Nursing, Midwifery & Health

Northumbria's Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Health offers students the opportunity to develop caring careers that can transform the lives of patients, families and communities. We have a long-established record of delivering high quality learning and teaching, research and enterprise by experts in the field. 

We have an excellent reputation for collaboration with key partners which include the NHS, voluntary and private sectors. Northumbria University is well-established with highly rated Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) approved programmes. 

Our UG and PG Nursing Courses are ranked in the top 50 in the UK according to both The Guardian and Complete University Guides and we are ranked 8th in the UK for research power in Allied Health Professions and Nursing according to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.This is an assessment of research quality in all UK universities which rated 88% of our research outputs as being world-leading or internationally excellent and gave our research environment the highest possible rating.

We have an award-winning reputation for providing innovative, flexible and wide-ranging professional learning and development opportunities for those working in health and social care. Our staff are experts in their field; they use their diverse range of skills and experience to help develop the next generation of caring, compassionate and competent health professionals. 

Our programmes are available at Degree, Masters and Doctorate level and are aimed at developing practice, developing individuals, driving, and enabling professional and workforce development in the NHS, voluntary and independent sectors. We offer undergraduate programmes in Adult Nursing, Child Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Learning Disabilities Nursing, Nursing Science and in Midwifery Studies which lead to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. We also run a BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice degree. As part of the student journey, you will receive individual attention via a personal tutor system to enable development of your learning and you will get plenty of 'hands-on' experience with patients in a wide variety of settings. Students will also get the opportunity to work with members of the wider healthcare profession throughout their programme of education.

Through innovative, professional courses, informed by research and delivered by experienced clinical experts, students experience some of the highest standards of education available. In our pre-registration nursing programmes, students divide their time equally between on-campus learning, in the state-of-the-art Clinical Skills Centre, with the other half of their time spent on placement in NHS Trusts, voluntary agencies and the independent healthcare sector. Northumbria has strong partnership working with both NHS service providers and private healthcare organisations across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear and students will have the opportunity to be allocated to placement areas that are recognised as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.

Our programmes constantly evolve and develop to ensure they exceed the latest government and professional body requirements, and our placement areas are regularly and rigorously audited to ensure they meet the standards required by professional bodies.

Northumbria University is also one of five approved national NMC Competence Test Centres. Run in partnership with the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, our Centre provides the Observed Structured Clinical Examination for new nurses, supporting the NHS, private and third sector organisations to expand the nursing workforce in the UK.