Study Guide

Descriptions

Bachelor of Health Care, Registered Nurse (UAS)

DESCRIPTION OF SKILLS AND EDUCATION PROFILE

After completing the Bachelor of Health Care, Registered Nurse (UAS) degree, you will be a specialist in nursing, and you will be licensed as a nurse, as a healthcare professional. The training meets the requirements of the Council of Europe directives on nursing education and includes the competences of a nurse responsible for general care. Through the training, you will achieve evidence-based nursing competences, which focus on human interaction, supporting health and functional capacity, preventing and treating diseases and functional deficiencies, supporting recovery and rehabilitation and alleviating suffering.

At Lapland University of Applied Sciences, the nursing education provides you with the opportunity to strengthen your competence in telemedicine, digital services and nature-based nursing interventions. You can achieve wide-ranging professional nursing skills in various real-life practical training environments, digital learning platforms and the nursing learning and development environments of the Lapland University of Applied Sciences campuses.

Registered nurses (UAS) are employed in various positions in healthcare and social services in the public and private sectors as well as organisations. Registered nurses provide nursing expertise in various environments in the home care of customers and patients, outpatient clinics and hospital wards in different areas of health care, social welfare and the third sector as well as digital service environments. Registered nurses can also work as entrepreneurs and hold international positions.

EDUCATION CONTENT

In addition to nursing science, nursing education studies are based on other supporting health sciences and disciplines such as natural and medical sciences, and social and behavioural sciences. The curriculum consists of core competences, special competences and research and development competence. Core competences mean the competences included in the competence requirements of a general nurse. You can also complement your competence by choosing studies in other fields of education, University of Lapland courses as well as courses in other higher education institutions, or by participating in the projects and innovation activities of Lapland University of Applied Sciences. You gain special competences during the last semester when you select from alternative advanced nursing studies. Research and development competence is developed through research, development and innovation studies as well as a thesis. The nursing education studies include practical training worth 91 credits to improve professional skills. The thesis (15 credits) is part of the training in which you demonstrate your ability to work independently and use evidence-based knowledge.

In the curriculum, the courses form broader study modules. The nursing education modules support your development of your nursing expertise.

During your studies, you will be introduced to nursing in the 1st academic year, practise nursing in the 2nd academic year, apply your nursing skills and knowledge in the 3rd academic year, and develop nursing in the 4th academic year. In the first year, you will familiarise yourself with the interaction between the nurse and the customer or patient, the operating environment of the healthcare and social service sector, the ethics and assistance methods of nursing, multidisciplinary studies that support nursing and the promotion of health. During your second year, you will train your evidence-based theoretical and clinical nursing skills, nursing decision-making skills, and guidance and teaching skills. In your third-year, applying your competence, you will focus on skills related to the quality and safety of healthcare and social services.

During your last academic year, you will deepen your knowledge and skills to become an expert in clinical internal medicine patient care. These studies can be taken in English and Finnish. You will also have the opportunity to focus on other areas such as surgical nursing, perioperative nursing, intensive care, emergency care, child and adolescent nursing, elderly nursing, or mental health and addiction care. These studies can only be taken in Finnish.

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPETENCE

In nursing education, learning is work-oriented throughout the studies, demonstrated in the practical training, thesis and the simulation environment (SKY) on campus. Lapland University of Applied Sciences also has the healthcare sector related Wellness Stop and ONNI van, which also provide you with the opportunity of developing your professional skills and work-related learning and training. In work-oriented education, the development of your competence is linked to your own motivation and commitment to studies. Studying means a dialogue between and combination of theory and practice, learning independently and in a group. From the beginning of your studies, you will be supported in collaborative learning, in which the development of individual competence is supported by teaching and guidance staff. Study counsellors, in particular, support students’ planning of their personal study paths.

Work-oriented learning is also enabled by the recognition of acquired competence, which means combining work and studies. A plan is drawn up for the recognition of acquired competence and documented as agreed as part of studies. Internationalisation takes various forms during education. During your studies, you will have the opportunity to study Finnish for at least 15 credits. The Finnish language is also integrated into nursing teaching situations and practical training. In addition, you can choose Finnish-language nursing education courses. The international aspect may also be present in your studies in that you use international research literature, participate in international seminars and go on exchange studies abroad. You can also acquire skills through optional studies in other Finnish and foreign higher education institutions or universities. Your higher education studies completed elsewhere may also be accredited to form part of your degree.

Learning is guided by methods of enhancement-led evaluation, in which you participate yourself with other students, teachers and professional instructors. The evaluation is based on the learning objectives and assessment criteria of each course, which can be used to identify learning outcomes. The learning objectives and assessment criteria are based on competences required in the world of work, which are divided into nationally defined competences in nursing education and the common competences of bachelor’s degrees (UAS). The nursing education competences are the basis of nurses’ professional expertise. The common competences are the basis for operating, cooperating and developing one’s expertise in the world of work. The competence assessment uses the assessment methods and nationwide test developed and tested in the YleSHarviointi project to assess nurses’ core clinical competence.

You can include the nursing studies or parts of them in your personal study paths, continuous learning, competence development as a working person as well as in various open path and open UAS studies. Your career development will be supported during your studies. After finishing your Bachelor of Health Care, Registered Nurse (UAS) degree and two years of work experience, you can apply for master’s degree (UAS) studies. You can also continue your studies by enrolling in universities’ master’s degree studies in Finland or in master’s-level studies abroad.