Bachelor of Nursing (Honours) - prior to 31 December 2019

Admission requirements

A student who has completed all the requirements of the Bachelor of Nursing degree, or a qualification which the Dean (Education) agrees is equivalent, may be accepted as a candidate for the honours degree providing a credit average or better has been achieved in fulfilling the requirements for the bachelors degree.

Course aims

The Bachelor of Nursing aims to:

provide an opportunity for nurses to develop an understanding of research and the skills necessary to conduct a study in an area of the student's interest, with the assistance of one or more supervisors
prepare successful graduates for higher degree research studies and/or research in the clinical setting. (Admission to a higher degree research program is usually restricted to applicants with an Honours Class 1 or 2A degree or equivalent.).

Learning outcomes

At the completion of the course students will be expected to be able to:

pose and refine worthwhile research questions in Nursing in an appropriate timeframe
design and use research; including performing literature searches, critically reviewing relevant literature, developing a logical research proposal, discerning the ethical considerations in research, applying ethical principles to the conduct of research
analyse and transmit solutions to complex research problems; for example, choose between a range of research methodologies and methods and provide a rationale for their choice, develop and effectively argue an understanding of one methodology for their thesis
transmit knowledge, skills and ideas to others through collection and analysis of data, presentation of findings, defence of conclusions and construction of a thesis.

Program of study

To qualify for the honours degree, a student must complete 36 units of study within one year full-time or two years part-time.

The award of a grade of Fail (F) in the same topic on more than one occasion, or failure to complete the course within three consecutive years, may constitute prima facie evidence of unsatisfactory progress for the purpose of the University’s Policy on Student Progress.

Except with permission of the Dean (Education):

no topic may be attempted more than twice
the program must be completed within three years from commencement.

Core topics

18 units comprising:

NURS9218 Approaches to Research Designs (4.5 units)
NURS9219 Introduction to Research (4.5 units)
NURS9220 Developing a Literature Review (4.5 units)
NURS9221 Writing Research Proposals for Ethical and Funding Requirements (4.5 units)

plus 18 units from the following topics:

NURS7000  Honours Thesis (18 units)
NURS7000A  Honours Thesis (9 units)
NURS7000B  Honours Thesis (9 units)

Arrangements have been made to enable selected students to undertake the course in conjunction with the graduate nurse programs offered by participating teaching hospitals.

Every effort has been made to ensure the information published on the Course Rule pages is accurate at the time of publication. Flinders University reserves the right to amend its curriculum without prior notice, and will update the Course Rules to reflect any amendments at the earliest opportunity.