The Open University and the Royal College of Nursing have joined forces to encourage greater participation in education and training. Between us, we offer a wider range of courses and support in healthcare which could make a difference to your life, your career and the people you care for.

As a Healthcare Assistant or Healthcare Support Worker, the OU offers you a range of learning opportunities from short introductory courses Understanding health (Y178) to diplomas and postgraduate degrees.

Courses starting starting soon that you might be interested in are as follows:

An Introduction to Health and Social care (K101)
Real-life case studies explore the experience of receiving care and working in care services. If you are already working in care you can also choose to integrate an NVQ level 3 Health and Social Care award with your study.

Introducing health sciences: a case study approach (SDK125)
This course explores the scientific and social aspects of disease and disability in a global context through seven case studies.

Pre-registration Nursing Programme
Our pre-registration nursing programme is a groundbreaking, flexible, work-based supported Open Learning route to registration with the Nursing & Midwifery council (NMC) and the Diploma of Higher Education in either adult or mental health nursing. We work in partnership with employers to support HCAs to remain in work while taking on study and practice part time towards nurse registration.

For more information on our nursing programme, take a look at our video

Other courses that you might be interested in...
Diabetes care (SK120)
Understanding cardiovascular diseases (SK121) Challenging obesity (SDK122)
Understanding the autism spectrum (SK124)
Understanding cancers (SK123).

These courses could be counted towards a Foundation Degree in Health Sciences (G12).

For further information call us on +44 (0)845 366 6090 to speak to an adviser or email us general-enquiries@open.ac.uk