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.

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

The programme has a comprehensive profile where academic content, pedagogical activities and practical studies are interconnected. The connection between the learning outcome descriptions, learning activities and forms of assessment are particularly emphasised. Work and teaching methods and the fields of study covered in the programme are organised in a way that promotes both theoretical understanding and practical action competence. The courses build on each other to ensure progress with increasing requirements for knowledge and understanding of the profession. Through critical reflection, ethical competence and professional judgement are gradually developed.

For all nursing programmes, four recurring topics are defined: ethics, patient safety, communication and cooperation and management. The topics are integrated into different courses and described with separate learning outcomes to ensure coherency, connection and progression between courses and academic years. Diversity and big-city health are also emphasised as key perspectives in all three years of the programme.

Each academic year comprises 60 credits, and the expected workload is normally 40 hours per week. This applies both for theoretical courses and during practical training. All the courses conclude with a final assessment.

Learning in groups is particularly emphasised in the study programme. The most important elements to ensure good group processes are safety, well-being, and a sense of belonging. We therefore want all students to feel a sense of belonging to their class throughout the programme. This class will be divided into smaller groups that comprise study groups.

First year of the programme

During the first year, students will receive a basic introduction to nursing as a discipline, profession, and science. Natural science courses make up an important part of the first year of study. This will provide a good basis for studying nursing observation and assessment. Diversity and the lifetime perspective are also recurring topics. The students will receive in-depth knowledge of the human being’s fundamental needs and resources.

The academic year starts with an introductory period where the students get to know their rights and duties. Study groups are established as a work method and expectations of the students' own and other people’s efforts are clarified. Through practical training in the spring semester, the students gain experience of how needs and resources change because of ageing and disease. A central topic in the spring semester is related to illness, health failure, and pharmacology, which gives you good theoretical preparation for the second year of study.

Second year of the programme

The second year of the programme focuses particularly on nursing of people with acute and critical diseases of different ages. Students will also meet patients with progressive and chronic diseases. In addition to theory, students take two long practical training periods where they study nursing of patients and next-of-kin in authentic patient situations in the health services, which can be in either specialist healthcare services or municipal healthcare services. You will be covering both medical and surgical nursing. You will be covering both medical and surgical nursing. In the spring semester, students will also gain insight into health and social perspectives, management, and organisation, in addition to health promoting and preventive health work, that prepares you for the 3rd year of study.

The spring semester is specially adapted for internationalisation at home, as some of the courses are taught in English. In this semester, we also welcome inbound exchange students.

Third year of the programme

In the third year of the programme, the students will study nursing of people with complex health challenges. A significant part of the programme takes place in the practical training field, mainly in different arenas of the municipal health service. The practical training field consists of patients and next-of-kin with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The courses look at mental health issues and complex health conditions. Management, professional development and interdisciplinary and intersectoral cooperation are key aspects. The bachelor’s thesis is an academic in-depth assignment to be written in the last semester.

Interdisciplinary teaching programmes taught jointly with other programmes at OsloMet 

INTERACT (Interprofessional Interaction with Children and Youths - INTER1100, INTER1200 and INTER1300) is an interdisciplinary teaching programme at OsloMet, where students from both the health and social care subjects and the teacher/kindergarten teacher education programmes meet in interdisciplinary groups. The aim is to ensure that the students acquire the skills needed to meet society’s demands for a better coordination of services that affect children and young people. The teaching activity builds on pedagogical principles of interactivity and spiral learning, with extensive use of digital learning and assessment tools to improve the learning outcomes. The teaching (INTER1100, INTER1200 and INTER1300) is carried out in the first teaching week each spring semester for students in the first, second and third study year.

See https://www.oslomet.no/forskning/forskningsprosjekter/interact for a more detailed description of INTERACT.

Student BEST (Better and systematic team training - SYKK3000/SYKP3000) is a teaching programme in simulation with a focus on interprofessional interaction in acute situations. The aim is better and systematic team training and involves several other professional training courses. Simulation in teams is used as a training method in receiving and stabilising trauma. The focus is communication and interaction in an interprofessional group. The teaching program is carried out during the third year of study.

Requirements for participation in interdisciplinary teaching programmes

There is a requirement for participation in the interprofessional teaching programs INTERACT (INTER1100, INTER1200, and INTER1300) and Student BEST (SYKK3000/SYKP3000), which must be approved to be awarded a diploma.

Progression requirements in the study

Progression requirements are highlighted under prior knowledge requirements in the individual courses.

The increasing globalisation of the labour market makes international experience and knowledge of languages and cultures more and more relevant for the profession. Internationalisation also provides insight into globalisation in general and contributes to improving the quality of the programme and strengthening the academic environment. Knowledge of international conditions is also important for developing knowledge in the nursing discipline.

Exchanges

Students at OsloMet are encouraged to take parts of the programme at an institution abroad. The programme has many partnersany partners abroad that might be relevant for students wanting to go on an exchange. The students can travel on exchange a maximum of 2 times during the study programme. Students can take three to six months of the programme in the fourth, fifth or sixth semester abroad.

In the 4th semester, you can travel abroad for an entire semester for both practical and theory courses at one of our partner universities. You can also travel abroad for theory courses only, after a compressed practical period in Norway. You also can travel for a 3-month public health internship to one of our internship partners. You then follow the subject SYK2900 Public Health in a Global Perspective, (link) https://student.oslomet.no/studier/-/studieinfo/emne/SYK2900/2024/H%C3%98ST

In the 5th semester you will find opportunities for exchange in practice for a whole semester.

In the 6th semester, you can go abroad for a 3-month internship before or after writing your bachelor's thesis, or a whole semester where, in addition to an internship period abroad, you write your bachelor's thesis while you are away. In the 6th semester it is mainly possible to exchange for a 3-month practice.

Criteria for student exchanges and information about stays abroad, can be found here: https://student.oslomet.no/utveksling

Internationalisation at home

The study programme boasts a multicultural student environment and focuses on cultural diversity and global issues. This approach contributes to greater understanding and improves the ability to work in a professional capacity in a diverse society. The English literature in the syllabus provides students with experience in reading academic literature and international research. An understanding of English academic literature is important to be able to actively participate in the international nursing community.

Academic staff affiliated to the study programme are part of international networks and research cooperation. Cooperation with colleagues from other countries contributes to internationalisation, for instance by inviting guest researchers and lecturers to OsloMet. This mainly takes place in the fourth semester, where the course SYKK/SYKP2200 Public Healt is carried out. In this course you study together with students who are on exchange to OsloMet and much of the teaching is arranged with English-speaking groups.

You will also be offered to participate in shorter international activities, at OsloMet or abroad. This can, for example, be in the form of COIL, BIP or international weeks in different courses.

Coursework requirements can be written work, compulsory attendance, oral presentations and tests that are set as a condition for taking the exam/assessment. The coursework requirements are carried out individually or in groups. Coursework requirements are given the assessment approved/not approved. During the practical training, there may be compulsory activities that are included in the overall assessment of the course. Reference is made to the course descriptions for further information on which coursework requirements and compulsory activities apply in the course description.

The purpose is to promote progression and professional development in the programme, stimulate seeking out and acquiring new knowledge and facilitate interaction and communication on academic issues. Coursework requirements and compulsory activities are designed for students to develop competence in line with the learning outcome descriptions in the course.

Normally, there are three attempts at coursework requirements. As far as possible, the second attempt will be given before the ordinary exam/assessment, unless otherwise stated in the course description. A third and final attempt is normally given before a resit and rescheduled exams. Coursework requirements that are not approved must be improved or retaken. The course coordinator/lecturer can assess whether alternative work can be carried out. This is agreed between the individual student/group and the course coordinator/lecturer.

Not approved coursework requirements may result in delays in the programme.

Compulsory attendance

Attendance is compulsory for teaching activities covering subject matter that the student cannot acquire on his or her own. These requirements are made more concrete and visible in the course plans. This means that there is a requirement for attendance of 80 % in theory studies and practical training in scheduled activities that are marked compulsory and 90 % during the practical training period. If the student exceeds the limit for absence, the course coordinator/lecturer will consider whether it is possible to do alternative work, such as oral or written individual assignments. The possibility of this depends on how much absence there has been and which activities the student has not participated in.

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.

The study programme 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 on 6 September 2017, and the regulations relating to the national guidelines for nursing education adopted on 15 March 2019, with amendments of 1 December 2019. Nursing education in Norway is also subject to an EU directive. The directive concerns provisions regarding approval of academic qualifications for regulated professions in the EU and EEA. The study programme is in accordance with Directive 2005/36/EC on approvals of professional qualifications, with later amendments including Directive 2013/55/EU.

Approved by the Academic Affairs Committee at the Faculty of Health Sciences, 21 November 2019

Last adjusted by the Academic Affairs Committee at the Faculty of Health Sciences 6 December 2023

and by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences 17 December 2024

Faculty of Health Sciences

Department of Nursing and Health Promotion

Year 2025