Nursing Education

Overview

Offered by the Department of Nursing Education in the Faculty of Health Sciences, this 120-credit programme develops the knowledge, pedagogical skills, and leadership capacity required to facilitate the learning of nursing students and to manage educational programmes in complex healthcare contexts. Teaching is highly participative and draws on a concept-based, constructivist approach combining weekly seminars, blended learning through Moodle, simulation, and supervised work-integrated learning. The programme is offered part-time over two years on a day-release basis, or full-time over one year.

Career Opportunities

Graduates are prepared for roles as nurse educators and clinical facilitators across universities, nursing colleges, and clinical healthcare organisations, with the programme articulating to a Master of Science in Nursing or Master of Education (NQF Level 9) for those pursuing research in curriculum design or health professions education.

The qualification also opens pathways into professional regulation and quality assurance including roles with the South African Nursing Council, HEQC accreditation panels, and educational consulting. Internationally, graduates contribute to nursing workforce development across sub-Saharan Africa and are globally recruited into academic roles.

Curriculum

The programme requires students to complete 2 compulsory courses for a total of 120 credits. Within the 120 credits there is also a structured work based place learning requirement.

Compulsory Courses:

• Scholarship and Fundamentals of Nursing Education (60 Credits)
• Specialist Practice of Nursing Education (60 Credits)

Scholarship and Fundamentals of Nursing Education (60 Credits)

This course establishes the scholarly and professional foundation for specialist nursing education practice. It covers two modules:

• Scholarship for Specialist Nursing Practice, which addresses clinical leadership, evidence-based practice, interprofessional collaboration, and professional practice development; and
• Curriculum Design and Development, which covers the nature and influence of curriculum, models of curricula including clinical training models, structuring programmes and learning outcomes, aligning curriculum with the NQF, and principles of curriculum evaluation.

Specialist Practice of Nursing Education (60 Credits)

This course develops advanced competence in the practice of nursing education across three focused modules:

• Teaching and Learning, which covers educational psychology, learning theories, educator and learner profiles, planning for teaching, flexible and interprofessional learning approaches, and the educational environment;
• Assessment and Evaluation, which addresses principles of effective assessment, types of assessment in theory and clinical settings, scoring, debriefing, feedback, and the development of rubrics and assessment tools; and
• Management of a Nursing Education Institution, which covers quality monitoring, management of human and financial resources in a nursing school, managing the educational programme, student management, and governance in nursing education.

Workplace based learning Requirements

Integral to the 120 credits is a minimum of 720 hours of Work Integrated Learning (WIL): 144 hours for the core scholarship module and 576 hours across the specialist education modules. At least 50% of WIL must be supervised and mentored in an approved nursing education or clinical learning environment, with up to 20% through simulation. WIL provides students with practical experience in curriculum delivery, clinical accompaniment, student assessment, and educational programme management within accredited nursing education institutions and clinical settings.

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor of Nursing (R174, R425), Diploma in Nursing (R425) or equivalent qualification at NQF Level 7, recognised by the South African Nursing Council (SANC).
• Current registration with SANC as a Professional Nurse.
• Minimum two years' post-registration clinical nursing experience, including the prescribed period of community service where applicable.
• Computer literacy and proficiency in written and spoken English.

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies.