Return to Practice - Nursing - 20 credits | Birmingham City University

Overview

The return to practice course offers a flexible approach to regaining your professional registration. You will share core learning with others who are returning to healthcare practice after a break, so you'll have the support of other returners to develop your confidence in practice.

This course is not open to International students.

What's covered in this course?

The programme length will be tailored to your individual needs depending on how long you have been out of practice, your previous knowledge and experience, and relevant experience undertaken while you have been out of practice.

The University arranges your placement with a local healthcare provider. We involve you in these arrangements to ensure you have a placement which can fit in with your personal circumstances. The return to practice programme will help you plan your future learning to develop your career.

Accredited By

Why Choose Us?

Excellent employability rate
You will study at our £71 million City South Campus, complete with real-life hospital environments and simulation equipment so you can practice your practical skills at all times – not just on placement
We offer two intakes a year in April and September so that you can start at the right time for you.

Fees & How to Apply

Please select your student status to view fees and apply

UK Student
International Student

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament.

Award:

Starting: Apr 2025

Short Course
Individually determined (Adult Nursing)
TBC

Short Course
Individually determined (Child Nursing)
TBC

Short Course
Individually determined (Learning Disabilities)
TBC

Short Course
Individually determined (Mental Health)
TBC

International students

Sorry, this course is not available to International students.

Access to computer equipment

You will require use of a laptop, and most students do prefer to have their own. However, you can borrow a laptop from the university or use one of our shared computer rooms.

Printing

You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment.

Field trips

All essential field trips and associated travel costs will be included in your course fees.

Access to Microsoft Office 365

Every student at the University can download a free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use whilst at university and for 18 months after graduation.

Key Software

You will be able to download SPSS and Nvivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research.

Key subscriptions

Subscriptions to key journals and websites are available through our library.

DBS check

You will require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for this course. Your first DBS check is included in your fees.

Placement expenses (mandatory)

Placements are a compulsory element of many health and teacher training courses. You'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst living or working away from home.

Clothing and safety equipment (mandatory)

This course requires the purchase of safety equipment. You will need to provide appropriate shoes for placement experiences.

Specialist equipment (mandatory)

This course requires the purchase of specialist equipment, including stethoscope (approx. £80-£100) and fob watch.

Excess printing (optional)

Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet.

Books (optional)

All module key texts will be in the University library, but in limited numbers. You may choose to purchase a copy.

Subscriptions (optional)

You may wish to purchase subscriptions to additional journals and websites.

Memberships (optional)

You may wish to join a union or professional body related to this course.

Accommodation and living costs

The cost of accommodation and other living costs are not included within your course fees. More information on the cost of accommodation can be found in our accommodation pages.

How to apply

For April 2025 entry, you need to complete your application by 31 January 2025.

Entry requirements

Lapsed UK registration as a nurse, midwife, health visitor or operating department practitioner
Evidence of your literacy and numeracy
Satisfactory occupational health and DBS checks
You will need a confirmed placement - this will usually be confirmed following interview
You will need to attend for an interview
Applicants should be aware that qualifications, personal statement, interview and reference all form part of the selection criteria for this programme.

Important information for Applicants with Conditions of Practice orders/returning following a Striking-Off Order

If you apply for the Return to Practice Course at Birmingham City University you are required to declare if you are subject to any Conditions of Practice Orders or previous Striking-Off Orders.

If you are subject to either of these, we will then need to disclose this information to our:

insurance advisers
placement partners

Based on the information supplied they will decide on a case by case basis whether they are able to:

Provide indemnity insurance cover during your placement
Offer a placement based on support needs identified in the conditions of practice.

If indemnity insurance cover is declined by our insurers then we will also need to share this information with the placement provider for the course.

You should be aware that there is a possibility that the placement provider will be unable to offer you a placement if:

The placement provider is unable to provide the necessary support/supervision in regards to your conditions of practice
Insurance cover has been declined

If either of these apply this may mean that you will be unable to complete the Return to Practice Course at BCU and we will be unable to progress with your application.

Please contact the Course leads if you wish to discuss this further.

Course in Depth

Module Description

Download course specification

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Course Content

Nursing skills:

Patient Handling
Basic life support
Monitoring vital signs
Introduction to venepuncture cannulation
ECG monitoring
Service-user input
Medicines management

Professional skills:

Ethics, law and professional aspects of nursing
Infection prevention and control
Numeracy
Socratic thinking
Safeguarding
Self-care, spirituality, resilience and mental health awareness

Supervisory skills:

Leadership in nursing
Practice supervisor training

Assessments in module

Part A - Clinical assessment

Professional values, clinical skills and competencies and will be assessed whilst in placement.

Part B - Academic assessment choice of:

Ten minute PowerPoint audio presentation (marked out of 100 - pass mark 40%) OR
1500 word assignment (marked out of 100 - pass mark 40%)

Part C - Numeracy exam:

This will involve numeracy questions according to the student’s field of study.
Pass mark is 10/10

What happens on the course?

This course aims to enable students to demonstrate delivery of safe and competent nursing care in accordance with the Return to Practice Standards stipulated by the NMC. Students will become an accountable, self-reflective and autonomous practitioner, working with a range of other professionals and within inter-professional and multiagency teams responding to the demands of nursing practice.

The module is suitable for nurses who have previously been on the NMC Register - RN1, RNA, RN3, RNMH, RN5, RNLD, RN8, RNC (Adult; Mental Health; Learning Disabilities; Children; and GPN).

Placements

Minimum expectation during placement is part time hours (22 hours a week either long days or short shifts). There is flexibility to work full time if your placement area are able to support it.

One placement undertaken (with opportunities for pathways):

You are expected to work part time hours as a minimum (ideally x2 long days or x3 short shifts a week) following the shift patterns of your placement provider and working consistently with your practice assessor/supervisor.
Placement length is up to 300 hours (with a minimum of 150 assessed hours) and can be in a hospital, social care, GP surgery or community setting.
The University arranges placements in the West Midlands area. If you would like to be placed outside the West Midlands or in a non-NHS area you will need to arrange your own placement.

Contact us: returntonursing@bcu.ac.uk

The Nursing and Midwifery Council

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) works with partner organisations to set and maintain high standards of nursing and midwifery education across the UK.

This course has been approved and monitored by the NMC to make sure that the education and training on offer meets their standards.

To work as a nurse or midwife, you must pass an NMC approved course at a higher education institution (HEI) in pre-registration nursing and midwifery, leading to registration with the NMC.

Facilities & Staff

Our Facilities

Our Nursing and Midwifery courses are based at our City South campus in leafy Edgbaston.

We’ve spent £41million expanding our facilities at City South. These facilities offer hands-on practical experience, replicating the spaces you will come across in professional practice.

In a sector where new techniques are constantly being discovered, we work hard to ensure that you learn using the most up-to-date equipment available. Alongside physical spaces such as a mock operating theatre and wards, we also make use of online and virtual technology, such as our virtual ward and virtual case creator.

See more of our skills facilities at City South

Centre for Skills and Simulation

The Centre for Skills and Simulation offers a range of different spaces which replicate situations that you will encounter in practice. These include hospital wards, an operating theatre and a home environment room.

Our mock wards enable you to get a feel of what a ward is really like before you head out for your first placement. The hospital wards can be adapted from low care to high dependency care environment with the necessary monitoring equipment.

The home environment room is the perfect space for teaching communications skills and allows us to simulate a community setting for our students. It is particularly useful for mental health nurses, learning disability nurses and midwives.

Simulation Manikins

We have several Simulation men (SIM men) and simulation babies (SIM babies) which are anatomically correct manikins used for teaching specific techniques such as advanced adult and paediatric life support skills, acute and high dependency clinical skills, first aid and communication skills. The manikins contain software which replicates real symptoms, and can manipulate indicators such as blood pressure, pulse and heart rate for extra realism. SIM man can even ‘talk’ to the students as they are treating him, to add another dimension to learning.

Computer Facilities

The Seacole building has two open-access IT Suites which offer PCs, printers, photocopiers and scanners. There is also an IT Helpdesk for quick and easy help with your computing or internet issues.

Our PCs utilise the latest Intel i5 core technology, all with:

Fast (unrestricted) internet connectivity
Ability to save files to USB, DVD & CD
Microsoft Office software
Research and statistical software
Storage space which can be accessed from any PC across the University and from home

Our PCs are also designed to support students who may have difficulties with reading and writing, featuring specialised software with zooming/magnification and screen reading capabilities, which may also be customised for individual student needs.

In addition to desktop PCs, we also offer a laptop loan facility, allowing students to borrow a laptop for up to six hours while on campus.

Our staff

Heather Scripps

Senior Lecturer, and Course Lead for Return to Practice (Nursing)

Heather has been a registered (adult) nurse since 1996 and has had a variety of clinical and non-clinical posts within defence, the NHS and the private sector. Heather qualified as a nurse teacher in 2004 and has been involved in nurse education ever since. Heather's clinical background is firmly within surgical and acute nursing as well...

More about Heather

Enquiries

Course enquiries

The programme leader welcomes informal enquiries to discuss your individual situation.

Please contact Heather Scripps:

Tel: 0121 331 7015
Email: returntonursing@bcu.ac.uk