Bachelor's Programme in Nursing Programme description

The Bachelor’s Programme in Nursing is a three-year programme of professional study (180 credits). Students who complete the programme are awarded a bachelor’s degree in Nursing (Bachelor of Nursing). The bachelor’s degree forms the basis for authorisation as a general nurse in accordance with the Act relating to Health Personnel.

The aim of nursing is to promote health, prevent, treat and help patients to cope with disease, and to ease suffering. Nursing is based on humanistic values and is both a field of knowledge and a profession. Nursing includes knowledge of physical, psychological, social and existential aspects of the human being. OsloMet has Norway's biggest research environment in nursing. Research on the patients’ experiences and reactions to disease and suffering is a main focus, along with measures to support the patients to lead a healthy life and cope with disease. Patient safety is a key area of the programme.

The nursing programme's knowledge base comprises nursing science, natural science, social sciences and the humanities. The programme is based on a holistic view of human beings with humanistic values. The requirement of the individual practitioner after graduating is to act professionally and ethically responsibly. Throughout the course of study, the students will gain experience with patients in the specialist health service, in municipalities and city districts. OsloMet cooperates with the country's most competent treatment environments and our main cooperation partners are Oslo University Hospital, Akershus University Hospital, the City of Oslo and the municipalities of Romerike.

Nurses encounter people of all ages, with different conditions, injuries and functional ability. In big cities and in the surrounding areas, the population consists of people from multiple ethnic origins and cultural backgrounds. During the study programme, the students will encounter this diversity and learn to provide healthcare in accordance with the patient’s cultural and linguistic background. The nursing profession consists of nursing and medical procedures, care and empathy, health counselling and information work, as well as facilitation in a health promoting environment. Nurses work with individuals and groups and at the intersectoral system level.

Person centered nursing is practised via knowledge-based processes involving reasoning, which include mapping, assessment, decision-making and evaluation. The professional group contributes to interprofessional cooperation and has part of the responsibility for ensuring that habilitation and rehabilitation processes maintain the user’s need for coordinated and cohesive services.

The programme description for the study is based on the national regulations relating to a common curriculum for health and social care education adopted by the Ministry of Education and Research, and the regulations relating to the national guidelines for nursing education adopted by the Ministry of Education and Research on the basis of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges and the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

Relevance to working life

The bachelor’s degree in nursing qualifies students for work in all parts of the health services: hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, home nursing services, preventive health work, the occupational health service, offshore, the ambulance service and international aid organisations. The programme is also relevant for positions in the business sector.

Relevance to further studies

The bachelor’s programme qualifies students to take master’s degree programmes.

The target group for the programme is people who wish to work with health promoting measures and people who are or could suffer from illness or failing health. As a nurse, you will also meet people in the final stages of life.

The admission requirements are, in accordance with the Regulations concerning Admission to Higher Education, the Higher Education Entrance Qualification or prior learning and work experience (must be over 25 years of age and not have general study competence. A minimum of 5 years of full-time professional experience in the health, care or social sector or equivalent must be documented. In practice, one must have worked with patients or clients).

Students must submit a transcript of police records at the start of the programme.

The use of clothing that covers the face is incompatible with taking the programme's theoretical and practical training courses. During the programme's periods of clinical training, the students must always comply with the clothing regulations in force at the institution where their practical training is taking place.

After completing the bachelor's programme in nursing, the student is expected to have achieved the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate

• has knowledge of the history of nursing, its academic basis, scientific traditions, singularity and role in society nationally and internationally
• has broad knowledge of key concepts, theories and models in nursing, disease processes and legislation relevant to the nursing discipline
• has broad knowledge of aspects of nursing relating to health promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and alleviation
• has broad knowledge of communication and building relations and is able to communicate professionally with different individuals and based on the circumstances in each situation
• has knowledge of the health service as a system, of the organisation of services at different levels and of planning, management and coordination in relation to individual patients and groups
• has knowledge of global health challenges, cultural diversity and social inequality, which is of relevance to professional practice nationally and internationally

Skills

The candidate is capable of

• identifying and analysing professional and ethical questions at the social, group and individual levels in a reflected and critical manner
• critically evaluating and integrating information from different knowledge sources, and making clinical decisions based on evidence-based assessments and priorities
• practising responsible nursing and person centered care adapted to the individual’s needs and ensuring the patient’s co-determination in choices that concern health and treatment
• acquiring new knowledge, giving and receiving supervisions, adjusting own professional practice, taking a critical approach to academic texts from different sources and using sources correctly
• working independently and contributing to interprofessional and intersectoral cooperation to ensure a holistic course of treatment

General competence

The candidate

• has insight into the principles of prioritisation in the health services and can meet society’s requirements for responsible and caring nursing in a lifetime perspective, contributing to patient safety, quality and trust in the health services
• is capable of planning and providing peron centred supervision, counselling and teaching to patients, next-of-kin and health personnel
• has insight into service development, innovation and creativity, and how technology can influence how services are provided
• is capable of reflecting on own professional development and discussing professional aspects of nursing with colleagues
• is capable of planning and carrying out projects in cooperation with others, contributing in a constructive manner in groups and disseminating subject matter via different forms of expression

OsloMet focuses on having a good and developing learning environment that students can thrive in. The work and teaching methods have been developed on the basis of a socio-cultural view of learning, where the overriding principle is to make use of your own thoughts, knowledge and experience. The student's own efforts, individually, or together with others, are decisive for good learning outcomes. Students are expected to prepare ahead of organised teaching activities. Varied work methods are used both in theoretical subjects and in practical training and these can be carried out physically on campuses or on digital platforms. In some contexts, teaching activities only take place on one campus, and students must expect to travel to the relevant location.

The programme also prepares students for the labour market’s requirement of lifelong learning. Students are therefore expected to take ownership of their own learning process throughout the study programme, and will learn to both ‘become a nurse’ and ‘learn how to learn’. Students are also expected to contribute to creating a good learning environment for their fellow students through active participation in the different teaching activities.

Self-study and student cooperation

The attainment of the learning outcomes requires a high degree of self-study. Self-study entails both individual work and cooperation with fellow students, and it entails awareness of how you best learn. Students are recommended to take the initiative to form study groups.

Group work

Group work means working with other students. In the groups, students will discuss each other’s contributions and share knowledge and perspectives. They will gain experience of cooperation and of assessing, developing and disseminating relevant literature. The students will give and receive feedback from others.

Digital learning resources

Digital learning resources are for instance instance OsloMetX https://www.oslomet.no/ub/oslometx, or video clips, podcasts, games, academic texts, articles and interactive assignments used as part of the learning methods. Digital co-writing tools are used in some courses for the purpose of sharing knowledge and producing texts together. Digital self-corrected tests (quizzes) provide an opportunity for the students to practice and test their knowledge of the course content. Students receive an immediate response, which can serve as a basis for their continued learning.

Simulation and skills training (SF-unit)

Simulation and skills training gives the students the opportunity to learn everything from simple practical skills to making assessments in complex patient situations. Simulation and skills training will be a recurring part of the study programme and often taken place in simulation and skills training units (SF-unit) on campus. Reflection before, during and after actions will be emphasised. Some simulations may be filmed. Videos will always be deleted directly after the teaching session unless consent has been given to keep the videos.

Skills training in the programme will not be divided by gender.

Lectures

Lectures are used either to gain an overview of the course’s content or to delve into a specific topic. Lectures are used particularly when introducing new subject matter.

The flipped classroom

The flipped classroom is when the roles of lecturer and students are reversed, and students work with digital learning resources before attending class. Students work on problem-solving activities during teaching sessions, often in the form of group work or seminars.

Seminar/workshop

Students practice formulating an argument, expressing own opinions and reflecting on own attitudes and actions, in addition to presenting and discussing subject matter and assessing other people’s academic presentations.

Project work

Students study a topic relevant to the programme in depth, and develop skills in the systematic use of methods, including theoretical basis, data collection, analysis, discussion, written formulation and verbal communication.

Interprofessional cooperative learning (TPS)

Interprofessional cooperative learning comprises all ways of working where students participate in

teaching sessions with students from other programmes, or carry out educational activities in a practical training establishment that entail cooperation with professionals from other fields. Interprofessional cooperative learning can be arranged at the university, in the practical training establishment and through digital cooperation (webinars) with students in other countries.

Student BEST – Better and systematic team training

Student BEST is a teaching programme under a cooperation between the nursing-, radiography-, biomedical laboratory sciences and paramedic science programme, specialisation in anaesthesia (master programme) at OsloMet and the medicine programme at the University of Oslo. The learning programme builds on simulation in teams and is used as a training method in the admission and stabilising of trauma patients. The main focus is communication and cooperation in interprofessional groups. The teaching takes place at the SF-units at OsloMet.

Passing a professional examination is one of the conditions for obtaining authorization as a nurse. The Directorate of Health has on 05.06.2019 decided that you who complete the education at OsloMet fulfill this additional requirement through SKOMP3000.

The program contains all additional requirements that are required for authorization as a nurse. https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2016-12-19-1732

However, you must apply to the Directorate of Health for authorization as a nurse after completing your education.

Passed course SKOMP1000 and SKOMPPRA1.

Based on learning outcomes from the other courses in the education, with a strong focus on areas that are important for patient safety and general competence from the main areas 2 and 3 from the framework plan for nursing education of 2008. In particular:

Knowledge:

The student has basic knowledge and skills in acting

• meeting with the critically ill patient

• meeting with the surgical patient (pre-, per- and post-operative)

• meeting with the medical patient

• meeting with the elderly frail patient

Different forms of assessment are used on the programme that are adapted to the learning outcomes of the various courses. The forms of assessment used are intended to support learning and document that the students’ competence is adequate in relation to the applicable learning outcomes. During the programme, the students will be given advice, supervision and assessments of their performance. It is important and necessary to assess students’ knowledge and skills often, so that the students receive feedback on whether their performance is in line with the programme's requirements and whether they have achieved the learning outcomes.

The assessment of exams and practical training is carried out in accordance with the applicable rules set out in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, and the Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.

All courses taken will be stated on the diploma. In addition, the compulsory interdisciplinary teaching programs are highlighted on the diploma.

Assessment

The grades used are pass/fail or a grade scale with letter grades from A to F, where A is the highest grade, E is the lowest pass grade and F is a fail. Other teaching programs can be graded Approved-not approved. In connection with group exams, all students in the group are awarded the same grade.

Resits/rescheduled exams

Resit and rescheduled exams are carried out in the same manner as the ordinary exam unless otherwise specified in the course description. In special cases, resit and rescheduled exams in courses with group exams may be held as individual exams.

Appeals against grades

Grades awarded for written exams can be appealed. It is not possible to appeal the grades awarded for oral and practical exams. In connection with group exams, the result of an appeal will only have consequences for the candidate(s) who submitted the appeal. The other students will keep their original grade.

Assessment of practical training

Practical training is assessed as pass or fail and is assessed by the practical training supervisors in cooperation with the contact lecturer at the university. The final decision on whether to award a pass or fail grade is made by the university.

The assessment takes its point of departure in given criteria based on learning outcomes for the course, assessment criteria, the continuous assessment, the suitability assessment, and compulsory activities carried throughout the entire course. During the practical training period, a minimum of 90 percent attendance is required to pass the the practical training.

• Less than 10% absence: The student can complete the practical training course as normal.
• Between 10–20% absence: If possible, the student can make up for the practical training missed. This must be agreed with the practical training supervisor and the supervisor at the university.
• More than 20% absence: The student must retake the whole clinical training course.

If the student exceeds the maximum limit for absence and does not have a valid dokumented absence, the practical course will be registered as failed and count as an attempt.

If the student has failed the practical training twice, he/she must normally leave the programme. Reference is also made to the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet.

One or more of these criteria is the basis for the grade Failed in practical training in bachelor's Programme in Nursing at OsloMet:

The student:

• has not complied with the attendance requirement
• has been absent from practice without a valid reason and without giving notice
• have not achieved the required learning outcomes for the practical training period
• have not completed compulsory activities or handed in written assignments that are stipulated in the assessment form for the practical training period
• has put the patient's life and health at risk by going beyond the limits of their own competence
• has not requested guidance, followed guidance, or shown a willingness and ability to acquire missing knowledge or competence
• shows lack of self-insight
• shows a lack of language and/or communication skills

Suitability assessment

The suitability assessment is a continuous overall assessment that takes place throughout the study programme. Diplomas for the completed programme will only be awarded to graduates who are suited to practise the profession. If the student shows signs of posing a threat to patients’ and/or colleagues' physical and mental health, rights and safety, questions should be raised about whether the person is fit to practice the profession. Staff from the university or the practical training establishment and fellow students can submit a notification of reasonable doubt. Students must be informed as early as possible that the notification has been submitted. They will be given supervision and advice on how to improve, or be advised to leave the programme.

The aim is to assess whether the students have the professional and personal preconditions required to work as a nurse. More detailed provisions about the assessment of suitability can be found here https://student.oslomet.no/en/suitability-assessment

Transfer discussion If a student or subject teacher/contact teacher reports a need for a transfer discussion, an interview can be called before the next course. In some cases, the head of studies and a representative of the Section for Academic Affairs may also attend.

The purpose of the transfer discussion is to clarify how the student can implement their learning outcomes in the best possible way in the next course, by facilitating various learning challenges and guidance needs.

Test - Practical Skills in Nursing, consisting of:

• Multiple Choice 2 hours. 40 questions 60% right for passing
• Practical test (modified OSCE test), related to surgical, medical and geriatric patient care, as well as emergency medicine. Implemented station-based.

If one part of the test fails, both parts must be retaken.

The tests set up late in the spring semester.