Nursing: Nursing

Descriptions

The curriculum offers students a learning path which enables a flexible study process including a provision of multidisciplinary studies from other degree programmes or a variety of general studies available for all students at Helsinki Metropolia UAS. The curriculum also serves as a source of information for the working environment and our international partners.
The provision of studies consists of study units providing a minimum of 5 ECTS credits. Of the studies, 50 ECTS are open for all degree programmes and the rest are included in the provision of individual degree programmes. The multidisciplinary approach to learning is also embraced by offering students the possibility of choosing a multidisciplinary, elective study module of 15 ECTS comprising one or more multi-field modules as well. The provision of studies enables students to complete 30 ECTS in the term.
As a starting point for learning, the focus is on situations and problems arising from professional practices, and the learning process aims to find evidence-based solutions for them. Project work including development work and projects of the student’s field of study is employed as the main learning method. Various learning environments supporting learning are used to deepen and develop competence, for example in the learning environments of pharmacotherapy, health promotion and simulation. As for the learning environments of independent study, they offer students the opportunity to practise clinical skills. The teaching methods have been diversified by increasing the possibilities for digital learning. Throughout the learning process, students assume the responsibility for their learning. Their competence in studies is evaluated by an evaluation framework, which consists of competence areas including professional knowledge base, professional skills and actions as well as ethics, cooperation and development. Students become proficient in continuous development of their competence and further studies.
The curriculum meets the demands of degree requirements, competence and development needs of the working environment as well as the requirements for the national and international cooperation. It also reflects a student-oriented and learning- and competence-based foundation. Learning objectives convey students of the competence level required of them and help them evaluate their own learning. The objectives of competence have been determined in cooperation with representatives of both the workplace and Helsinki Metropolia UAS and therefore convey information of students’ competence levels and readiness for work tasks to the workplace. Competence-based curriculum enables student mobility within and between other UAS. In addition, it makes the recognition and credit transfer for previously acquired competence (AHOT) easier as well as enables the comparison of degrees obtained in different countries.
International studies are part of the learning path of each learner in the form of international exchange, practice placement or international studies within home institution, such as common core requirement studies in English or Finnish degree programmes or open studies in international network learning environments.

Development

The development work for the curricula of degree programme in nursing is carried out both regionally and nationally.
The description for graduating nurses’ competence (competence areas, objectives and content) has been produced as a national cooperation project including all the universities of applied sciences with degree programmes in nursing. The curricula has been done in co-operation with working life, the committee of Nursing education at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, teachers and students.
At Metropolia, the work for the curriculum in 2014-2016 has been led by ‘Learning in inspiring interaction’ team (OIVA-tiimi). The basis for this work has been making a path for the learner. To support the multidisciplinary approach, work has also been carried out at unit and degree programme levels.