Nursing focuses on the core skills and knowledge required to provide support, help and care for the health needs of individuals and the community. Nursing is a multifaceted subject that also includes an understanding of health, medicine, and pastoral care.
Studying nursing prepares you to work in many environments, from clinics to hospitals and alongside other medical professionals. The subject offers a stable, transferable and well-paid career that could take you globally. Nurses must be compassionate, flexible, empathetic, caring and able to work under pressure.
Subjects related to nursing include public health, chemistry, biology, psychology, and occupational therapy.
Studying nursing abroad takes three to four years, depending on your study destination, degree and study mode. A full-time Bachelor of Nursing or BSc Nursing in the UK is three years and in Canada and the USA four years.
To become a nurse, you must register with the relevant accreditation body. For example, the
Nursing and Midwifery Board in Australia or the
Nursing and Midwifery Council in the UK.
Nursing can be studied at diploma, associate degree, bachelor's degree, master’s degree and even PhD level. To practice as a nurse, a bachelor’s degree is needed.
Some areas that you may cover in your degree include:
*Anatomy and physiology; Care planning; Nursing value and practice; Bioscience; Condition-specific nursing; Public health and sociology of nursing; Nursing in the context of society
Some nursing specialisations that you can study include:
*Paediatric nursing; Oncology nursing; Neonatal nursing; Critical care nursing; Psychiatric nursing; Public health nursing
To study nursing abroad, you must meet basic entry requirements. These may differ between institutions, but generally, for a BSc Nursing degree, you need:
1. A qualification including one or more of the following subjects: biology, chemistry, sociology, psychology, physics, applied science or health and social care.
2. Your qualification should be the equivalent of a minimum of a BBC A-Level result, which is an International Baccalaureate of 30 points with three subjects at a higher level, with a science subject at grade 5 or above. This is an SAT score of 1290 in Reasoning and 600 in three SAT subject tests.
3. IELTS overall score of 7.0 with no band score lower than 6.5 or equivalent.
Always check with your prospective university as to the acceptance or applicability of your current qualification.
Nurses continue to be in high demand globally. This means flexible and dynamic career opportunities. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses will grow 9 per cent from 2020 to 2030, outpacing other professions. Typical salaries for nurses in the UK start at between GBP 28,000 and GBP 34,000 but can rise to up to GBP 58,000 with experience.
Some of the roles that you can fulfil or are related to your nursing degree can include:
*Paramedic; Counsellor; Midwife; Therapist; Specialist nurse
Other jobs and careers you may also pursue are social work, health management, lecturer or chemist. Typical employment environments for those with nursing degrees are:
*Hospitals; Clinics; GP Practices; Community practice; Residential homes and facilities; Nursing schools; Nursing agencies
