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Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing)

PGDip

This course is subject to validation

Full time: 12 months

Part time: 24 months

Location: Distance learning

Department(s): Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery

Overview
Course details
Careers
Entry requirements
How to apply
Tuition fees

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Overview

Our innovative online Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing) programme enables you to develop your practice as a specialist public health nurse. 

The primary aim of this programme is to enable the foundation of specialist knowledge, professional identity, required skills, and competence as a specialist public health nurse. The programme will explore fundamental community public health practice in relation to the role of the contemporary health visitor/school nurse to support the development of a resilient and competent practitioner in knowledge, skills, and future leadership.

This programme is mapped to contemporary high-impact areas in public health affecting children and young people; the programme is considerate of 0-19 service delivery models in the joint teaching of health visiting and school nursing students for many aspects of university education, but with distinct fields of practice teaching and placement experiences.

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Health visitors in a school with a child

Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Teaching
    Qualified SCPHN practitioners, experts in the field.
  • Online delivery
    Reflects that postgraduate students with caring responsibilities value an agile, ‘family friendly’ and accessible programme design.
  • Success
    High levels of retention, high student and partner satisfaction, good attainment and excellent employment rates.
  • Consultation
    Co-developed with students, practice partners, service users and alumni.
  • Balance
    Optimal balance between skill acquisition and application of knowledge to practice.
  • Accreditation(s)

    This course is undergoing validation with the NMC for January , so all content subject to validation.

    • Nursing and Midwifery Council

Course details

Course structure

This programme recognises the value of theory and practice, with a mix of both being fundamental to student progression. It aims to build on the existing skills and knowledge you'll have as a qualified nurses or midwife by utilising practice experience in the classroom and enhancing the links between theory and practice.

Academic assessment will support the integration of theory with professional practice, with many assessments drawing upon experiences and learning unique to the student's profession, speciality and personal identity.

The programmes consist of 7 compulsory modules.

Healthcare professional meeting with young person

Learning and teaching

You will learn through a distance learning approach, with a balance of real time learning and learning at a time that suits you.

As a full-time student, you will have one day allocated to university-planned education during semester 1, with one day of protected learning time and three days in placement. In semester 2, 1.5 days are allocated to university education, with 1.5 days of protected learning time and two days in placement. In the final semester, there are 0.5 days of university education, 0.5 days of protected learning time, and up to 4 days in practice. 

You will have 45 scheduled weeks of learning, this includes a maximum number of placement days of 138 (this includes the provision of annual leave and bank holidays). The spread of practice days is the same for part-time.

Assessment

Your assessments will be diverse, and will support different learning styles - you’ll have a real opportunity to showcase your strengths. Your learning may be assessed by a combination of individual or group coursework, examinations, and presentations. The assessment methods chosen will be based on your learning needs, individual aims and the academic standards expected for the course.

Study modules

Taught modules

Compulsory modules

  • Foundations of School Nursing 1 / Foundations of Health Visiting 1

    This is the first of your three sequenced Specialist Practice modules which enable you to develop an in-depth, systematic understanding of the knowledge and skills of public health nursing relating to school nursing or health visiting. 

  • Foundations of School Nursing 2 / Foundations of Health Visiting 2

    This practice-based module is the second of your three sequenced Specialist Practice Modules which will combine theoretical teaching and online learning. 

    This module will help you to integrate and develop your acquired public health knowledge and skills. You will be based in a practice placement which enables you to develop and extend public health skills relevant to health visiting or school nursing and to explore practice issues with your colleagues and peers.

  • Advancing Clinical Leadership

    On this module you have the opportunity to demonstrate critical insight into leadership theory, which is fundamental to healthcare development and delivery, emphasising personal development and self-awareness. 

    It aims to foster a learning community that supports current and future leadership within the contemporary workforce culture. You will apply practical knowledge, research evidence, and leadership theories to enhance your role as an effective leader in both public and private healthcare settings, improving 
    • personal
    • organisational
    • and inter-organisational performance.

  • Psychosocial care of the child and adolescent

    You will focus on developing psychosocial assessment skills from a sound theoretical basis. 

    You will then move on to explore how using your assessment of family strengths and difficulties can inform planned interventions.

    On this module you will develop your understanding of the psychosocial needs expressed through a child’s behaviour and emotions and your ability to identify and implement ways of managing them to support families in regaining strong and positive health and well-being outcomes.

  • Risk and Protection of Children

    You will critically examine contemporary childhood from a national and international perspective with a particular focus on children's experiences of harm in society. 

    On this module you have the opportunity to understand the legal and policy contexts of child protection and safeguarding work. You will explore explanatory models for understanding child maltreatment, along with evidence of the signs and symptoms of significant harm to children, including incidence and prevalence rates.

  • Applied Research Methods

    This module will help you to prepare enhanced and advanced health and social care practitioners for practice-based research. Enabling you to explore the variety of research methods that are used in health service and practice research.  

    Together we will examine both primary and secondary research approaches including qualitative and quantitative methods, clinical audit and service evaluation. You will finsih the module equipped with the understanding and skills to take forward a realistic, small-scale research project of your own using one of the methods you have studied.

  • Leading and Consolidating School Nursing Practice

    This module will help you to consolidate your public health knowledge and skills. You will have the opportunity to develop and practise leadership skills in you new role in the final months of your programme.

Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Research

We have a number of both promising and experienced researchers working in established areas including:

  • cancer care
  • children and families
  • drugs and alcohol
  • physical rehabilitation and enablement
  • interprofessional education and collaborative practice.

Our research staff collaborate with researchers from across Oxford Brookes University and from the Institute of Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. Along with research teams from many other UK and international centres.

Our academic staff have extensive experience of NHS and general management at both senior and director level.

Researcher using a laptop in a quiet space

Careers

On successful completion of the course:

  • You will receive a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing)
    Your details will be forwarded to the NMC for registration on the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing).

Entry requirements

This course is not available to students classed as International for fees purposes.

How to apply

Application process

Oxford Brookes University works in partnership with sponsoring NHS Trusts in the recruitment of students; you may apply for a student post (Student School Nurse or Student Health Visitor); this will involve an application to NHS jobs for the student vacancy. The sponsoring Employers advertise for funded applicants and the option for self-funded routes where this can be supported. Shortlisting is completed in Sponsoring Trusts, where upon successful shortlisting, candidates are invited for interviews. Interviews are jointly conducted with Sponsoring Trusts and Oxford Brookes University.


Apply now

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
Home (UK) full time
NHS funded (see further below)
Home (UK) part time
NHS funded (see further below)
Home (UK) full time
NHS funded (see further below)
Home (UK) part time
NHS funded (see further below)

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
NHS funded (see further below)
Home (UK) part time
NHS funded (see further below)
2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
NHS funded (see further below)
Home (UK) part time
NHS funded (see further below)

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support.

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Self funding:

Full-time 2024-25 £6930; Part-time 2024-26 £7095
Self-funding applicants will undertake the same interview and selection processes as funded routes. 

Determinants of self-funding routes:
  • Students will have the support of a sponsoring Trust who will provide a suitable practice placement, Practice Supervisor and Practice Assessor
  • Oxford Brookes University will ensure that Sponsoring Trusts are either a recognised partner, or will follow the procedure to become a recognised partner before the start date of any programme
  • A managers agreement (part of the application to university process) and placement audit with additional management sign-off will be completed by the sponsoring manager (as with funded routes)
  • Students can pay their own course fees
  • Sponsoring Trusts may pay course fees for students
  • Students will be supported by Sponsoring Trusts on a zero hours contract/ honorary contract/ or bespoke student contract which recognises their self-funded route.

Financial support and scholarships

Funded places are secured via application to an NHS Trust for a student post (Student School Nurse or Student Health Visitor); this will involve an application to NHS jobs for the student vacancy followed by a joint interview with a community NHS Trust and the University. 

You should not apply for this course at Oxford Brookes until funding has been secured with an NHS Trust and you have a conditional offer in writing from an NHS Trust to commence the course.

For more information please contact the Programme Administrator.

For general sources of financial support, see our Fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

Travel expenses will be incurred (only travel within the practice placement will be reimbursed).

Core texts are available in the university library, there are no essential purchases of books required.

Online submission of assessments eliminate printing costs for all modules.

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.