Open University Scotland 
Introduction
Since 2002, we have delivered a highly successful work-based pre-registration nursing programme in partnership with healthcare employers in Scotland. Our Future Nurse curriculum commenced in Oct 2020 to meet the standards for nursing education published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2018).
Students study one of the four fields of nursing in preparation for entry to the NMC register within one of these fields; Adult Nursing, Children and Young People’s Nursing, Learning Disability Nursing and Mental Health Nursing.
Our BSc (Hons) Nursing supports employers to develop their Healthcare Support Workers (HCSWs) towards registration with the NMC. Students study flexibly alongside work, with a balance of theory and practice delivered through a combination of work-based, face-to-face and distance learning. Enquiry-based learning will be one of the approaches used to facilitate this learning.
The programme commences once a year in October and takes 4 years to complete (215 weeks). More information on the programme can be found
here.
Current students will have access to their modules and university support via their student Home website.
Future Nurse programme overview
The nursing degree programme is a balance of theory and practice studied part-time over 4 years, offering the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and professional values of healthcare support workers.
The programme is multi-media facilitated and delivered via an online learning environment. You will have a tutor for each of the modules you study, as well as a team of people at the OU to support you to succeed in your studies.
The programme is delivered in 3 Parts with each Part incorporating a theory and practice module (Diagram 1). You can access further detailed information on the programme and modules content
here. Current students can access their student Home page.
Diagram 1.
To progress through the qualification, you are required to integrate theoretical learning (learning for practice) and
practice-based learning in order to inform the delivery of safe, effective, compassionate, person and family-centred care.
As you progress, you are expected to learn and practise increasingly independently and will be encouraged to form ‘communities of learning’ with other students on the qualification. This will be promoted through online discussion forum activities, online tutorials using Adobe Connect, telephone and email contact. Practice supervisors (PS), practice assessors (PA) and practice tutors/academic assessors (PT/AA) will facilitate and support your practice learning in each setting where you gain experience.
Transitioning September 2019 students to the new Future Nurse Curriculum
All students ‘transitioning’ into the new Future Nurse Curriculum who started their pre-registration nursing programme with the 19i (September) cohort will be short of 170 hours practice hours. This is because KYN117, which is the Stage 1 practice module you completed, only required you to complete 600 practice hours whereas KYN104, which replaces KYN117 in the new curriculum, requires you to complete 770 practice hours. You will find information on how to submit this information via your K105 module website.
Practice Learning
Half of the programme of study is based in practice learning. Students undertake a minimum of 2300 hours of supernumerary practice. You require the opportunity to learn and provide care across a range of different learning environments to enable you to meet learning outcomes.
Each of the three Parts of the programme are comprised of 770 hours of supernumerary practice, split into three practice learning periods (nine in total). At each Part you will usually undertake one practice placement in your normal place of work and the other two practice placements will be in external practice settings, in a range of care contexts and service user groups.
In Part one of the Programme, you are expected to demonstrate guided participation in care, performing with increasing confidence and competence. In level two we expect you to become more competent in your abilities through active participation in care with minimal guidance and performing with increased confidence and competence. By the end of level three, you will be able to demonstrate your ability to achieve the NMC (2018) proficiencies to be eligible for registration with the NMC.
Enquiry Based Learning
Content taught in level 1 focuses on the foundations of health and social care, whereas level 2 and 3 modules will develop generic and field-specific nursing content, allowing opportunities for you to explore your field of practice through use of an enquiry-based learning (EBL) approach. You will be introduced to the broad principles that underpin nursing practice in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards of proficiency for registered nurses (NMC 2018) and use case scenarios and vignettes to discover a range of caring interventions.
Whilst undertaking your theory modules in Levels 2 and 3 you will work in groups of no more than 8 students and will attend field specific online tutorials for 2.5 hours every two weeks to share and advance your learning and that of your peers. It is a mandatory requirement for students to attend and participate in these tutorials. The dates and times for all of the EBL tutorials are agreed at the beginning of the module in order for you to negotiate your attendance at the tutorials with your line manager. KYN210 and KYN325 will be delivered by EBL and more information will be available in your programme handbook and on the module websites.
You will find much more useful information about our programmes in the student guide below, including the Practice Learning Pathways. You'll also find information about our student support network, attendance, annual leave and practice assessment.
Contacts:
OU Employer link:
OU Staff Tutor:
OU PT/AA and OU module tutor:
You will find their contact details on your Student Home webpage
Useful documentation: