Nursing
Bachelor of Science (B. Sc.)

Kempten University of Applied Sciences awards students who successfully complete this degree programme the academic title Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). Graduates with this degree are entitled to apply to the Swabian government for a permit formally admitting them to the nursing profession.

We know how exciting the prospect of going to university can be. So we want you to know whom you can get in touch with if you have any questions about studying with us.

Contact for prospective students

• University Student Advisory Service

For general questions about studying and applications, please contact the University Student Advisory Service. 

• Questions about course content

If you are interested in this degree programme and would like to ask any questions, please contact

Susanne Wilke

Email: pflege(at)hs-kempten.de

Knowledgeable experts are increasingly in demand in nursing. The complexity of demands has been increasing for years, and scientific findings in international nursing research urgently need to be transferred. As such, this bachelor’s degree programme in “Nursing” isn’t perceived as competition to vocational training in nursing – but rather as a complementary route to meet the demands currently placed on nursing teams.

One advantage of this degree programme is that you aren’t tied to one specific facility during your training. Instead, you get the chance to sample a range of different areas. The regular practical stints in different facilities will help you to get to know the nursing market and to identify your particular area of interest.

This bachelor’s degree will also enable you to work and pursue a career elsewhere in Europe.

And let’s be honest… Meeting new people, going out on the town with fellow students, zipping around Kempten and its surroundings for free on the bus, enjoying a coffee on campus, getting to know students on other degree programmes at university events, or sharing your interests and ideas with other like-minded members of student clubs and initiatives – doesn’t that sound like fun?

Very good! At the moment, the number of places on this degree programme is not capped. This means that you will certainly be offered a place if you apply for one and are eligible to study at university (with a senior secondary school certificate, e.g. “Abitur” or subject-specific “Fachabitur”, or as a formally trained worker). Further information on Applications.

Besides being eligible to study at a university (with a senior secondary school certificate, e.g. “Abitur” or subject-specific “Fachabitur”, or as a formally trained worker), you must submit certificates of robust health (health certificate) and good conduct (police clearance certificate). Click this link to check the Entry requirements.

The most straightforward way of proving your state of health is to print out our standard form and ask your GP to complete and sign it. To obtain a certificate of conduct, you can either apply in person by presenting your ID card or passport to your local registration authority, or use the online application service provided by the Federal Department of Justice . Your certificate will usually arrive by post within one or two weeks. For further details, please consult the Federal Department of Justice website.

Yes, as long as you are eligible to study at university (with a senior secondary school certificate, e.g. “Abitur” or subject-specific “Fachabitur”, or as a formally trained worker). You can find further details under Entry requirements.

Yes, as long as you are eligible to study at university (with a senior secondary school certificate, e.g. “Abitur” or subject-specific “Fachabitur”, or as a formally trained worker). You can find further details under Entry requirements.

Yes, candidates who are vocationally trained but don’t have a university entrance certificate (from a school or college) can also be admitted. Instead, you will need either a “promotional qualification” (master in trades or equivalent advanced training certificates or qualifications) or relevant basic vocational training that lasted at least two years plus at least three years of primary professional experience thereafter. You can find further details under Entry requirements for candidates with vocational training.

You must attend an individual consultation in order to be admitted. Simply email pflege(at)hs-kempten.de for advice.

Nursing staff must fundamentally enjoy working with people and on (health) issues. However, professional nursing work must also be based on scientific findings.

Scientifically trained nursing staff accompany and support people at all stages of life facing potential or actual health problems, using scientifically based methods. They are responsible for transferring proven findings in international research into nursing practice. The bachelor’s degree programme in nursing at Kempten University of Applied Sciences provides scientifically based professional training that focuses on the future.

While studying on this degree programme, you will learn how to:

• Design and deploy highly complex, scientifically founded care processes
• Independently assimilate nursing-related research and use the findings to solve problems
• Advise people in need of care and their close contacts, based on scientific findings and under ethical considerations
• Analyse innovative approaches and new technologies critically, and implement these appropriately in practice
• Help hone quality using advanced knowledge and tangibly influence healthcare and nursing.

You will earn the academic title Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in addition to your existing vocational qualification as a nurse, which opens up many further options for your personal development, e.g. studying for a master’s degree.

If you have already trained in elderly care, or in medical, paediatric or general nursing, you can get almost all the modules covered during the first three semesters counted towards your degree and move straight into the fourth semester. Elements of your practical work experience can also be counted. Please get in touch with the academic advisor for your degree programme .

If you have trained for a different vocation, the decision depends entirely on the individual circumstances, which the university will need to consider. Skills acquired outside university might be recognisable if the subject matter, scope and level are deemed equivalent to modules on your intended degree programme. This is seldom the case, which is why recognition tends to be the exception.

If you are unsure about getting skills credited, you can ask the academic advisor for the degree programme in the first instance. After that, you would need to apply for credit points via Academic Registry. They can also provide you with the relevant form. Any skills acquired outside the university that are recognised will not be awarded a grade, as the different scales are not comparable.

This depends entirely on the individual circumstances. As a general rule, we are obliged to count skills that you have acquired at a university, unless there is a considerable difference between the skills that you have acquired and those attached to the target module in our degree programme. So you must check precisely which of the modules that you have previously completed match those in our degree programme.

If you are unsure about getting skills credited, you can ask the academic advisor for the degree programme in the first instance. After that, you would need to apply for credit points via Academic Registry. They can also provide you with the relevant form.

Fundamentally, this degree programme aims to train students for working closely with patients / clients, but for greater responsibility, more complex requirements and managerial roles. However, it also qualifies you to perform activities that no longer contain nursing / therapeutic duties or direct contact with patients / clients.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t qualify you for conventional administrative positions in the health care sector, which require considerably more business and legal knowledge, as taught on the bachelor’s degree programme in health services management for example.

Possibly, although the university is not in a position to guarantee this, as salaries are either fixed or freely negotiated between employers and employees. There is potential for an appointment at salary band 9b under the Public Service Wage Agreement (“TVöD”), for example. Fundamentally, facilities interested in specialist nursing/care staff with academic qualifications know that they have to offer commensurate salaries. If they are so inclined, they will generally find appropriate means of funding, although this proves easier for private operators than for state-run or church-funded facilities, who are bound to fixed remuneration scales. Having said that, decent salaries can also be found in those segments.

You can only study this degree programme full-time on site. 

Only the practice sessions in the simulation room are subject to compulsory attendance, as they count towards the practical element of the programme. This doesn’t apply to theory-based lectures and classes, but we strongly recommend attending these, too. For one, teaching – and thus learning successfully – thrives on direct exchange amongst students and between students and lecturers. Plus experience has shown at least a loose correlation between attendance and achieving good results. In other words, the students who fail exams or scrape through with weak grades tend to be those s<who rarely attended the related classes.</p>

You can check the dates in the calendar . The practical stints each run partly into the breaks between semesters.

It’s not all theory-based. From the very start right through to the end, you will regularly attend highly practical training sessions to hone skills and work through simulations in a realistic but risk-free environment – the Skills Lab. The simulation aspect prepares you optimally for everyday nursing. And you will already complete a five-week internship in a care home or hospital during the first semester. If you’re now wondering whether you will be ready for “real life” nursing after a single semester of theory – you are right to do so. Nursing day in, day out is challenging. However, you don’t have to worry about starting the practical unit, as the degree programme is designed to prepare students well for going out into the field. The facility where you’re an intern will assign you a mentor who will ease you into assuming your professional duties as professional nurse/carer. The university will also assign you an internship mentor, who will visit your workplace at least once per semester.

The practical stages during the first two semesters start at the end lecturing period and examinations. From the third semester on, you will alternate between classes / training in the Skills Lab and internships.

Internships generally last for five weeks (166 hours). By the time you graduate, you should have accrued at least 2,300 hours of practical experience (including the training sessions in the Skills Lab). Trained internship mentors in our partner institutions support you, help you to progress with your learning, and regularly check your skills and abilities.

You will complete internships in our partner hospitals, elderly care homes and with mobile nursing/care providers. These include the three major medical complexes in the Allgäu (Kaufbeuren, Kempten, Memmingen) and long-term or mobile nursing services. You can complete more than one internship in the same facility if it runs various services and covers a range of roles. However, if you’d like to keep on exploring new avenues, that’s also possible. You aren’t tied to any specific institution, allowing you to sample many different departments and facilities, and to gain a very broad picture of nursing and care roles.

Yes, you can do that – the 6th semester works best. Alternatively, you will be offered the chance to spend a 5-week internship gaining hands-on experience abroad during that semester. It is up to you which country you choose.

This degree programme is taught in German. In some cases, a course might also be offered in English, in which case this would also apply to the exam. But this really shouldn’t cause you to worry, as this really happens very rarely – so far mainly as an elective option – and the English that you learned in school, even it was a long time ago, is entirely sufficient.

Furthermore, “English for professional purposes” is taught during the 5th semester. In addition, you can take courses run by the Language Centre , which include seminars focusing on presentation skills, dialogue or help with writing in English.

There are no tuition fees for this degree programme. The only costs incurred will be the usual outgoings associated with studying, such as the semester fee a very modest sum for photocopying, buying books. There might also be (similarly low) costs for field trips, which are heavily subsidised by the university.