Welcome to your Nursing Practice (Child) course

We know you're already passionate about your subject, which is why we're excited you've chosen University of Staffordshire as the place to turn possibility into reality.

To give you an insight into what life as a Nursing Practice (Child) student is like, our course leaders have prepared introductions to the course and further activities.

Nursing is a career that requires lifelong learning in a dynamic healthcare system and this course will provide a foundation for your nursing practice, and for your further individual development. This course fosters a learning environment that prepares you to deliver high quality compassionate nursing care committed to professional and personal values and responsibility.

You will have the support of your own academic mentor and our experienced Children’s Nursing Team, as well as practice assessors and supervisors whilst on placement. Student services and wellbeing advisors are available on site, and our experienced students offer peer learning and support.

First activity

The first week of the course (22^nd September 2025) focuses on welcome activities, designed to help you settle in. You will have the opportunity to meet the team, including your Course lead, Course director, members of the School Management Team, your academic mentor and become familiar with the campus as well as get to know other students.

In addition, there will be opportunity to have an introduction to the simmersive rooms, to study skills and orientation to the library. This initial week will provide you with information to enable a smooth transition to your university journey towards this exciting career ahead of you.

Course delivery

Teaching and learning is provided in different ways to meet the needs of differing learning styles and these include face to face taught sessions on campus, debates, seminars, problem-based learning, group working activities and practical skills and simulation sessions.

Module assessments are varied and include reflective learning accounts, multiple choice exams, presentations, and practice learning assessment to name a few across the three years.

You will experience practical learning in our clinical simmersive labs and simulation suites which ustilise state of the art equipment to facilitate the best possible learning experience in our dedicated learning spaces.

You will be supported all the way through your course by an academic mentor and course teaching team, have access to student guidance advisors, study skills support and subject specific librarians. During your allocated clinical practice learning placements, you will have additional support from practice assessors, practice supervisors, practice learning area teams and clinical placement facilitators. Peer mentoring from fellow students is also available. You will gain practical learning experience in a variety of settings including hospital and community, within our partner trusts and independent providers

Semester one activities

Following the week of Welcome Activities, we have a week dedicated to Foundations for Learning where we include sessions on reflective writing, referencing, creating presentations and additional information from the supportive study skills and library team.

Your first module begins on week 3 of the first semester and is focused on Professional, Legal and Ethical Considerations for nursing. This module focuses on essential values within nursing and includes sessions on developing understanding of the role of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. This module runs for 5 weeks and then you begin your first children and young people’s nursing practice module which includes your first taught sessions in our simmersive labs. It is during this module you will begin to develop the essential skills needed to become a children’s nurse.

Pre-Learning

You do not need to go out and buy books, as our campuses offer a wide range of resources and you will have access to e-books as well.

A good place to begin your pre-course learning is the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) website: Click here which provides you with information relating to the standards required of nurses, midwives and nursing associates. In addition to this the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has accessible and useful information.

The Royal Marsden Manual of Nursing Procedures (10^th Ed) (2020) Lister, S.
The Great Ormond Street Hospital Manual of Children and Young People's Nursing Practices (2^nd Ed) (2023) Bruce, E.
Fundamentals of Children and Young People's Anatomy and Physiology: A Textbook for Nursing and Healthcare Students (2^nd Ed) (2021) Peate, I.
Numeracy and clinical calculations for nurses (2^nd Ed) (2020) Davison, N.

Equipment and software

A lap-top computer is advised so you can take notes during taught sessions and write your assignments. Digital software, for example Microsoft 365 pro, is available for free download during your time on the course and is useful for all areas of the course, offering cloud storage for your assignments so you can access them from any device and Outlook for email communication.

Software

Trips and activities

As part of your course, you have a placement period where you can choose where you’d like to go – your elective placement. There’s so much choice available to you once you are a registered Children’s Nurse – working in NHS hospitals, community settings, children’s and young people’s mental health care settings, you may wish to specialise, or continue your development by studying an MSc – there really are so many possibilities.

During your allocated placements, you’ll have had a really wide range of experience within NHS Trusts and the independent sector and you may choose to go back to a prior placement or to go to an area where you’ve not yet had a placement. Many student do remain local but some of our students choose to go abroad and undertake an overseas elective placement. Whilst we can’t fund the elective placement, we are happy to signpost you, to help you plan for your elective. Click on the links below:

University of Staffordshire Global Connections: Global Connections

Nursing Electives Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ghana, Vietnam, Kenya and more – The Mighty Roar Click here

Nursing electives in Africa, Asia and Latin America – Work the World Click here

The links above include discussion of funding options, and the Royal College of Nursing is another possible source to look into: https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/scholarships-and-bursaries

Student uniform

You will be provided with a uniform to wear during placements and practical skills sessions. However, you will need to source suitable footwear to go with your uniform, advice will be provided on this during our welcome activities where we will also guide you through the uniform ordering process.

For further information please click here

Occupational Health

Before you go into our clinical practice learning environments you will be required to be cleared by our Occupational Health provider: Optima Health and be up to date with all required vaccinations. You will be required to complete an occupational health screening survey and it is very important that you are open and honest with any existing or past medical history to ensure your health, safety and wellbeing whilst on the course. Please Click Here for further information.

Groups and societies

We have active Nursing Society which you can be a part of further information can be found via the Student Union web pages Get Involved (staffsunion.com)

Meet the team

Rebecca Boden

Senior Lecturer

Rebecca is a Registered Children’s Nurse and Staffordshire University graduate wide variety of experience and interests including children’s cancer care, human factors and leadership.

Rebecca's profile

Fiona Cust

Associate Professor

Fiona is a Registered General and Children’s Nurse and Health Visitor who has had a varied career in children’s nursing within acute and community settings. Fiona is actively engaged in research and regularly contributes to The Nursing Times Journal.

Fiona's profile

Sophie Kempshall

Lecturer

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.

We look forward to meeting you in September.

If you have any queries please contact your course leader, Rebecca Boden: Rebecca.Boden@staffs.ac.uk