Nursing
What’s on offer for postgraduates?
The nursing field is still growing at postgraduate level. The overwhelming majority of postgraduate coursework programs are designed for nursing professionals with prior qualifications and experience who want to upgrade their qualifications and/or enter new specialisations. Postgraduate ‘conversion’ programs designed for students from other fields are not as common.
As nursing education has moved from on-the-job training into the higher education sector, course quality has improved. Even so, particular care is required when choosing a program.
You should not only be looking at the quality of the program but also its relevance to your nursing career. Make sure that any program you are considering is going to meet your needs; this means checking the outline to get an idea of the subject matter and the combination of practical and theoretical elements.
A small number of nursing postgraduate students are engaged in research programs, many of them nurse educators. In this field as in others you are likely to be better off looking at departments/schools which have an established and sizeable research program and perhaps also a strong connection with the nursing profession if you are interested in applied research.
The experience and rewards
Visit the University Ratings section for nursing course ratings or to see how nursing rates in the Fields of Study Compared table.
According to the national Course Experience Questionnaire survey, postgraduate nurses don’t look as favourably on their experience as students in other fields. Although job prospects for graduates are about average, salaries are below those in other fields.
For more information
Depending on your particular bent you may find specialisations of interest in rehabilitation, health services and support, and perhaps even in fields as diverse as education and training or social work.
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