Financial support

The NHS Learning Support Fund provides eligible students with additional financial support whilst studying for their degree:

training grant of £5,000 per year
parental support payment of £2,000 per year to help with childcare
help towards additional travel and accommodation costs to clinical placements over your normal daily travel costs

Students must be eligible for tuition fees and maintenance support from the Student Loans Company (including certain residency criteria) to be eligible. Read more about the grant and eligibility criteria.

Accreditation

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

This programme is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and has been developed to reflect the requirements of the NMC (2018) Future Nurse proficiencies standards of Nursing Education.

The nursing team have an excellent reputation and good links with the local NHS trust and other potential employers, which is beneficial when you are applying for jobs.

What you will study

In first year, students will engage in 917 hours of theory and 720 hours of practice (56% theory and 44% practice).

Practice experience 1

This is a yearlong module and is used as a vehicle to monitor NMC and European Union (EU) requirements, professional practice outcomes, professional conduct in practice and student attendance in practice. Students will have three placement blocks in year one in which the foundational skills required by an adult nurse will be developed.

Foundations of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology in Nursing

This module explores human anatomy and physiology with an emphasis on pharmacology. Students will explore the main body systems and changes that occur through the aging process. Students will have opportunity to learn foundational knowledge about pharmacology including pharmakinestics and pharmacodynamics.

Influences on Wellbeing

This module will support students to develop understanding of the influences on wellbeing and health and how this can impact on individuals and groups throughout the lifespan. Students will develop fundamental knowledge regarding the adult nurses’ role on the promotion of wellbeing and skills to support the wellbeing of the adult patient.

Foundations of Field of Practise

This module will enable students to adopt an enquiring approach to the assessment, planning and delivery of safe and effective practice within their relevant field of practice. Students will explore foundational pathophysiology, including adult field of practice specific pathophysiology, assessment and identification of immediate and essential care needs for patients/clients within the adult field of practice.

In second year, students will engage in 848 hours of theory and 840 hours of practice (50% theory and 50% practice).

Practice experience 2

This module is used as a vehicle to monitor NMC and European Union (EU) requirements, professional practice outcomes, professional conduct in practice and student attendance in practice. Students will have two placement blocks in year two in which the they will continue to develop the skills required by an adult nurse.

Research and Evidence Based Practice

The module will examine a range of research paradigms and will provide students with skills and understanding involved in planning, designing, contextualising and thinking critically about evidence-based research, which underpins nursing and health care practice.

Primary Care – Patient Journey 1

This module will enable students to develop their knowledge regarding the patient’s first point of contact with health care services through involvement with primary care services. You will learn about the context of factors that influence patient behaviour and their decision making processes. You will examine common illnesses and experiences alongside some long-term health conditions utilising a holistic perspective and the importance of health promotion.

Acute Care – Patient Journey 2

This module explores acute nursing care (in secondary care). Students will develop skills in working with commonly encountered mental, physical, behavioural and cognitive health conditions, recognizing and responding to the deteriorating patient and the utilization of safe interventions to support patient care in the acute nursing care context. You will learn how to recognize and respond to deteriorating patients, using appropriate interventions to ensure evidence-based adult nursing care.

In third year, students will engage in 769 hours of theory and 920 hours of practice (45.5% theory and 54.5% practice).

Practice experience 3

This module is used as a vehicle to monitor NMC and European Union (EU) requirements, professional practice outcomes, professional conduct in practice and student attendance in practice. Students will have two placement blocks in year three in which they will continue to develop and begin to consolidate the skills required by an adult nurse.

Critical Inquiry and Research proposal

Students will be supported to complete a critical inquiry and research proposal based on a subject relevant to the adult field of nursing practice. This will enable you to critically evaluate sources of evidence and support you to become an independent, accountable practitioner, ensuring that your practise as a future adult nurse, is based on the best available evidence.

Leadership and Service Improvement

This module will develop students’ knowledge in understanding accountability and skills in relation to nursing leadership, and of the leadership roles and responsibilities of a registered adult nurse.

Managing Complexities in Nursing Practice

This module aims to enable the student to critically analyse their knowledge, skills and decision-making processes relevant to caring for patient/clients within the adult field of practice. Students will also develop skills in managing complex health presentations within the adult field of practice and have opportunity to further develop skills required to work effectively with the wider inter-disciplinary team.

Note: All modules are indicative and based on the current academic session. Course information is correct at the time of publication and is subject to review. Exact modules may, therefore, vary for your intake in order to keep content current. If there are changes to your course we will, where reasonable, take steps to inform you as appropriate.

Learning is supported by a strong system of personal tutors, teaching teams, academic assessors, practice work placements and enthusiastic practice supervisors and assessors. Teaching methods include:

Lectures (face to face and online)
Seminars
Webinars
Workshops
Presentations
Tutorials
Simulation activities
Clinical skills learning
Enquiry-based problem solving
Independent e-learning
Peer learning sets

You will complete blocks of clinical placements 40 hours per week and blocks comprised of theory and independent learning hours up to an equivalent of 37.5 hours each week.

Students in practice placements are allocated an academic assessor, practice supervisors and practice assessors to help develop and support learning in the practice context.

Assessments

Assessments fall at the end of each block and are used to assess your theory and practice knowledge. We use a variety of methods that are designed to support you with developing skills vital to a career in nursing. These include:

Examinations – demonstrating resilience and working under pressure
Presentations and Vivas – developing verbal communication skills and the ability to effective communicate complex material
Essays – building strong written skills to support with communicating complex nursing information
Reflective practice – develop skills to engage with written reflection as required by the NMC

Teaching contact hours

Contact hours in a typical week will depend to some extent on the modules you are studying. However, typically you will have up to 16 contact hours of teaching per week.

Related courses

Child Nursing with NMC registration

Learning Disability Nursing with NMC registration

Mental Health Nursing with NMC registration

Midwifery

Our facilities

Clinical skills and simulation facilities for Health and Life Sciences

At DMU we provide clinical skills and simulation teaching and practice that will enhance your theoretical learning by using a realistic, immersive environment that mimics the practice environments you will encounter during your clinical placements and in your career beyond. This provides our students with opportunities to develop cognitive, practical and interpersonal skills through a comprehensive programme of simulated experiences and clinical skills sessions, allowing you to develop the confidence to perform in the real world.

DMU have invested in extending and enhancing the range of clinical skills and simulation facilities available for health and life science students. We currently have two dedicated spaces on campus that provide flexible teaching and assessment spaces to meet a wide range of student’s needs.

Hawthorn building houses two ward environments, a dedicated midwifery suite, radiography suite and bespoke manual handling and paramedicine spaces.

Our designated clinical skills teaching hub in Heritage House offers flexible teaching rooms - designed to replicate the changing environments of clinical practice, a soft furnished space, audiology suite and observation rooms. Students benefit from the audio /visual technology that allows sessions to be recorded and live streamed, facilitating remote learning opportunities. This technology also enhances your learning opportunities through the use of meaningful debriefing of teaching and simulation sessions allowing you to reflect on your practice and improve in both ability and confidence before taking your learning into the real world.

Our expertise

The teaching team is made up of registered nurses and other health care professionals, who are qualified teachers and many actively engaged in research.

A number of our lecturers have doctoral level qualifications and bring their areas of specialism in to the breadth of teaching on the course, two of which have earned the prestigious title of ‘Queens Nurse’. 

The majority of the Adult Nursing lecturing team have also gained qualifications in different care specialties, and have a major role in teaching NHS staff and qualified nurses on our range of professional CPD and post-registration courses.

Senior Lecturer and Co-programme Lead

Helen is a Senior Lecturer in Adult nursing and is Co-programme Lead for the BSc Nursing with NMC registration Programme. Helen is a District Nurse and has had over 10 years working in the community caring predominantly for people in their own home. Helen has held leadership and management roles within community nursing before moving into higher education.

Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead

Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Learning Disability Nursing, leads the BSc Nursing with NMC registration programme. With experience in community roles, Sam has worked with individuals with profound learning disabilities in residential nursing and as a Primary Care Liaison Nurse before transitioning to teaching at DMU.

Our students and alumni

Why did you choose to study Adult Nursing at DMU?

I originally joined DMU as a Medical Science student in 2019, then in March 2020 the pandemic hit and we were all sent home to continue that academic year online. During this period, I was seeing the incredibly hard work that the NHS staff were doing during the pandemic and I would sit there wishing I could help.

My mum is a Healthcare Assistant for the NHS so I’ve grown up around healthcare and always had a passion for helping people. I contacted DMU to ask for an internal transfer to Adult Nursing and they agreed to give me an interview. I was over the moon!

How have you found it studying Adult Nursing?

I’m now in my final year and I have been opened up to many opportunities and experiences that have allowed me to decide what I want to do in the future. I have been able to gain skills related to patient care and treatment, but it has also allowed me to build on life skills such as communication and time management which I will be able to use in the future inside and outside of the work environment.

It isn’t an easy course, there is a lot of balance required with such an intense course, especially during placement blocks when you’re working full-time. Having said that, it is enjoyable and you build a support network amongst course mates as everyone is in the same boat and all look out for one another.

What makes us special

Block teaching

With block teaching, you’ll learn in a focused format, where you study one subject at a time instead of several at once. As a result, you will receive faster feedback through more regular assessment, have a more simplified timetable, and have a better study-life balance. That means more time to engage with your DMU community and other rewarding aspects of university life.

DMU Global

DMU Global is our innovative international experience programme, which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world. Through DMU Global, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study and faculty-led field trips.

Students from the school have recently undertaken DMU Global trips to places such as:

Amsterdam to study harm reduction strategies
Dubai to study chronic kidney disease and renal care
Peru where they took part in healthcare programmes
Helsinki to compare health education and services

These are examples of some of the overseas experiences that our nursing students have accessed in the past. We may offer alternative trips during your course.

Where we could take you

Placements

As part of this course, you will have the opportunity to complete a number of placements, which offer invaluable professional experience. Placements are typically provided across the East Midlands, in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and sometimes in surrounding counties. Students must therefore be prepared to travel to access placement opportunities which are an essential component of the programme.

In your placement, you will work alongside practice supervisors and practice assessors to learn the practical application of nursing relevant to your chosen field. Placements are typically based in a variety of acute and community health environments and social care settings, including caring for individuals in their own homes.

Specific adult placements could be in the following areas:

Acute placement settings (emergency care, high dependency and critical care, theatre and recovery)
Surgery (orthopaedics, gynaecology, vascular and cardiac surgery)
Medicine (cardiology, respiratory medicine, urology and renal medicine, gastroenterology, endocrinology, neurology)
Specialist nursing teams (heart failure nurse specialist, diabetes specialist)
Community placement settings (community hospitals, community nursing teams)
Nursing home placements
GP Practice placements
Outpatients (fracture clinic, DVT clinic, eye clinic, dermatology, sexual health)
Prison nursing

Placement time includes a range of different shift patterns across a 24-hour cycle.

Further information

All students will be required to adhere to a uniform policy when in practice, in which they must be bare below the elbow. This is non-negotiable as it is an infection prevention requirement to safeguard the health and safety of all students and service users.

Graduate careers

Upon successfully completing the course, nursing graduates are eligible to apply for NMC registration and can apply to work in a variety of roles throughout the NHS, charitable and private healthcare sectors. Registered nurses can start on a salary of £29,969 (NHS nurse band 5 pay scale - correct as of July 2024).

There are a wide range of opportunities open for adult nurses after qualification. You could specialise in a specific field such as operating theatres, district nursing or intensive care or become a Nurse Specialist. You will find employment opportunities in a range of settings such as community nursing teams, in patient services, prisons and GP surgery’s.

As you progress through your career you may find employment as a clinical nurse specialist or you may move into teaching, clinical research or management.

Once qualified, our postgraduate study opportunities can further enhance your knowledge and skills, including Post Registration Education, professional doctorates and master’s degrees such as Professional Clinical Practice MSc/PG Cert/PG Dip.

Additional costs

The core textbooks for all modules are available in the Kimberlin Library, and journal articles in your reading lists are also mostly available electronically from your myDMU login. Some students like to purchase their own text books or print course documents and we suggest allowing approximately £200 per year for this.

All students are required to pay for their DBS check if required for your programme or placement.

In addition students will be required to pay for their travel costs to placements or project locations.

All students are provided the opportunity to participate in DMU Global trips. These trips are subsidised by the University, and the cost and subsidy varies by location.

Take your next steps

4 students hanging out on campus in front of some high quality graffiti

Find out how to apply

An open day visitor and a member of staff at an open day.

Open Days - Book your place

Course specifications

Course title

Adult Nursing with NMC registration

Award

BSc (Hons)

UCAS code

B700

Institution code

D26

Study level

Undergraduate

Study mode

Full-time

Start date

September

Duration

Three years full-time (45 week year), four years with a placement

Fees

2025/26 UK tuition fees:
£9,535*

2025/26 international tuition:
£17,250

*subject to the government, as is expected, passing legislation to formalise the increase.

Additional costs

Entry requirements

GCSEs

Five GCSEs at grade C/4 or above including: English and Maths

Passes in Functional Key Skills in Level 2 Maths and English will only be accepted if the qualification and awarding organisation is regulated by Ofqual.

Plus one of the following:

A Level

A minimum of 112 UCAS points from 2 or more A levels, including at least two subjects at C or above. We do not accept General Studies or UCAS points achieved through music exams.

T Levels

Merit in Health overall

BTEC

BTEC National Diploma - normally in Health and Social Care or Applied Science at DMM
BTEC Extended Diploma - normally in Health and Social Care or Applied Science at DMM

Access course

AHE (Nursing and Midwifery)
AHE (Science)
AHE (Health Professions)

Pass in the QAA Access to HE with a minimum of 96 UCAS points

GCSE English and Maths or functional skills level 2 qualifications in English and Maths are required.

We will normally require students to have had a break from full-time education before undertaking the Access course.

International Baccalaureate 26+ points

Contextual offer

To make sure you get fair and equal access to higher education, when looking at your application, we consider more than just your grades. So if you are eligible, you may receive a contextual offer. Find out more about contextual offers.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 7 overall when you start the course is essential, with a 7.0 in all components except writing which should be at least 6.5.

English language tuition, delivered by our British Council accredited Centre for English Language Learning (CELL), is available both before and during the course.

Interview requirements

Interview: Yes

Professional conduct during the event will also contribute to the decision-making regarding an applicant’s application.

The recruitment process for this course includes assessing applicants by the content of their personal statement and interview for the core values of the NHS constitution.

Interviews will be delivered via Microsoft Teams.

Work experience requirements

Work experience: Yes

Applicants are required to demonstrate relevant work experience. This would normally include experience from formal or informal employment, school or college work placements, voluntary work and other relevant life experiences.

Non-academic requirements

As well as academic requirements, you will also be required to meet and fulfil non-academic requirements which are stated below:

Self-Declaration Form clearance
Occupational Health clearance
Enhanced DBS disclosure clearance

You submit an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service disclosure application form before starting the course (if you are overseas you will also need to submit a criminal records certificate from your home country), which needs to be cleared in accordance with DMU’s admissions policy. Contact us for up-to-date information.

We strongly advise that you opt for the DBS update service as it is possible that future placement providers may request a recent DBS and not one from the start of the programme. If you decide not to opt for this service then you will have to pay for the DBS again if requested by your placement provided – the university will not cover this cost.

You must meet and fulfil all non-academic requirements before 18 July 2025. Failure to meet this deadline may result in your offer being withdrawn.

Availability: This course has a limited number of places so that we can ensure a good quality placement experience. In exceptional circumstances this may result in the course becoming full before you have completed the admissions process. In this situation we will offer you the opportunity to be considered for a place on an alternative course.

Financial support

Accreditation

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

What you will study

Practice experience 1

Foundations of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology in Nursing

Influences on Wellbeing

Foundations of Field of Practise

Practice experience 2

Research and Evidence Based Practice

Primary Care – Patient Journey 1

Acute Care – Patient Journey 2

Practice experience 3

Critical Inquiry and Research proposal

Leadership and Service Improvement

Managing Complexities in Nursing Practice

Assessments

Teaching contact hours

Adult Nursing with NMC registration in the spotlight

Related courses

Our facilities

Clinical skills and simulation facilities for Health and Life Sciences

Take a s c r o l l through campus

Our expertise

Helen Layton

Sam Humphrey

Our students and alumni

Becca McDonald

Thomas Palmer

What makes us special

Block teaching

DMU Global

Where we could take you

Placements

Graduate careers

Additional costs

Take your next steps

Find out how to apply

Open Days - Book your place

Course specifications

Entry requirements