New school of nursing to open in Sunderland

A new school of nursing aimed at tackling a shortage of nurses in the NHS is opening in the North East.

Based at Sunderland University, students on the course will spend half of their time on placement in local hospitals.

It is hoped public health will be improved by graduates choosing to stay in the region.

Sunderland CARE Academy partner organisations have collaborated to develop the programme, designed in response to Sir Robert Francis's report into the scandal at Stafford Hospital, which recommends the need for 'rigorous nursing quality assurance', citing a shortage of nurses as a key factor in poor care of patients.

The new School of Nursing will be housed within the University's Sciences Complex, home of its research laboratories and School of Pharmacy, though ambitious plans will see it expand into its own building in coming years.

The three-year programme is also the very first in the UK to be directly linked into a School of Pharmacy. Developing nurses' skills and excellence in medicines management, ensuring medicines are being used correctly by patients, remains a serious issue in secondary and primary care.

Importantly for the region, many of the newly qualified nurses will remain in the North East when they graduate - helping improve the health of residents and ultimately support economic growth and prosperity in the region.

Students will relate the taught nursing theory to clinical practice, spending half of their time on placement in a hospital or community healthcare setting, giving them the skills, knowledge and experience to be able to make the evidence informed decisions that employers need.

More information on the Adult Nursing BSc (Hons) programme is available here.