Studying nursing at York

Programme philosophy

The purpose of our philosophy is to highlight our values, the nature of the learning environment and the teaching and learning processes that will support the development of the York Nurse.

Our curriculum is research informed; integrating world-leading departmental and pedagogical research into a bespoke and unique nursing curriculum. Both individual and shared faculty experience underpins our nurturing approach to education where conceptual understanding is developed through active learning strategies. We believe that acquired knowledge is best developed through participation and that students must be supported through transitions as they enter, progress through and graduate from their programme of study. Our pedagogical approach supports the development of exceptional nurses in terms of practice, research, education and leadership.

Our approach to learning and teaching is embedded within the York Approach and the Department of Health Sciences, contributing towards its vision through the innovative use of creative and evidence-based learning and teaching theory. Approaches to learning and teaching are mindfully integrated into the curriculum. We believe that knowledge is constructed rather than transmitted and that knowledge construction occurs best actively and in collaborative groups. There is a strong focus on reflection on practice and simulated learning activities in addition to theoretical and scientific knowledge. Student learning and assessment is designed towards the transferrable conceptual understanding that is fundamental to nursing and the associated ways of knowing.

Students will learn in an environment where scholarship, social awareness and research are valued. Our faculty staff act as role models, having the ability and aspiration to support students from undergraduate to postgraduate and doctoral level study. Our aim is to foster independent learning by encouraging an intellectual curiosity which continues beyond graduation and registration.

Our graduates will be highly skilled nurses with the ability to provide and lead excellent care across a person’s lifespan. Nursing is a complex profession; our graduates will have scientific knowledge, deep ethical understanding and strong moral compass with patient safety and well-being as their priority. They will be reflective, critically aware, resilient professionals capable of professional growth and the initiation of improvement in practice in the context of economic, social, political and technical change.