PGDip Specialist Community Public Health Nursing - Health Visiting, Occupational Health Nursing and School Nursing

Do you have a good first degree in Nursing or Midwifery and are ready to study at post-graduate level? Are you a UK Nurse or Midwife registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and looking for your next career step?

Would you like to progress into a more autonomous role in a community and public health-based role where you will use your leadership skills to influence and facilitate change in public health?

The Post-Graduate Diploma is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), leading to Registration on Part 3 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (UK) register.

On successful completion of the Post-Graduate Diploma (120 credits) in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing, at Brunel University London, you will be eligible to apply for Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) posts within your field of practice. You will also have the option to register ( an additional fee) for the full -time or part-time MSc top-up dissertation module (60 credits).

The Post-Graduate Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing programme offers three fields of study:

Health Visiting (HV)

You’ll learn to promote health and the prevention of ill health in a proactive and innovative way for families with children under five years of age. You will also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a health visiting team of variable skill mix and influence change in practice.

Occupational Health Nursing (OHN)

You’ll learn how to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of the workforce. This will include learning about health and safety at work, risk assessment, management of occupational disease and the promotion of physical and psychological health among the workforce.

School Nursing (SN)

You’ll learn how to make a difference to the health and well-being of children aged 5-19 years of age. You will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote school health, meet the health-related needs of children and young people and their families and carers. You will also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a school nursing team and influence change in practice.

The programme can be studied full time (52 weeks a year) or part time over two years (104 weeks) and starts in September each year.

You will study theory modules at the university and will learn practical knowledge and skills in a supervised practice placement. The schedule of study for a full-time student is two days university- based learning and two days in practice.

The schedule for a part-time student studying over two years is attendance at university one day a week in year one, and one day a week in year two. Throughout the programme, you will work with designated Practice Supervisors who will support your learning in practice and you will be assessed by a Practice Assessor.

If you are considering studying Specialist Community Public Health Nursing at Brunel University London, then you are committed to working jointly with the NHS to demonstrate the values and beliefs of the constitution.

The SCPHN Programme Lead is Angela Davy and can be contacted on email: angela.davy@brunel.ac.uk

NHS values

The NHS values are at the core of everything we do; working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives and everyone counts.

The NHS values provide common ground for co-operation to achieve shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS. We have great links with the local NHS and Community Trust, as well as organisations employing Occupational Health Nurses.

Patients, public and staff have helped develop this expression of values that inspire passion in the NHS and that should underpin everything it does. Individual organisations will develop and build upon these values, tailoring them to their local needs.

All incoming health and social care students must be double vaccinated against Covid-19 before the start of the course. More information can be found on the Immunisation Checking web page. ***Please note Brunel is aware that the mandatory vaccine policy is under Ministerial review and we will add an update here in due course.***

2.6/4, 3.2/5 or 65%

• IELTS: 7 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 64 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 68% (58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 98 overall (min 20)

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.

Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.

Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.

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