About the School
The staff of this School welcomes your interest in studying Nursing here. The links with Nursing in this University go back a long way. We have recently discovered the signature of Florence Nightingale in the Visitors Book at the Magee Campus. She visited Magee College, then a Theological College, on May 31st. 1867, the year before the death of her friend Agnes Jones who lived and worked as a nurse in Derry-Londonderry. This find has come shortly after the beginning of the major developments in Nursing at the Magee Campus and reminds us of some of the key elements we wish to see in our staff and develop in our students. Florence Nightingale exemplified in many ways the roles of the expert nurses we aim to prepare: she was a practitioner, teacher and researcher.
Amongst the staff within this School we demonstrate our commitment to all of these with lecturer/practitioners based in many of the Trusts, a commitment to providing high quality courses for those at all levels of academic and professional development, and a very considerable level of research activity among our staff.
Our primary concern is to enhance the quality of patient care through Education, Research and Practice Development. The majority of staff in the School are Nurses but we also have a Public Health Group which encompasses health promotion, epidemiology, health psychology and health research.
Our quality of our teaching has been rated as ‘outstanding’ in our last HLSP monitoring visit. Similarly in the Research Assessment Exercise reported in December 2008 we have been ranked as the third place School of Nursing in the United Kingdom on the basis of the research we have undertaken. These combined achievements in producing very high quality research and education represent academic excellence that is crucially important. Research and education, properly applied, will enhance the quality of care provided by the nursing profession. For you as a potential student it is important to know that qualifications gained from this University will have high credibility and respect in the international health care arena.
In our programmes we place great emphasis on the balance between the development of the academic knowledge and intellectual skills necessary for appropriate decision-making and the clinical and professional skills for provision of high quality care. This is only possible because of the partnerships we have developed with service providers.
Through links with Colleges of Higher and Further Education and the three In-Service Education Consortia, we provide opportunities for Nurses at all levels of professional or academic standing to enhance their knowledge and skills. We hope you will take advantage of the opportunities we offer.