A British university that is a leader in healthcare is opening up career prospects for nurses in India by offering them a chance to gain a new type of UK qualification.

In addition, this month the University of Worcester is in India to offer a Continuing Professional Development training session for practising nurses.  Staff from the University will be in Delhi today Tuesday 6th March and in Chennai on Monday 12th March hosting the one day training sessions, for more details please contact Chris Taylor, Senior
International Officer c.taylor@worc.ac.uk .

Nursing is set to become a graduate-only profession in Britain, in one of the biggest shake-ups to nursing education that the country has seen.

The controversial move has been backed by professional bodies in the UK health service that say it will improve the status of nurses who now take on clinical work once performed by doctors.

In response, British universities are developing a range of different degree and masters level courses.  Diploma qualified Indian nurses will be able to complete the course in a year of full-time study, and graduate with the highly regarded BSc (Hons) in Nursing Studies. If they want to work in the UK, they will then be able to enroll on the Overseas Nurses
Programme from September 2012.

Degree qualified Indian nurses will be able to complete either an MSc Nursing Studies or an MSc Healthcare Leadership and Management. The MSc Nursing Studies will also enable nurses to enroll on the Overseas Nurses Programme.

The University of Worcester, based in an historic cathedral city to the west of Oxford and near the border between England and Wales, is a leading innovator in health and social care.  In February 2012 it received the highest possible grade in the annual monitoring review carried out by UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). In September 2011, was rated the 7th best university in the UK to study nursing by the Sunday Times Good
University Guide.

In Britain, nurses are no longer seen as just doctors' assistants, says Ruth Pearce, head of continuing professional development in the University of Worcester's Institute of Health and Society.

"Nurses are leading clinical teams and thinking about themselves as the leaders of care.  As nursing increasingly becomes a graduate entry profession, a UK based degree will give recognition to the status of nurses and boost their career prospects," she says.

The BSc (Hons) top up course and the MSc in Nursing will include theory and simulated clinical practice.  Students will not be qualified to work as nurses in Britain while they study, but may be able to find part time work in care homes.

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