Children and young people’s (CYP) nurses care for all ages, from new-born to adolescent, with a range of physical, emotional and mental health needs. CYP nurses also work closely with family members and carers to reduce the impact of being ill or in hospital. The course includes generic nursing topics and child field specific subjects and placements in a wide variety of settings including urban and rural, community, special care baby units, hospices and mental health.

As a children’s nurse you’ll care for children across the age spectrum and with a wide variety of needs. You’ll also work in partnership with family members and carers to reduce the impact of being ill or in hospital and providing comfort and reassurances to patients and their parents or careers in difficult or stressful circumstances. The role is highly rewarding and can also be challenging in today’s fast changing health care environment. Working in collaboration with other healthcare professionals, children’s nurses work in a variety of settings that follow a patient’s journey away from home, close to home or in the home giving you real variety in your career.

The course will prepare you to become a CYP nurse who is able to demonstrate critical thinking skills in relation to complex healthcare issues and the health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families. It will allow your compassion to thrive within an evidence-based approach and it will enable you to make a genuine impact on the health and wellbeing of babies, children, young people and their families.

You’ll go on placements across all the three years of your course and experience a range of clinical areas across Wales such as hospitals, special care baby units, hospices, mental health services, community children’s nursing teams as well as specialised paediatric intensive care units in England.

Elements of the course will be available through the medium of Welsh and there will be opportunities to experience bilingual practice in some parts of the region. For more information on the School's bilingual provision click here.

Bangor accepts applications for nursing courses throughout the year, while places are still available. The child field pathway is very popular therefore we recommend applications are submitted as soon as possible.

Tuition Fees Covered

If you are considered a home UK student for tuition fees who can commit to working in Wales for two years after graduating, you could get your tuition fees covered in full through the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme and claim for a £1,000 bursary contribution towards living costs. You can also apply for the means tested bursary that is dependent on household income and other funding that has eligibility criteria for child care support, dependents allowance and parental learner allowance. You can also apply for the income based maintenance funding and a reduced rate loan from Student Finance. As this course is funded by NHS Wales, we are unable to accept applications from overseas students.

Full details are available on our NHS funding page.

Location

The taught elements of this course are delivered at Bangor University’s Wrexham Campus next to Wrexham Maelor Hospital. We have a blended approach to learning with both on campus and online learning supported by our dedicated team.

Why choose Bangor for this course?

• Top 10 for Careers (Guardian Good University Guide 2021).
• Top 15 Nursing and Midwifery (2nd in Wales) (Times Good University Guide 2021).
• Top 10 for Research Quality (Complete University Guide 2021).
• NHS funding currently available to cover fees and a contribution to living costs.
• Bangor and Wrexham campuses can offer flexibility in where you study, and clinical placements are available across north Wales.

You’ll have compulsory theoretical study and clinical placements in hospitals, community and/or residential settings in north Wales. Closely supervised placements, that enable you to observe professionals at work and participate in the delivery of nursing care, start early in the course. Support is available from a personal tutor who is a registered nurse and an academic member of staff. On placement, you’ll be supported by registered health professionals known as practice supervisors and practice assessors who will supervise, assess and encourage your clinical learning and development. Theoretical and practical work is assessed through assignments, examinations, presentations and the All-Wales Assessment of Clinical Practice portfolio.

Our dedicated team of children’s lecturers have experience, including acute and community children’s nursing, neonatal,critical care, orthopaedics, hospice care, accident and emergency, and children with complex needs. The Team are committed to supporting students to realise their potential to become compassionate, competent and autonomous Children’s Nurses, able to meet current and future healthcare demands.

What will you study on this course?

The course is based equally on theory and practice – 50% is on theoretical study and 50% is spent in clinical practice developing competence needed for entry to the NMC’s register. You’ll develop skills and professional behaviours, values and attitudes expected of a nurse to ensure the safety and protection of people of all ages and their carers and families. While you’ll specialise in children’s nursing from the start of the programme, there are opportunities to study alongside other student healthcare professionals and the School has a strategy for interprofessional learning. Within the individual degree programmes there are shared learning opportunities for all fields to learn together about common or generic elements such as anatomy and physiology, psychology, sociology, communication, reflection, law and ethics. This interprofesssional learning enables multidisciplinary working from the outset and an appreciation of how the elements of health care fit together in the patient journey. Sharing ideas between health disciplines will broaden your perspective on healthcare, and help you focus on specific skills you develop in your own field of nursing. By fully engaging with this programme you’ll develop skills in family centred-patient care, effective health promotion, learn about the effects and management of acute and long-term childhood illnesses, assess pain and psychological responses to ill health and learn play and distraction techniques as well as many other techniques. This will enable you to deliver high quality child nursing care in a rapidly changing environment.

For 2022 entry the Bachelor of Nursing programme for all four fields is mapped to the 2018 Nursing and Midwifery Council Standards of proficiency for registered nurses and the Future Nurse: Standards of proficiency. The new programme ensures nurses have greater understanding of patient/client needs across all four fields of nursing practice, but remaining field focused. The programme prepares future registrants with team working and leadership skills and more knowledge in the area of public health needed to deliver care in different settings to support health and well-being for clients and patients.

Where will I study?

The taught elements of this course are only delivered at Bangor’s Wrexham campus ( next to Wrexham Maelor Hospital). Placements for student nurses take place within the BCUHB area across north Wales. You’ll have the opportunity to put your knowledge into action during a number of placements in a variety of settings across the region.

Our clinical skills lab will you a safe environment to safely practicing nursing skills before you go out into the real world . We can provide lifelike simulations using a variety of technology including our baby and child interactive mannequins which will help prepare you for your clinical placements.

Nursing is an ever growing and innovative profession and nurses are working in multi professional teams across health and care settings. Nurses are in a unique position to deliver care in partnership with people and carers, wherever care is needed. Across the health and care system there is an increased focus on preventing ill health, enabling people to self-care, to be partners in their care and to have a better quality of life. The rapid pace of advances in medical and nursing care, treatment and technology is creating new career opportunities for nursing with rapid developments in different service provision and ways of working.  Career opportunities can range from front line staff, working in leadership or management, a specialised nurse or consultant nurse role and many other exciting and unique options.

They are many different types of nursing and varied opportunities for career advancement in a variety of settings. Nursing roles come in many forms and can evolve in your career moving from a staff nurse to nurse specialist, ward manager, leader, researcher, educator or nurse consultant. Nursing positions are split into different bands all of which have different salaries.

A graduate career as a children's nurse involves working with children who have relatively minor conditions right through to those who have serious, chronic and/or life-threatening conditions. Career progression can also involve managing people and resources, plus researching and developing new and current services.

The work is as much about providing reassurance to the child’s family as it is about providing care for the child. In most cases a great deal of the care is provided by the family and the nurse’s role is to work with the family to teach, build confidence, empower and support them in looking after their child.

Your nursing degree will specialise in children’s nursing. There are several specialist children’s hospitals in the country and general acute trusts will also have at least one children’s ward. Children’s nurses also work in the emergency department and in child and adolescent mental health services. A newly qualified nurse would initially be expected to consolidate their learning by taking responsibility for the care of a group of patients and then take on more complex roles as they professionally develop.

Children’s nurses are highly observant and flexible problem solvers who have the ability to recognise and act upon a child becoming unwell very quickly. They act as the child’s advocate whenever and wherever necessary. Good communication and interpersonal skills are essential, but children’s nurses also need to show emotional awareness, intelligence and resilience.

This degree enables you to register as a qualified children’s nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), having developed the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to help plan, coordinate and deliver care in a safe, compassionate and effective way.

Nursing is highly rewarding and is a profession constantly evolving to address the needs of contemporary society. Our Bachelor of Nursing degrees will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to provide evidence-led and compassionate nursing care.