Undergraduate · Nursing & Health Sciences
Bachelor of Nursing
Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
About this program
Eight hundred hours of clinical placement is the number that defines this degree - it's the minimum required for graduates to register as a nurse, and Flinders builds it in across hospitals, community health centres and specialised care units rather than front-loading or back-loading it into one block. The university guarantees placements within South Australia, which removes one of the bigger logistical headaches nursing students elsewhere sometimes face.
An online delivery option exists alongside the standard on-campus version, structured around 40-hour placement weeks and compulsory on-campus intensives at the City or Bedford Park campus for the skills components that can't be done remotely - simulated clinical scenarios, practical assessment, that kind of thing. That hybrid model has become more common in nursing education generally, but Flinders' version is fairly explicit about which parts stay in-person.
Registration as a nurse in Australia runs through the Nursing and Midwifery Board, and the degree is built to satisfy that board's accreditation standard rather than being a general health science degree with a nursing label - the placement hours and clinical competency assessments are non-negotiable structural features, not optional enrichment.
Cost & duration
English test scores
Course structure
5 terms of coursework
- Year 1: foundations of nursing practice, anatomy and physiology, health assessment, introductory clinical placement block
- Year 2: medical-surgical nursing, mental health nursing, pharmacology, clinical placements in hospital and community settings
- Year 3: complex care nursing, aged care and chronic disease management, final clinical placement blocks
- Total clinical placement across the degree: 800 hours minimum, guaranteed within South Australia
- Online delivery option available with compulsory on-campus intensives at City or Bedford Park campus
Admissions
Completion of Year 12 or equivalent, plus health/immunisation checks and (for clinical placements) police check (approximate, typical bar)