Curious about studying Nursing (Adult) - BSc (Hons)at University of Essex? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
University of Essex
Full Time
Oct 2026
3 Year
There's never been a better time to train as a nurse! Not only is public appreciation for nurses growing, so is the funding. You can now apply for a £5000 grant that you won't need to pay back! There is also an extra £3000 funding available depending on your personal circumstances. You can find more information about eligibility and how to apply on the HSC Scholarships and Funding page. Adult nurses care for adults of all ages with a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. Strong communication skills are essential to reassure patients and their families, often in pressurised or emotionally challenging situations. Adult nursing requires the ability to assess individual needs, plan and deliver care, and evaluate outcomes, while taking responsibility for patients’ health and wellbeing. Compassion, professionalism, and resilience are central to building trusted nurse–patient relationships. Nursing is ranked 6th in the UK (The Guardian University Guide 2026). Unlike many of the older, traditional nursing schools, at Essex you receive a fresh, contemporary and relevant nursing programme. You work with local organisations to ensure that you gain the best experience possible during your time with us, and studying alongside other health professionals means that you also have the opportunity to gain expert knowledge from them. We provide support throughout all aspects of your journey, including dedicated support in literacy and numeracy. The cost of required uniform will be fully covered by the school.
Placement OpportunitiesHalf of your studies will be spent working in clinical settings – for example, in a ward, a health centre or in client’s homes. You will be working alongside nurses as you practice and perfect your skills. Placements are based in NHS, private and voluntary settings throughout Essex. You will work shift patterns whilst in placement equivalent to approximately a 37.5 hour week. This includes early shifts, late shifts, night shifts, weekend and bank holiday working.
LocationThis course is available at our Colchester campus, - and your placements will be situated in north Essex.
Making your applicationBefore you make your application, take a look at our frequently asked questions section at the bottom of our undergraduate department pages. Here you will find hints and tips on what we are looking for, as well as useful resources to help you prepare for interviews.
DBS and Occupational Health ChecksThis course requires a satisfactory Occupational Health Check and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (including child and adult barred list check) - both of these are organised by the University. Please contact our DBS team if you have any questions relating to getting your DBS check. A satisfactory Overseas Criminal Record Check/Local Police Certificate is also required, in addition to a DBS Check, where you have lived outside of the UK in the last 5 years for 6 months or more. Further information about how to obtain an Overseas Criminal Record check can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Applying knowledge of behavioural sciences provides the foundations for understanding people’s lived experiences of mental and emotional wellbeing and distress, enables nurses to deliver person-centred nursing care, and supports practices that encourage environmental and behavioural changes. This module prepares students in the fundamentals of behavioural sciences as applied to nursing. It recognises the interaction of environmental and individual circumstances that shape and influence behaviours and ‘choices’. The module introduces and applies best practice approaches to managing situations where students observe mental and emotional distress, neglect, abuse, aggression, self-harm and suicidal ideation in a range of contexts and settings.
Applying knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and pharmacology provides the foundations for understanding people's lived experiences of physical health, physical deterioration and distress. This knowledge also enables nurses to deliver person-centred care and initiate interventions that reduce distress and restore homeostasis. This module prepares students in the fundamentals of life sciences as applied to nursing. It recognises the interaction of the external and internal environments that shape and influence people's experiences of physical health. The module introduces and applies best practice approaches to managing situations where students observe physical ill health, distress, and deterioration in a range of contexts and settings.
This module prepares students for practice-based learning and to assess, plan and deliver person-centred care. Students will develop confidence and competence in the range of fundamental nursing knowledge, proficiencies and procedures and develop an understanding of their professional accountability as a registered nurse. Students will also be introduced to fundamental research capabilities so that they can locate, identify and incorporate evidence from a range of sources with their emergent practice.
Recognising the political, social and environmental determinants of health and wellbeing are fundamental in allowing nurses to challenge health inequalities and discrimination. This module prepares students in the fundamentals of health promotion and protection, within the context of these determinants. It takes a critical public health perspective to identify how political and social structures have consequences for the health and wellbeing of people and populations. The module applies this emergent understanding to the role of nurses in health promotion and health screening to improve and maintain the health, wellbeing and welfare of the people, communities and populations they work with. This module has been designed to enable students to integrate their subject knowledge with an understanding of sustainable development, acquiring the skills and competencies essential for addressing the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century.
Advocacy is a central tenet of the philosophies and practices of healthcare provisioning and central to the critical study and engagement with global public health. Drawing on the principles of social justice, this module encourages you to critically consider what it means to be an advocate for the right to health of people who are seeking to access and use health services, and to explore strategies to constructively and actively resist those practices and policies that have detrimental consequences for groups of people. You will be able to choose between this module and HS958 - Public Mental Health
This module prepares students to participate in practice-based learning, reasoning and decision-making to deliver person-centred care. Students will develop confidence and competence in the range of enhanced nursing proficiencies and nursing procedures. Students will develop and demonstrate emergent leadership, collaborating with service users and other professions to make decisions about how person-centred care is provided to an individual or small group of people.
Relationship-based practice is central to the provision of safe and compassionate person-centred care. This module comprehensively prepares students in relationship-based practices that provide the foundations for person-centred nursing care. Students will develop proficiency in approaches to skilled communication and relationship management (Annexe A Section 2), NMC standards, and approaches for providing evidence-based therapeutic interventions (Annexe A, Section 3) Students will consider how these approaches apply in different situations and fields of practice.
This module allows students to review and appraise the resources, interventions and therapies at the disposal of registered nurses and to select appropriately from these to provide safe and effective care in the complex situations that nursing can operate within. The delivery of any intervention or therapy requires careful consideration in terms of both the evidence base for that intervention and safeguarding people's autonomy in the decision-making process. The module will draw upon experiences of working with people with a range of physical and mental health co-morbidities.
Monitoring and evaluating the quality of care practices and services, and making subsequent service changes are fundamental for improving the safety and quality of care. Improvements in care and treatment that enhance the outcomes that people experience can be transformative when the people whose experiences matter most are involved in the design of the service. This module offers students the opportunity to work closely with people with lived experience, citizens and service users to consult on, develop, co-design and lead participatory quality improvement initiatives. Students will select questions and issues that are important to people, and co-design a proposal to address these issues in partnership with people with lived experience, quality and education leads in partner organisations, and the support of an academic supervisor.
This module prepares students to lead, manage and coordinate care during practice-based learning experiences. Students will develop independence in the range of enhanced adult nursing proficiencies and procedures. Students will demonstrate critical, reflective and person-centred leadership when working with others, and demonstrate proficiency in managing the complexities and ambiguities of challenging and conflicting episodes in adult nursing care.
Preparation in the principles of supervision and feedback ensures that students are ready to act as practice supervisors and are ready to learn to become practice assessors at the point of registration. Students will consider approaches to clinical and practice supervision and how these contribute to the development of peers and learners. Students will have the opportunity to supervise and coach less experienced students in both practice and university-based/simulated settings (e.g. in Person-Centred Care 1 and selected other modules.) Students will enhance and develop an awareness of cultural competence, processes of constructive feedback, reflective appraisal, and formative and summative assessment. They will be encouraged to develop approaches to coaching and supervision whilst considering how to challenge circumstances that impact upon the quality of a learning environment.
This module consolidates learning around compassionate, clinical leadership in adult nursing. Students will consider the accountabilities and human consequences associated with their own and others' leadership decisions at the point of care. They will be supported to explore the complexities and uncertainties of clinical situations. Students will critically examine how the 'quality' of care is defined, measured and audited, and the impact of these measurements on the lived experiences of people. They will reflect upon their own professional development needs and proactively plan their own development.
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