Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting) PGDip

This Nursing and Midwifery Council-approved course leads to registration on Part 3 of the register as a specialist community public health nurse (health visiting) and be recorded as a community prescriber, and for further academic development at master’s level by the successful completion of the dissertation. You develop public health practice knowledge and skills in order to work effectively with individuals, families and communities along with public health leadership skills, to enable you to contribute to the contemporary health visiting agenda.Leadership is a key element, and you focus on quality improvement and how leadership skills and qualities can influence achievement of sustained change within SCPHN practice, and develop as a responsive, resilient and flexible practitioner who can respond to the changing health and social care environment. You investigate the health needs, protection and surveillance of the child and family in a health visiting context, and prescribe from the community practitioners' formulary.This is a practice-centred course with 50% taught theory and 50% practice. You require a contract and agreement with a health trust, local authority or employer to provide a clinical placement. You are allocated a practice assessor by your sponsoring organisation – they facilitate your learning in practice and are responsible for assessing your competence in practice.You explore evidence appraisal, to understand the evidence which underpins and supports practice. Your practice experience enables you to link your theoretical knowledge base to practice. You learn alongside students from a range of local partners, as well as students on postgraduate courses which encourages different perspectives and ideas

An honours degree of 2:2 or above or; successful study at postgraduate level; a valid Level 1 registration on part 1 or part 2 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) professional register (defined area of practice apply); successful interview and subject to: support of an employing organisation who will give an undertaking to enable access to/or facilitate access to the appropriate learning opportunities. Normally you will have supernumerary status throughout the programme of learning; a nominated practice assessor who will contribute to the teaching and assessment process; a satisfactory work-based risk assessment.