Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing
Centria University of Applied Sciences educates qualified registered nurses who care for patients, support them and maintain rehabilitation for people of various ages. Our objective is to train nurses who can work both in Finland and in international positions around the world.
Degree: Bachelor of Health Care
Study type: Daytime studies
Duration: 3,5 years, 210 credits
Campus: Talonpojankatu 2, Kokkola
Places: 15
Application period opens: 04.01.2023
Application period closes: 18.01.2023 at 15:00
Studies start in autumn 2023
Teaching language: English
Programme description
During your nursing studies, you will learn interpersonal and interactional skills, guidance skills, decision-making skills, as well as diverse caretaking skills. Your main task as a registered nurse is to ensure clients’ health and safety, which means you need to be responsible, cautious, and accurate. Nurses’ work is usually done in multi-professional teams. The ability and skills to work independently are required in nurses’ work as well.
The nursing studies at Centria are very practical, and from the first year onwards, you get to dive deep into the different fields of nursing. Theory courses are carried out as contact teaching, online studies, and independent studies. Nurses must be familiar with different treatments and procedures, so part of the teaching happens in workshops and simulations. In simulations, you get to practice real-life care situations as part of a team or a group. We also have experts from working life visiting our lectures. Nursing studies include several practical training periods in different environments, such as hospitals and health centres. During the practical training, you get to familiarize yourself with various work assignments with the support of instructors from the workplace and your Centria teacher.
The nursing teachers at Centria University of Applied Sciences have extensive experience in different sectors of nursing. We are proud of the fact that we know our students and can give them very individual teaching. We also have modern study spaces and a diverse variety of different teaching equipment – during your studies, you get to use the same equipment that nurses use in clinical settings.
Our students come from all around Finland and the world. During your studies, you get to experience a multicultural atmosphere.
Registered Nurse (BHC)
The title Registered Nurse (BHC) may only be used and practiced by a registered nurse who has completed the degree of Bachelor of Health Care. The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) grants, upon application, the right to practice as a licenced or authorised professional and authorises the use of the occupational title of “health care professional ” according to the Act on Health Care Professionals (559/949). The degree programme fulfils the European Union’s Directive (2013/55/EC) on the requirements for recognition of professional qualification.
Finnish language studies
The nursing curriculum includes 12 credits of Finnish language studies. Theoretical studies include Finnish nursing terminology as the studies progress. In some courses, we maintain cooperation with Finnish and international groups. Finnish language skills are also developed during practical training periods.
Additional information
You can find the curriculum here.
The scope of the Bachelor’s degree programme in Nursing is 210 ECTS, and the studies last 3,5 years. Nursing studies consist of core studies, profiling studies, practical training and a bachelor’s thesis. The teaching takes place at our Talonpojankatu campus in Kokkola on weekdays.
During nursing studies, you go through the basics of health care. You learn how the human body functions and how to advance the health and capability of the patient. You will also study ethics and learn customer service skills and communication skills. You get acquainted with the operational environment of the social and health sector, patient safety in different clinical environments and research and development operations.
The studies of clinical nursing begin from the basics. During your studies, you will dive into internal medicine, pharmacology, surgical nursing and acute care. You will study the nursing of children and families, as well as mental health nursing. All the different sectors of clinical nursing will be covered during your studies.
The nurse’s work is becoming more and more international, which is why in addition to occupational skills, language and communication skills are emphasised in the studies. At Centria, nursing studies include communication studies and Finnish language studies. Swedish is an important language in our operational area and it is possible to study Swedish and some other languages as optional studies. Also, you will learn to utilise international research results in different written assignments and in your bachelor’s thesis.
You can complete some of your practical trainings abroad. Short and longer practical training periods can be spent in many different countries, for example in the Nordic countries, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Italy, China, Kenya and Uganda and many other countries.
All our students have the chance to study in a genuinely international environment and we recommend that you take full advantage of the possibilities Centria UAS offers.
At the end of your studies, you will carry out your own thesis project on a topic that interests you. The thesis is a bridge between studies and work life, and it will advance your transition to specialist positions. The objective of the thesis is to develop and demonstrate the student’s ability to apply the evidence-based knowledge and skills they have learned to practical specialist tasks. The scope of the thesis is 15 ECTS.
On the online library Theseus www.theseus.fi all the previously completed bachelor’s theses are available for everyone.
Registered nurses who graduate from Centria University of Applied Sciences have excellent employment possibilities locally, as well as around Finland, but also internationally. Nurses who have graduated from Centria are currently working in hospitals, health centres, first aid, medical centres, home care, nursing homes, patient associations and other third sector organisations. In addition to these, some graduates work in different development and project positions.
Centria University of Applied Sciences uses the following student selection methods during the first joint application in 2023:
International University of Applied Sciences (UAS) Exam
International UAS Exam is a joint digital entrance exam of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), used for selecting students to English-conducted study programmes leading to a Bachelor’s degree.
The entrance examination assesses the applicants’ abilities to study at UAS. The entrance examination does not contain any pre-reading materials or pre-tasks.
The entrance exam consists of two phases organized remotely online:
First phase: written examination on 8th February 2023
Second phase: group interview on 6th – 17th March 2023
Please read more information about the selection methods on the UASinfo website.
Certificate-based selection
Bachelor of Health Care, Nursing does not use certificate-based selection.
Please notice that some applicants are obligated to pay tuition fees. If you are not an EU/EEA- citizen or if you do not have a document that exempts you from paying the tuition fees, you are obliged to pay them.
More information including the tuition fees, who is obligated to pay them, and scholarships can be found here.
How to apply
Joint application 4.–18.1.2023
While the application is open you can apply to the degree programme in Studyinfo.
Applying during transfer application 1.-15.5.2023 and 1.-15.11.2023
It is possible to apply to Centria UAS during the transfer application period if a student wants to transfer from one field of study to another within Centria UAS or a student wants to transfer from another Finnish university of applied sciences to Centria.
Applying with open UAS studies 1.4.–31.5.2023 and 1.10.–30.11.2023
Students who have completed studies in the Open University of Applied Sciences (UAS) may use the open UAS pathway to apply for degree student status.
Applying with an incomplete degree 1.4.–31.5.2023 and 1.10.–30.11.2023
If you have studied in Centria UAS or in another university in Finland but you have not yet finished your degree, you can re-apply for the same or related degree programme to finish your degree.
Check your eligibility
following education will give applicants eligibility to apply for Bachelor´s programmes:
- the studies required for graduating from the Finnish upper secondary school or a Matriculation Ex-amination;
- an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree;
- a European Baccalaureate (EB) Diploma;
- a Reifeprüfung (RP) or Deutsche Internationale Abitur (DIA) degree;
- a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification covering 120 credits or 180 competence points or a corresponding earlier Finnish vocational degree covering at least 80 credits;
- a Finnish post-secondary or higher vocational level diploma;
- a Finnish vocational upper secondary qualification or a further or specialist vocational qualification as a competence-based qualification, or a comparable previous qualification;
- a foreign qualification that provides eligibility for higher education studies in the country in question;
- Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree.
Student stories
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– Vivian Ajayi, Student
It’s not about “failure – passing” in Centria. The flexibility is just -wow. In terms of understanding students in the academical way, and their social life as well.
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– Livera Cardozo, Student
Studies are divided in two sections; theory and work placement. The work placement I enjoyed the most, because the theory you learn in the class – you can apply it in the work placement. Especially for me – when I do those things I learn better.
Contact information
More information about the studies from the head of the degree programme:
Timo Kinnunen
+358447250576
timo.kinnunen@centria.fi
Kokkola
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Admissions Services
Do you have questions aboout applying? Please don’t hesitate to contact our Admissions Office! Kati, Maria and Sini will guide and help you with all tasks concerning the application process.
Do you have a questions regarding our degree programmes? You can fill out a contact form and our Education Export team will get back to you.