University of Southampton showcases its curriculum for nursing to Health Education England
On the 3rd March Sir Keith Pearson, Chair of Health Education England; along with Jacqueline Swift DL, Chair, and Ruth Monger, Director for Health Education Wessex; visited the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences to meet students and find out about the Faculty’s validation processes.
For the first part of their visit, the guests were greeted by the Faculty’s Dean, Dame Jessica Corner, and were invited to view work undertaken by Health Sciences’ postgraduate students in clinical academic roles.
The guests then participated in two focus groups; the first with clinically focused professionals and a second focus group with students on the Faculty’s Bachelor of Nursing programme.
The aim of these focus groups was to gather personal responses to inform the Faculty’s process for validating a new curriculum for its Bachelor of Nursing and Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing programmes.
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dame Jessica Corner, said: “To maintain and enhance our reputation as one of the UK’s leading providers of nurse education, it is essential that we listen to the many stakeholders in our programmes and, in particular, our current undergraduates who will be entering nursing practice in a wide range of roles.
“Events such as this are essential in helping to ensure our validation processes remain thorough, and to showcase the fantastic programmes we have.”
Following this, the guests were taken to Southampton General Hospital, where they were greeted by University Hospital Southampton NHS FT representatives Fiona Dalton, CEO; Judy Gillow, Director of Nursing and Organisational Development; and Rosemary Chable, Associate Director of Nursing; before meeting nursing students currently on placement there.
“The NHS commissions over 500 pre-registration nursing degree places from the University every year. This visit was a wonderful opportunity to hear first-hand from students about their experiences of the programme,” said Ruth Monger, Director, Health Education Wessex.
Emy Van Der Harg, a Bachelor of Nursing student in her fourth year said: “I felt honoured to meet the guests, and I was really happy to talk about my placement and contribute positively to the focus group. My work placement has been a fantastic experience so far and I am incredibly proud to be a Bachelor of Nursing student here.”