Study Guide

Description

The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health authorises Bachelors of Health Care degrees according to the Act on Health Care Professionals (559/1994). The degree is comparable to equivalent degrees in other EU countries.

The core values of the Degree Programme in Nursing and Health Care include respect for individuals, human dignity, confidentiality, responsibility and high-quality professional conduct.

Learning in nursing is not only a reflective, critical and ethical evaluation of previously adopted knowledge and activities but also the realisation of new knowledge and the shaping of one's own attitudes. The starting point for learning is the multilevel reality and the different ways of knowing.

Nurses' professional expertise is defined both nationally and at a European level and consists of expertise that includes professionalism and ethics; client orientation; multi-professionalism; health promotion; leadership; administration; information management; guidance and teaching skills, as well as support for self-care; clinical nursing; evidence-based practice; utilisation of research and decision-making; entrepreneurship and development; quality assurance; social and healthcare service systems; and patient and client safety. The nurse's professional competence is based on evidence-based practice, nursing science, and other disciplines that support nursing, such as medicine and the social and behavioral sciences.

A nurse supports people in promoting and maintaining health and well-being, and cares for the sick person in a holistic way. A nurse is an expert who carries out and develops nursing care independently and in multi-professional cooperation. A nurse works in various health care environments, in social care, and in private and third sector services.

Nursing competence is built in depth and the studies are structured in three phases. After the first semester, the student nurse knows the basics of caring for a sick person. A student nurse is able to apply in his/her own activities the health care legislation and ethical guidelines of nursing. The student is able to identify and anticipate individual and community health problems. The student can observe the basic vital functions of a person and is able to identify the patient's nursing needs and use safe nursing intervention methods. The student has mastered medical calculations and is able to safely carry out medication therapy. The student is able to take into account the importance of different cultures in nursing.

During semesters two–five, the student develops his/her clinical competence in different areas of nursing. The student is able to estimate the nursing needs of patients/clients of different ages and is able to plan, implement and evaluate nursing in cooperation with the patients/clients and their significant others. The student utilises different multidisciplinary knowledge as the basis for his/her work. The student is able to guide and support patients/clients in self-care. The student can represent the nursing component in a multi-professional collaboration for the benefit of the patient/client. The student knows how to evaluate his/her own work critically.

In semesters six and seven in the elective professional studies, the student’s competence will be strengthened and deepened. The student is able to make ethically sound decisions based on evidence and act professionally as a nurse. The student is able to meet the nursing needs of families and patients of different ages in his/her own nursing area. The student can act as a primary nurse to patients and their families throughout the nursing process according to the principles of primary nursing. The student is able to develop nursing and his/her conduct responsibly. The student deepens his/her knowledge in a specific nursing area through the bachelor’s thesis.

The Degree Programme in Nursing and Health Care can be completed either wholly in Finnish or, optionally, partially in English. The Programme includes 75 credits of clinical training to enhance professional skills.

Progress of studies

The student’s competence in nursing expands and deepens throughout the studies. Completing the programme involves the following principles:

Fifty credits must be completed in the first and second semester before proceeding to the third semester; these 50 credits must include pharmacotherapy and medication calculation. The first-year supervised orientations to clinical training and pharmacotherapy and medical calculations are to be completed before proceeding to the first clinical training.

By the start of the elective professional studies, the student must have completed at least 135 credits, including the basic level courses in the area of the chosen professional studies. These courses need to include anatomy and physiology, the theoretical studies and supervised orientation to clinical training in the area which the student has chosen for his/her optional professional studies, and at least four courses of supervised practical training.

When choosing placements for nursing practical training 1-5, the assignment of internships in different areas of nursing will be taken into account. The internships are carried out with patients of different ages in primary health care, specialized medical care, on wards and in open health care, promoting the development of the student’s competence in somatic and mental health and substance abuse care.

Internationalisation
Students have the opportunity to deepen their international competence up to 20-30 credits. The studies may consist of English-language theoretical studies in Finland, international student or trainee exchange or other international studies.

Curriculum development and working life cooperation

The curriculum was considered by the Advisory Board for Nursing Education on 13.3.2019 and approved on 5.4.2019 by the Higher Education Council.

Finnish health policies, future challenges, and the TAMK strategy have all been considered in the curriculum. national definition of nursing professional competence, the competence classifications of Rectors' Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, the common competences of universities of Tampere / Tampere universities and the national framework (NQF) of the degrees.

The various reports on the development of the social and health care sector have been taken into account in the curriculum, among others the know-how about project reports in Ministry of Education and Culture. The nursing education meets the requirements of the European Union Directive (2013/55 / EU) for the recognition of professional qualifications.

Finnish health policies, future challenges, and the TAMK strategy have all been considered in establishing the curriculum. In addition the Act (559/1994) and Decree (564/1994) on Health Care Professionals, the national definition of nursing professional competence, the competence classifications of the Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences Rectors Conference, the common competences of Tampere’s higher education community and the national framework (NQF) of degrees have all been taken into consideration.

In the development of the curriculum, various reports on the development of the social and health care sector have been taken into account, including competence project reports at the Ministry of Education and Culture. The nursing education set forth in this curriculum meets the requirements of the European Union Directive (2013/55 / EU) for the recognition of professional qualifications.