Certificate in Foundation Studies in Health Sciences (Nursing) at University of Malta

The Certificate in Foundation Studies Programme will provide students with the knowledge as well as the personal and inter-personal skills and organisational framework upon which to base their future undergraduate nursing studies. 

The primary aim of the course is to provide these students with the knowledge base, transferable skills, linguistic skills and general competence to allow them to progress successfully onto the University of Malta's undergraduate Nursing course. The course has been planned in such a way that it offers specific training and support in those core areas where these students traditionally require further assistance.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the students will be able to:

1. Knowledge & Understanding

• Describe basic concepts in human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry and explain how these principles can be applied in therapeutics in patient care delivery
• Describe the appropriate actions in serious incidents, and those involving multiple casualties
• Grasp the foundations of reflective practice
• Outline the concepts and principles of evidence based practice in the health care sciences
• Discuss the communication processes through which human interaction within professional therapeutic relationships occur
• Deal with an advanced reading requirement effectively and at speed
• Demonstrate understanding of academic lectures and debates, presentations, and technical documentaries, by summarizing their main points, making use of specific details and reporting what they have learnt

2. Skills:

• Calculate appropriate dosages, drug concentrations and pH of solutions
• Assess an emergency situation quickly and calmly and administer appropriate care for life-threatening injuries
• Conduct a search for scientific literature related to evidence in nursing practice
• Reflect on personal needs, values, strengths, weaknesses and motivations
• Demonstrate effective reading skills to deduce meaning, confirm expectations, extract specific information and main points, infer opinion and attitude and identify relevant and irrelevant information
• Write useful, relevant and coherent notes and summaries
• Listen effectively when taking part in lectures, seminars and talks
• Independently produce their own ordered and coherent notes for future reference

Course intended for

This course is intended for students who have completed high school in their home country in school systems with less than 13 years of education.