Roehampton launches new Adult Nursing programme
From September University of Roehampton starts the new course in Adult Nursing focusing on community and primary care.
University of Roehampton’s Department of Life Sciences is launching a new course that teaches students adult nursing from the 2019 academic year.
Having 175 years’ experience of vocational education, the upcoming programme offers students an adult nursing degree focusing on community and primary care. This will give students the opportunity to work with individuals above 18 years, including those who have long-term conditions.
“The focus of the course and the placements will be on community and primary care. The reason for that is the shift of emphasis in health and social care policy on moving care out of hospitals into the community. Hospitals can’t cope with the growing population and they are not always the best place to receive care. The shift of emphasis has to be on providing care in people’s homes or close to their homes,” says the Head of Nurse Education, Paul Newcombe.
Because of the high demand for adult nurses, students are almost guaranteed a job after graduation. Roehampton has partnerships with many healthcare providers and hospitals which means that students will not only study on campus but also expand their skills during placements.
St George’s Hospital is one of the partners of the University of Roehampton. Queen Mary’s Hospital, located over the road from the campus, is one of the St George’s sites where students will be able to practice.
“I’ve worked with lots of people across the university who are keen to develop nursing, to create different partnerships and to produce high quality nursing graduates. There is a huge shortage in the nursing workforce in the UK — 40,000 vacancies currently, including 10,000 in London. We can play our part in supplying a nursing workforce for London and the UK,” says Mr. Newcombe.
“Also, one thing that we are really emphasizing in this programme is that students need to be able to address mental and physical health needs so they are going to have placements with the mental health trust as well,” he also mentioned.
The new education standards published last year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) now requires the university to teach students higher level skills that were not included under the previous standards: physical assessment skills, intravenous drug administration and preparation for a prescribing qualification will all be taught during the course.
Beside the placements, the teaching process will be highly interactive on the campus itself. Classrooms at Froebel College are being altered into a 6-bedded ward and community rooms where students will get experience of providing care in people’s homes and GP clinics. Student will work with role players, service users and carers as well as high tech manikins to simulate scenarios and for assessments.
Besides the hard work, students will enjoy the best views of any simulation center as the rooms look over the lake, which is one of the most beautiful views on campus. The building process officially started on the 17th of June and facilities will be accessible for students by the start of the academic year.
