Bachelor's Degree in Nursing

As a nurse your job is to support the overall health of people and their families. The most important areas of expertise in a nurse's job include support for health and functional ability, prevention and treatment of illnesses and disabilities, support for recovery and rehabilitation and alleviation of suffering. As an expert in nursing, you will monitor the patient’s condition, administer medication, coordinate the overall treatment and provide guidance for patients and their family members. Encounters with customers and good social skills are also important areas of a nurse’s work.

What is it like to study nursing?

The nursing programme taught in English includes a lot of contact teaching and face-to-face instruction. The student groups are multicultural and international, and the ideas of good health vary greatly between cultures.  One of the benefits of contact teaching is the opportunity to discuss the definitions of health, illness and family with others and reach a common understanding.

In the nursing programme taught in English, the core competence studies are also taught in English. As for complementary studies, it is your choice whether you want to study in Finnish or English. You will study the skills required of a nurse in various theory lessons, workshops and simulation exercises. In addition, the studies include 60 credits' worth of work placements in authentic nursing environments, such as hospital wards or health centres.

In your work as a nurse, you will meet people representing different cultures and backgrounds. Therefore, it is important to possess international and multicultural knowledge, regardless of whether you will be based in Finland or abroad. Therefore, studying in a multicultural learning environment and improving your language skills during your studies will be very useful for your career. You may also go abroad on an exchange programme or work placement.

The strengths of the programme

Entrepreneurship and innovation are strongly present throughout your studies. Each academic year, nursing students carry out projects in authentic environments. All courses on clinical nursing include theory lessons, workshops and simulation exercises. Nursing skills (such as taking the blood pressure or administering injections) are practised in simulation at first. After learning the practical skills, you advance to problem-solving situations. You will consider different scenarios and actions for different nursing situations, patients and illnesses. After this, you will deepen your knowledge and problem-solving skills in work placements in different nursing environments.

The Finnish language will be strongly supported throughout your studies. The programme includes Finnish studies, particularly focusing on nursing-related vocabulary. All students whose first language is not Finnish will take a preliminary Finnish proficiency test, on the basis of which they will be offered different courses for learning Finnish. Laurea teachers have a good proficiency in English.

Basic information

• Degree programme: Bachelor's Degree Programme in Nursing
• Degree title: Bachelor of Health Care
• Duration of studies: 210 cr, 3,5 years

Core Competence 

• Theoretical education 90 ​ECTS
• Clinical education 90 ECTS

Complementary competence

• Complementary education 30 ECTS
• Deepening of knowledge in the selected area for example acute care, medical care, mental health care, social- and health services and safety

Employment opportunities

Nurses graduating from Laurea have excellent employment opportunities in a wide range of jobs. According to your personal interest, you may be employed in an inpatient ward, an operating theatre, surgical ward, home care services, a paediatric ward or a psychiatric hospital.

You will develop networks with workplaces already during your studies.
Nurses often find a summer job already after their first work placement. The work placement is usually in elderly care, so many nurses are employed as substitute practical nurses for the summer. After earning 140 credits, you can also start working as a substitute nurse.

Pathway studies 

Pathway studies are organized for international tailor-made study groups. These mandatory preparatory social- and healthcare studies consist of Finnish language studies, healthcare environment studies and about studying and living in Finland. The aim of the studies is to prepare students to study nursing degree in Laurea University of Applied Sciences.

Pathway studies are for international tailor-made study groups only. 

Eligibility requirements for Separate ap­pli­ca­tion Bachelor's degree

• foreign education that in the country in question provides eligibility to apply to studies in higher education institutions. 
• an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree 
• a European Baccalaureate (EB) degree 
• Bachelor degree in all countries 
• Master degree in all countries 
• a Reifeprüfung (RP) or Deutsche Internationale Abitur (DIA) degree 
• a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification with a scope of 120 credits or 180 competence points or an equivalent prior Finnish vocational qualification with a scope of a minimum of 80 credits
• a Finnish post-secondary level degree or a vocational tertiary level degree
• a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification, further vocational qualification or specialist vocational qualification or an equivalent prior qualification completed in the form of a competence demonstration
• a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, postgraduate licentiate and doctoral degrees. 

If the language of the degree certificate is not Finnish, Swedish, or English, the applicant must also submit a copy of a translation of the degree certificate, prepared by an official translator. The translation should carry the translator’s name and stamp. 

Student admission 

A student may be admitted to degree-awarding education only after they have completed the preparatory/pathway studies. Before the preparatory/pathway studies the entrance examinations are held and the student’s eligibility to apply will be verified from the students’ degree certificates. Before being admitted to degree-awarding education, the student must pass all study units included in the preparatory studies (English language B2, Finnish language A 2.1., other study units). 

Fact sheet about Laurea in Chinese

Read more about experiences from Chinese students

See all tailored BA degree programmes

For more information, please contact by e-mail at education.export@laurea.fi