Denmark’s first online nursing degree produces 32 graduates

Denmark’s first fully online nursing programme has produced its first graduates, with 32 social and healthcare assistants now qualified as nurses, DR reports.

Annette Mørch and Trine Lauridsen are among the first to complete the 2.5-year course while working full-time in their previous roles. Mørch, 47, maintained a 30-hour weekly evening shift as a social and healthcare assistant during her first year, later reducing to 20 hours with additional study support.

“I still can’t believe I’ve finished. It’s been extremely tough, but the time has flown,” Mørch said. She recalled being told in primary school that she lacked the academic ability to become a nurse.

Trine Lauridsen initially worked three full days a week alongside her studies but scaled back after a year to balance family commitments. “You don’t get through eight exams and a full curriculum by sleeping,” she said.

Of the 45 students who began the programme 2.5 years ago, only five dropped out—a lower rate than the 23% typical for the traditional in-person nursing programme in Hjørring.

Sanne Holm, programme director at UCN in Hjørring, said the institution adjusted the course based on student feedback. All graduates have since received job offers, including Mørch and Lauridsen, who are now permanently employed in the gastrointestinal surgery department at Hjørring Regional Hospital.

Mørch noted that their prior experience made them attractive candidates: “Even as newly qualified nurses, we have years of practical experience.” She called the programme a lifelong development opportunity and a potential solution to nursing shortages, though she joked it might create a shortage of social and healthcare assistants instead.

The online programme launched in 2024 to address nursing shortages and low enrolment in the traditional 3.5-year degree. Demand has been high, with 80 students enrolled across two new cohorts that began in February 2025 and 2026.