher level)

If your first language isn't English, you'll normally need to undertake an approved English language test. The English Language requirements for this programme are IELTS 7.0 (with no less than 7.0 in each component, excluding Writing which requires 6.5).

This may not apply if you have completed all your school qualifications in English. Check our country pages to find out if this applies to you.

We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.
Entry requirements by country

Please note that international students are unable to enrol onto the following courses:
  • BM Midwifery/MM Midwifery
  • All Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

See who can apply for more information on Graduate Apprenticeship courses.

We’re committed to admitting students who have the potential to succeed and benefit from our programmes of study. 

Our admissions policies will help you understand our admissions procedures, and how we use the information you provide us in your application to inform the decisions we make.

Undergraduate admissions policies
Postgraduate admissions policies

Fees & funding

The course fees you'll pay and the funding available to you will depend on a number of factors including your nationality, location, personal circumstances and the course you are studying. We also have a number of bursaries and scholarships available to our students.

Tuition fees
Students from 2023/24 2024/25
Scotland £1,820 £1,820
England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland £9,250 £9,250
Overseas and EU £15,160 £16,680
Students from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland will be invoiced the tuition fees for 3 years of their 4 years of study. The University offers a range of attractive Tuition Fee bursaries to students resident in specific countries. More information on these can be found here.
Please note tuition fees are subject to an annual review and may increase from one year to the next. For more information on this and other Tuition Fee matters please see Frequently Asked Questions about Fees Click this link for Information of Bursaries and Scholarships
If additional compulsory costs other than the tuition fees are applicable, these will be detailed in the course details.


Further guidance can be found here

Careers

Nursing students grouped around a bed in the university's clinical skills and simulation suite

What can you do with a Nursing (Child Health) Degree? 

  

By studying Child Health Nursing at Edinburgh Napier University, you will have gained advanced practical healthcare abilities and decision-making skills to be able to go into a range of roles within clinical, voluntary and community settings in health care. You will be an expert in communicating with children and young people as well as in being able to apply theoretical and practical skills to improve your patient’s health and enable their recovery. If you are compassionate, patient and want to improve the health and quality of life of children and young people with health conditions, then this might be the right course for you. 

 

What does a Child Health Nurse do?

  

As a child health nurse, you will be able to put your clinical skills and knowledge into practice and provide specialised care. You will be able to work as part of a team and autonomously, with it being likely you will work in clinical or social care setting. You may also work as a practitioner in acute settings and specialised paediatric hospitals, as well as within children’s mental health wards.  

  

 Daily tasks and responsibilities of this role may be:  

  • Assessing when a child’s health may be in decline.  
  • Administering clinical care to children whilst communicating effectively so they remain calm and understand what is being said.   
  • Building relationships with families and carers of children who are unwell by providing emotional support. 
  • Administering medicines and managing correct dosages.  
  • Advising on nutrition and exercise requirements for children with health conditions. 
  • Providing appropriate support for children in managing chronic illnesses. 

 

 

Male nursing student smiling for the camera
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