What Nursing Placement Hours Are Really Like in the UK
When you study Nursing in the UK, a big part of your degree is not spent in a classroom. You will also spend a significant amount of time learning in real healthcare settings, including hospitals and community services.
How many placement hours do Nursing students complete?
Under the current standards, Nursing students must complete 2,300 hours of practice learning during their pre-registration degree.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council allows universities to use up to 600 of these hours for approved simulated practice learning. This means much of your training will still involve learning in real healthcare environments.
The NMC has recently consulted on reducing the overall number of Nursing programme hours, but these proposals have not replaced the current requirements yet.
What does a placement day look like?
Placement is designed to introduce you to the working life of a nurse.
Rather than attending university for a few hours, you may follow the shift patterns of the healthcare professionals you are learning from. This can mean early mornings, long days, evenings, weekends and sometimes night shifts.
The NMC specifically requires universities to ensure students experience the range of hours expected of registered nurses.
You are there to learn, not simply to work as an extra member of staff. Nursing students are required to be supernumerary during practice learning, meaning your placement should primarily be about developing your skills under appropriate supervision.
What will you actually do in hospital?
At the beginning, you may spend more time observing and learning how the ward works. As you become more confident, you can gradually practise more of the skills you have learned at university under supervision.
Depending on your course and placement, this could include communicating with patients, taking observations, supporting personal care, learning about medicines, completing assessments and working alongside nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Your placement experience will also vary. Nursing programmes are expected to give students experience across different environments so they can develop the skills needed for their chosen field, whether that is Adult, Mental Health, Children’s or Learning Disability Nursing.
Can you work while doing Nursing placement?
You can have a job while studying Nursing, but this is something you need to plan carefully.
Placement periods can be demanding because your rota may look much closer to a healthcare working week than a normal university timetable. You may therefore find it difficult to maintain the same working hours at your existing job during some placement periods.
This is why we always want students to understand that Nursing is different from many other university courses. The classroom timetable may sometimes look flexible, but Nursing also comes with compulsory practical training.
Is financial support available?
Eligible Nursing students in England may be able to receive additional financial support through the NHS Learning Support Fund.
Depending on eligibility, this can include a training grant and support with some additional travel and accommodation costs associated with placement.
How Gradulink can help you
Find the right route into Nursing
If you do not currently have the qualifications, we can help you understand whether Health and Social Care or another foundation route is suitable.
We support you with your application and help you understand the course before you commit to it.
Understand your financial options
We help eligible students understand the student finance and additional support that may be available.
Prepare properly
We make sure you understand both the classroom and placement side of Nursing so you know what to expect before starting. You can Book your free consultation today to speak with one of our expert agents to assist you.
If you’re interested in taking that first step, apply today through Gradulink and an agent will contact you to get you started.
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