Your educational journey of personal and professional development in a supportive and student-centred environment builds on your prior knowledge, skills and experience.
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).
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 community practitioner prescribing.
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.
Top reasons to study this course include:
– Our strong links with local social care services, the NHS trusts, private and charitable organisations, and service users ensure the course content is relevant and current
– You learn with students from a range of backgrounds in an inclusive, diverse and supportive environment, which will enrich your learning experience.
– Experienced, dedicated and enthusiastic teaching team have a strong focus on evidence-base practice
– Varied and unique career prospects across all areas of health and social care
You study evidence based practice and the factors which impact on the health and well-being of children and their families; protection and safeguarding standards for children and their families; the new health visiting agenda, UNICEF BFI standards; public health, personal leadership philosophies and behaviours and their application within organisational settings; public health nursing practice, legal and ethical dimensions; prescribing from the community practitioners' formulary, and designing and managing a service evaluation.
Year 1 core modules
Community Practitioner Prescribing
This module prepares specialist community public health nurses (health visiting and school nursing) to prescribe from the Community Practitioners' Formulary. This module is for you, if you are a student studying health visiting and school nursing and you learn through seminars, student-led discussions, learning sets and exposure to supervised prescribing experiences with your practice teacher in the practice placement.
Enhancing Leadership Skills in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing
You gain skills to critically evaluate your leadership philosophy and leadership abilities in the context of working within and across professional organisational structures.
You identify strategies to develop your leadership skills and behaviours that enable you to function effectively within clinical and professional practice and lead within collaborative working environments. You learn through seminars, student-led discussions and self-directed study.
You share your experiences of clinical leadership and organisational contexts to enable debate and examination of leadership styles and behaviours relevant for specialist community public health practice and working in a collaborative and social care context.
Enhancing Safe and Effective Practice in Health
You explore the many factors impacting on the health and wellbeing of children and their families in a variety of settings and life circumstances. You critically evaluate current policy and legislation, linking this to the protection of children and families throughout the module. You build on existing experience, to adapt your practice, knowledge and skills to the needs of children and families, providing a foundation for specialist community public health nursing (health visiting) practice in the community setting.
Evidence Appraisal
This module develops your understanding of the concept of evidence-based practice as a framework in which to explore different research methodologies. It helps develop key skills in critical thinking, academic writing and information retrieval and begins the preparation for the final-year community project.
Public Health in Practice
This module is shared by all fields of practice. explores health, health needs assessment, health improvement and community development from a theoretical perspective and within the social, political and economic context. You apply the principles to your own field of practice. You learn through a combination of lectures, discussions, group work and experiential learning. You gain confidence and become an effective public health practitioner who can reflect, respond and contribute to the public health agenda.
Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Independent Project
You develop your competence and skills in practice and demonstrate achievement of the SCPHN Standards of Proficiency through the Practice Progress File.
Modules offered may vary.
Theory encompasses a range of teaching methods including lectures, seminars, problem-based learning scenarios, peer review and presentations. Learning in practice placement is supported with the development of a practice portfolio, which includes self-assessment activities, learning contracts and reflective dialogue and discussion.
Assessment strategies include examinations, case study analysis, reflective essays, written assignments' progress file and a dissertation. Practice is assessed via the progress file and the development of the practice project, through the mechanism of tripartite visits - where you, your practice teacher and your academic mentor meet to assess your progress and competence in practice.
Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services
Find out more about financial support
Find out more about our course related costs
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