Nursing (cooperative degree programme)

This innovative dual academic and vocational qualification supplies our graduates with a sound basis for delivering professional nursing care to in- or outpatients in a range of clinical and healthcare settings. Their roles may involve:

• providing direct nursing care to people of all age groups
• establishing individual nursing care needs for people of all ages; organising and conducting the associated nursing interventions
• providing advice to people with chronic illnesses and care needs and to their relatives
• carrying out preventative, therapeutic, rehabilitative and palliative nursing tasks in interdisciplinary team settings
• supervising care staff with less advanced qualifications
• communicating with colleagues and discussing cases
• implementing research findings in day-to-day nursing practice
• resolving issues in practice on the basis of scientific insights and knowledge

The course is divided into practical and theoretical modules. These are taught at the HAW Hamburg Department of Nursing and Management in the theoretical semesters.

Students complete the practical components of the degree course primarily with our cooperation partners in and around Hamburg, in accordance with the German law on the nursing profession. Some of the practice hours are completed in the department's Skills Lab. In the practical semesters the students learn, practice and reflect upon their patient-care skills in the following areas: inpatient care (hospitals), long-term care (nursing homes) and outpatient care (e.g. nursing services).

In teaching caring, communicative, psychosocial, scientific and ethical competencies, the course provides students with the tools they need to tackle the diverse range of tasks arising in the delivery of professional nursing care.

In addition, students receive a thorough grounding in key associated disciplines from the social, life and behavioural sciences, including medicine, psychology, sociology and education science, and learn about the German social and healthcare system and the related policy issues.

Process management and nursing research modules round off the course.

We are looking for applicants who have a sense of vocation around helping others, a willingness to engage with the functioning of the human body and people’s experience of illness and health, and interest in finding out about the various fields and areas of healthcare. You should be keen to learn how to give people advice and to work across disciplines, and adaptable to studying in different settings (HAW Hamburg and various practical training settings).

This course has an annual winter semester intake only.

The entry requirements are as follows:

1. One of the following higher education entrance qualifications (or an equivalent from outside Germany; see below): 

• Fachhochschulreife
• Allgemeine Hochschulreife  
• Fachgebundene Hochschulreife (subject-specific HE entrance qualification)
• Meister*in (vocational qualification – master tradesperson)
• Fachwirt*in (certified specialist)

Please note that a suitable state of health is a prerequisite for obtaining the professional title of 'Pflegefachfrau/Pflegefachmann' (nurse) as is required for admission to internships during your studies. For this reason, a suitable state of health must be demonstrated by the beginning of the second semester. This includes, among other things, up-to-date standard immunisations (basic immunisation and booster) and Category B immunisations for professions in the healthcare sector with an increased risk of exposure according to the Robert Koch Institute's Standing Commission on Immunisation, as well as physical suitability for the nursing profession. Your GP or specialist doctor can provide you with a certificate verifying these aspects. Please note that it may take some time to build up your vaccination protection, depending on your previous vaccination status. Be sure to address this requirement well ahead of time.

Applicants who do not hold a higher education entrance qualification but have completed vocational training (Berufsausbildung) and at least three years of subsequent work experience can apply under Section 38 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act, which sets out special provisions for these applicants (Besonderer Hochshulzugang für Berufstätige). You can find more information at Admission requirements for a Bachelor's degree.

International applicants

If you completed your schooling outside Germany and want to study here for a Bachelor’s degree, you need to hold an academic school-leaving qualification which entitles you to admission to higher education; that is, it needs to be comparable to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. The organisation uni assist will check your certificates from school and any degree-level studies to establish comparability. Please note that you are also required to have proof of German at level C1 – for example, in the form of a TestDaF certificate – in order to apply for all Bachelor's degree courses (except Information Engineering).

You can find more information about HAW Hamburg’s application criteria at International applicants.

Applications can be submitted online during the application period (1 June–15 July). Applications should be submitted directly via myHAW, HAW Hamburg's application and student portal.

More information (in German) about the numerus clausus process and the minimum grades accepted for admission in recent semesters is provided at Applying for a Bachelor's degree course / Selection criteria.

International applicants should also submit their applications online during the relevant application period.
We’ve prepared a step-by-step checklist to guide you through the process: International applicants