Unitec New Zealand | Experience Real World Learning
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Bachelor of Nursing image

Want to become a safe, competent and accountable, first-level Registered Nurse and an effective member of the healthcare team? This programme enables you to qualify as a Registered Nurse


[BN]

7, 360

Full-time for three years or part-time options available (to a maximum of five years).

Starts February

150 places, subject to the availability of clinical placements

Applications close by 1 November

CA2166

Waitakere campus
 NZ$ 4880

International fees
Programme summary
Courses and timetables
Career opportunities
Admission requirements

Programme summary

Qualify as a Registered Nurse and gain the skills required to work in a range of health-related areas, including community and mental health, medical and surgical nursing, and research. Practise what you've learnt at the fully equipped Education, Practice and Simulation Centre at Waitakere Hospital and during real-world practice placements.

The only programme in West Auckland leading to registration as a nurse, the Bachelor of Nursing provides you with the skills to become a competent Registered Nurse and an effective member of the healthcare team. You learn to assess, manage and communicate effectively with patients both in hospitals and the local community. Boost your analytical and interpersonal skills as you evaluate ethical dilemmas in clinical nursing practice. Develop an understanding of medical and surgical nursing, and community and mental health. You also explore the role and application of technology in the healthcare environment.

The programme focuses on:

  • Meeting the health needs of people and their communities
  • Supporting people with continuing health challenges
  • Harnessing the technological advances that strengthen and support nursing practice
  • Maintaining a commitment to evidence-based practice.

Real-world learning
You’ll learn in a variety of ways: in groups, interactive tutorials, lectures, through self-directed learning, web-based learning, videos, clinical simulation, laboratories and practice experiences. You’ll also have access to computerised library databases and the internet, and use point-of-care, hand-held computers that help you document clinical experiences and quickly access clinical reference tools.

Practise what you’ve learnt at the fully equipped Education, Practice and Simulation Centre (SimLab) at Waitakere Hospital. In the final year, you work on rostered nursing duties for four days per week. Practice experiences include acute care, surgery, medicine, rehabilitation/disability, preventative care and mental health. You’ll experience real-world practice placements (approximately 200 days will be in practice settings) and must complete a minimum of 1100 hours of designated nursing practice.

Experienced lecturers
The programme is taught by experienced and multi-cultural staff, many of whom still work in clinical nursing practice.

Practise nursing at Waitakere Hospital
All students in Unitec’s Bachelor of Nursing learn the practical skills required of the profession in the Education and Practice Simulation Centre at Waitakere Hospital. The Centre offers a high-tech, simulated hospital learning environment that reflects the real world of nursing practice. The facility includes an acute assessment room, an operating theatre, a critical care unit, a simulation room/ward, a community bed-sit, a seminar room, a computer suite, interview rooms and an audio-visual control room.

In your first-year, you use the facility to learn the fundamental skills of nursing practice before you experience them in an actual healthcare placement. In later years, you use the Centre to learn progressively more advanced clinical assessment and practice skills, and for learning through simulated experiences. These simulated experiences offer the opportunity to present more advanced clinical scenarios, and will give you a chance to actively participate and apply what you’ve learnt about the management of real-life situations. Simulations will be recorded on video and can be replayed for learning through debriefing, analysis, critique and evaluation. The facility is located within walking distance of Unitec’s Waitakere campus, and a shuttle bus travels at set times between the two sites.

Industry links
Work in a variety of practice contexts, from Auckland City Hospital, North Shore Hospital, Starship Children’s Hospital and private surgical hospitals to the Waitemata District Health Board, the Mason Clinic, Rehab Plus and a number of primary healthcare organisations.

Industry recognition
Approved by the Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ) and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), the Bachelor of Nursing enables you to qualify as a Registered Nurse when you have passed the exam set by NCNZ.

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Courses and timetables

The following is a selection of the compulsory courses you need to study to complete this programme. Click the links below to view the course details and timetables for 2010.

Course no.Course name
HEAL5011 Nursing Practice - Introduction
HEAL5012 Nursing Practice - Community
HEAL5014 Nursing Practice - Tertiary
HEAL5020 New Zealand Society
HEAL5021 Human Development
HEAL5022 Anatomy and Physiology
HEAL5023 Human Bioscience
HEAL5024 Therapeutic Communication

+ View the full list of courses for 2010

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Career opportunities

  • Charge Nurse
  • District Nurse
  • Nurse Educator
  • Plunket Nurse
  • Practice Nurse
  • Public Health Nurse
  • Staff Nurse

 

Admission requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants must meet the general, discretionary or special admission requirements. Applicants must also meet the English language requirements and may be interviewed.

Applicants transferring from an undergraduate nursing programme at another tertiary education institution will only be considered for selection upon receipt of a confidential report from the institution from which they are transferring.

General admission

Applicants must:

  • Be at least 16 years of age when the programme begins (or provide a completed Early Release Exemption form, which you can obtain from your local Ministry of Education office); and
  • Have a minimum of 42 credits at level 3 or higher on the National Qualifications Framework, including a minimum of:
    • 14 credits at level 3 or higher in each of two subjects from an approved subject list; and
    • 14 credits at level 3 or higher taken from no more than two additional domains on the National Qualifications Framework or approved subjects; and
  • A minimum of 14 credits at level 1 or higher in Mathematics or Pangarau on the National Qualifications Framework; and
  • minimum of eight credits at level 2 or higher in English or Te Reo Māori, of which a minimum of four credits must be in Reading and four in Writing (see note), or equivalent; or
  • Have at least three C passes in New Zealand University Bursaries examinations, or equivalent; or
  • Have gained the Unitec Certificate in Foundation Studies: Whitinga (Level 3) with the Nursing endorsement, including, except in exceptional circumstances, a minimum grade of C+ for course NURS4001.

Applicants must also:

  • Provide evidence of clearance of any criminal conviction considered inappropriate for working with vulnerable people; and
  • Provide a completed medical declaration and not have a medical condition that will impact on their ability to practise safely as a nurse; and
  • Be able to participate in the practical aspects of the programme; and
  • Provide two testimonials and/or character references, for example from a school or community organisation.

Discretionary admission (for applicants aged under 20)

Applicants who do not meet the general admission requirements and who are less than 20 years of age when the programme begins may be considered for discretionary admission if they can demonstrate aptitude for study at the required level. This could include, for example:

  • Having a minimum of 60 credits at level 2 in four subjects, including a minimum of:
    • 12 credits at level 2 in English, of which four must be in Reading and four in Writing; and
    • 12 credits in level 2 science subjects; and
  • Having a minimum of 14 credits at level 1 or higher in Mathematics or Pangarau on the National Qualifications Framework; and
  • Providing evidence of support from their school; or
  • Having a minimum of 48 credits at level 2 in four subjects, including a minimum of:
    • 12 credits at level 2 in English, of which four must be in Reading and four in Writing; and
    • 12 credits in level 2 science subjects; and
  • Having a minimum of 14 credits at level 1 or higher in Mathematics or Pangarau on the National Qualifications Framework; and
  • Having a minimum of 21 credits at level 3 (with a minimum of seven credits in at least three subject areas), or equivalent; and
  • Providing evidence of support from their school.

 Special admission (for applicants aged 20 and over)

Applicants who do not meet the general admission requirements and who are at least 20 years of age when the programme begins may be considered for special admission if they can provide evidence of aptitude or appropriate work or other experience.

English language

Applicants must:

  • Have a minimum of eight NCEA credits in English at level 2, of which four must be in Reading and four in Writing, or equivalent; or
  • Have a minimum of seven NCEA credits at level 3 in an English-rich subject, or equivalent; or
  • Have successfully completed studies at level 5 or higher in an English medium; or
  • Have a grade of 5 or better in New Zealand Sixth Form Certificate English, or equivalent; or
  • Have gained New Zealand University Bursaries in an English-rich subject with a minimum mark of 40 percent, or equivalent; or
  • Have an overall IELTS band score (Academic) of no less than 6.5 (with no band score lower than 6.5), or a TOEFL score of no less than 575, or equivalent; or
  • Have an appropriate Unitec English language qualification, such as the Diploma in English (Academic), or equivalent.

Note: New Zealand secondary school graduates who have English as an additional language (EAL) using NCEA to meet Unitec programmes general admission criteria may substitute the eight credits in English at NCEA level 2 (four in Reading and four in Writing) with an IELTS score (or equivalent). This IELTS score is the same as that required by the programme in which they wish to enrol. These students are still required to achieve a minimum of 42 NCEA credits at level 3 or higher and the Mathematics or Pangarau requirements.

 

 



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