University of the Highlands and Islands gains approval to take over nurse education

20th September 2016

The University of the Highlands and Islands will be taking over the pre-registration nurse education programme for BSc mental health nursing and BSc adult nursing currently delivered by the University of Stirling in Inverness and Stornoway from next year.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has given the final approval required to allow the transfer of the programmes, meaning students applying and enrolling as new students from the 2017/18 academic year will be University of the Highlands and Islands students.

Professor Crichton Lang, deputy principal of the University of the Highlands and Islands, explained: "We are delighted to have gained institutional and programme approval from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which will allow us to start recruiting students for next year. These nursing programmes will be an important part of our new School of Health, Social Care and Life Sciences which will align and develop our curriculum and research to meet the needs of the health and social care sectors in our region."

Professor Jayne Donaldson, dean of the faculty of health sciences and sport at the University of Stirling, said: "I am pleased that the transfer of the pre-registration adult and mental health nursing courses in Inverness and Stornoway is progressing and that the University of the Highlands and Islands now has full NMC course validation. It has taken a lot of work by both universities to get to this point and I fully believe that transferring these courses to the local educational institution is in the best interest for the students studying in the Highlands and Islands.

“We will continue to support the University of the Highlands and Islands, our staff and students through this transition period and look forward to working more closely with colleagues in the University of the Highlands and Islands up to, and beyond, the transfer next year."

The universities are working closely on the arrangements for the transition and have established working groups to take forward the development.

You can find out more about the BSc mental health nursing and BSc adult nursing courses by visiting www.uhi.ac.uk/nursing, calling the University of the Highlands and Islands course information line on 0845 272 3600, emailing nursing@uhi.ac.uk or by booking to attend one of the following open days:

Centre for Health Science, Inverness
11am on Saturday 1 October
5.30pm on Tuesday 1 November
11am on Saturday 7 January 2017
5.30pm on Wednesday 1 February 2017

Western Isles Hospital, Stornoway
11am to 3.30pm on Friday 18 November (hourly drop-in sessions)