Public Health (Specialist Community Public Health Nursing)

The course has been designed to produce knowledgeable and skilled public health practitioners who are able to work with various client groups across different settings within the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Professional Code of Conduct (2008). This knowledge and skill development will be reflected in your ability to demonstrate achievement of the NMC Standards of proficiency for Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (2004). Ten key areas of public health practice and domains require a practitioner to search for health needs; stimulate an awareness of health needs; influence policies affecting health and facilitate health enhancing activities in different public health settings.

The course embraces a family/child/workplace centred public health role with individuals, families and populations, focusing on improving health and tackling health inequalities. The approach requires you to work within a dynamic socio-cultural and service provision context across traditional boundaries, networking and developing services in conjunction with service users, other professionals and voluntary workers. This involves the capacity to lead, assess, work collaboratively, evaluate public health provision, and accept responsibility and accountability for the safe, effective and efficient management of that provision.

This course is for people who wish to register on the third part of the NMC register as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse: Health Visitor, School Nurse, or Occupational Health Nurse. The course requires effective registration on Part 1 (Nursing) or Part 2 (Midwifery) of the NMC register.

The aim of the programme is to prepare specialist community public health nursing (SCPHN) students with the knowledge, skills and critical abilities to provide leadership and innovation in community health. The wider goals are to improve population health, in particular the health of children and families, and to prevent illness. SCPHNs graduating from the programme will have the community capacity building skills to support the development of better, more accessible community based health and well being services.

Return to Health Visiting

Our UWE Return to Nursing Practice Course, which includes Health Visiting, takes approximately four months and consists of a specialist module and work to help you achieve clinical competencies. The module is over five study days, and includes a variety of approaches including; interactive discussions, seminar work, tutorials, lectures and visits.

More information

For those wanting to return to health visiting, you will complete this theory module, but your practice hours and achievement of competence will be demonstrated in the SCPHN field. This means you will have a public health nursing placement within health visiting. When they have successfully completed the programme you will be able to restore your registration to both part one and part three of the NMC Register.

For further information regarding Return to Health Visiting email HLS CPD office or call 0117 3281159