Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Practice

Why study with us?

Are you a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visitor, School Nurse, Occupational Health Nurse, Sexual Health Adviser or Health Protection Nurse) on the NMC SCPHN register? Come and study a postgraduate award that is directly related to your area of practice, taught by experts in their field.

We understand the need for a flexible approach to learning. You may be in work and want to broaden your knowledge and skills and improve your career prospects. You may have taken a break and now want to return to employment. We can provide you with a flexible solution to your study needs. This award can be taken in a modular, step-by-step approach and there are options to study part-time, through distance learning and work-based learning.

What can this course lead to?

This programme will enhance your ability to gain employment in particular areas of specialist community public health nursing and broader public health practice, especially in more senior roles in leadership, practice, research or education.

You will develop the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments.

The programme will enable practitioners to meet the requirements laid out in the knowledge and skills framework providing opportunities for career advancement.

Completing the MSc will also enhance your abilities to continue to further advanced study e.g. to MPhil/PhD level.

Resources and facilities

We are amongst the UK’s leading health and social care faculties and are proud of the high level of support we are able to offer to our students. We provide a wide range of high-quality courses supported by expert academic and clinical practice staff.

If you join us you will enjoy great facilities and learn alongside caring, committed and experienced professionals. Our employment record is excellent. Recently, our NHS related provision underwent a major review by the Quality Assurance Agency and we achieved the highest possible rating.

Entry requirements

1st or 2nd class honours degree

Students with other qualifications may be admitted to the course via APL procedures

More about levels and credits

Credit and UCAS requirements Credit: 180 credits Selection criteria

You must be a qualified nurse and hold active registration as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse, or equivalent. You will need access to an appropriate practice setting if a module with an attached QPU is studied or a work based learning module. Applications will be accompanied by one professional reference.

You may be interviewed by a member of the course team; this interview may be by telephone. During this interview you will be offered advice on the suitability of the award and your module choice within the award dependent on your personal and professional development needs. You should be able to discuss benefits of studying the award.

International applicants can find out more about entry requirements on our dedicated webpages.

Modules
Core modules:

• XANP 7803 Leadership (20)
• NMLB 7073 Evidence Based Change in Health Care Practice (20)
• NMLB 7071 Dissertation (60)

Core choice modules (you will need to select one of the following):

• NMLB 7093 Health Promotion and Behaviour Change or
• NMLB 7101 Public Health Practice

Optional modules (you will need to choose 60 credits of modules from the list below):

• NMLB 7097 Advanced Level Human Health and Pathophysiology
• NMLB 7077 Advancing Practice Through Work Based Learning
• NMLB 7079 Advancing Skills in Case Management
• NMLB 7087 Advancing Skills for Service Improvement
• ANP 804 Clinical Supervision and Mentorship in the Context of Leadership
• NMLB 7081 Complexities in the Therapeutic Use of Medicines
• NMLB 7083 Contemporary Aspects of Perinatal Mental Health
• NMLB 7085 Critical Perspectives on Infant Nutrition
• CDL 801 Design for Learning in Higher Education
• NMLB 7075 Effective Therapeutic Communication for Health Care Practice
• NMLB 7089 Evidence Based Clinical Decision Making
• RPHH 7316 Evidence for Health Improvement
• NMLB 7070 Excellence in Practice Innovation and Development
• NMLB 7091 Family Centred Practice
• RPHH 7308 Health Improvement and Social Change
• NMLB 7093 Health Promotion and Behaviour Change
• NMLB 7095 Health, Social and Community Enterprise
• NMLB 7060/5 Independent Study
• NMP 800 Non-Medical Prescribing
• NMLB 7099 Normality for Child Bearing
• RPHH 7311 Participatory Health Needs Appraisal
• ANP 801 Principles of Research
• NMLB 7101 Public Health Practice
• NMLB 7103 Risk Management and Clinical Governance
• NMLB 7107 The Management of Clinical Complexity
• RPHH 7043 Understanding Pain in Advanced Practice

Course summary

The MSc Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) Practice programme provides a continuing professional development opportunity for SCPHN registrants.

It aims to enhance the contribution of specialist community public health nurses as they work to improve and protect public health and reduce health inequalities, in ways which are responsive to the professional and wider public health agendas, including, for example, the public health white paper "Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier” (Department of Health 2004) and the NHS white paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say (DH 2006).