Nursing

HAW Hamburg’s Department of Nursing and Management is a pioneering institution in driving nursing’s transformation into a graduate profession, and collaborates with Hamburg’s healthcare industry, one of the region’s key employers, which is growing at a rate twice that of the economy overall.

The course allows for specialisation and the incorporation of issues arising in your day-to-day nursing practice. The research and teaching in our department are valuable contributors to the search for solutions to today’s structural and qualitative challenges in both the specific field of nursing and the wider area of management of health and social care institutions. At HAW Hamburg, you’ll benefit from:

• lecturers with strong track records of expertise in the field of nursing care delivery
• close cooperation with significant players in the healthcare industry (an example is the University Medical Center in Eppendorf)
• an internationally recognised nursing degree
• the opportunity to proceed to doctoral study

The course is designed for qualified, licensed general, paediatric or geriatric nurses or carers for the elderly who have been working in the profession for at least a year and for those holding a first degree (Bachelor, German Magister or Diplom, or equivalent). The course enables you to specialise, qualifies you for management roles, and trains you for a career driving the advancement of nursing processes on an academic evidence base.

The course is four semesters in duration, with the final semester devoted to students’ Master theses, and has a modular structure. You can complete the course’s practical element with your employer or, alternatively, with one of our training partners.

The modules focus on the scientific exploration of relevant issues from nursing practice, in the following areas of nursing care delivery:

• Drawing up care scenarios for people with gerontological care needs
• Drawing up care scenarios for people with intensive and complex care needs
• Drawing up care scenarios for people with oncological and palliative care needs
• Designing care scenarios for people with chronic illnesses in the home environment and complex care needs (Community Health Nursing)

Students on this degree course attain the skills required for implementing nursing practice on the basis of scientific evidence within a specific setting, for translating research findings into nursing practice, for working in nursing management roles, and for initiating, supervising and implementing evaluation and research processes. As they learn, they gain the capacity to place the perspective of the individual patient or client at the centre of their scientifically based nursing practice, to take evidence-based decisions, to act in line with ethical, societal and scientific insights, and to take due account of their patients’ lifeworlds and situations. They will also learn to frame issues from nursing practice in their academic contexts. Elements of the course are:

• Nursing science and research
• Delivering clinical nursing care
• A specialist nursing project
• Health systems and health policy
• Initiating and shaping processes of change
• An international view of health and social care

Essential:

• A license to practise in nursing and/or paediatric nursing and/or geriatric nursing and/or care of the elderly
• At least one year’s experience in your profession
• A completed first degree (Bachelor’s, German Magister or Diplom, or equivalent) worth at least 210 credit points. 

Additional documents you may submit to enhance your application (optional):

• Letter of motivation
• CV

If you gained your first degree outside Germany, you will need to have it checked for equivalency to the German system prior to applying. The organisation uni assist performs this role. You are also required to have proof of German at level C1 – for example, in the form of a TestDaF certificate.

N.B.: Applicants whose Bachelor’s degrees are equivalent to 180 credit points are required to attain a further 30 credit points within the first two semesters on the course in order to enrol fully. You gain these points by attending courses from the Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Healthcare and Management at HAW Hamburg, as stipulated by, and subject to the agreement of, the admissions committee for the Master’s course. Your enrolment will be provisional for the first two semesters and full enrolment will be subject to meeting this condition. There are further details in the Admissions Policy for this degree course.

The course has an intake once every two years, and applications for a place are submitted online. The online application and detailed information about the application process are available on the Applying for a Master's degree course page during the application period (1 June –15 July 2024).