Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: £9,250 for the course
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How long will I study?
1 Year
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Where will I study?
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When do I start?
September 2024
Course summary
Become a specialist in early intervention and prevention of ill health.
Work in diverse communities, many of which are affected by profound inequalities.
- Lead and coordinate specialist public health practice through collaborative working.
- Target the real needs of families and their communities.
- Specialise as a community public health nurse improving lives and communities.
- Attain a recorded professional award as a specialist practitioner of health visiting or student nursing.
You’ll use specialist therapeutic communication skills and knowledge of parenting and child development to empower children, young people and their families to improve individual health and wellbeing. You’ll engage with a wide range of health professionals to challenge the changing nature of health and wellbeing through innovative, preventative public health practice. You’ll graduate as a reflective, competent and employable professional.
After successfully completing the course you’ll be eligible to apply to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for the recordable Specialist Practitioner Qualification (SPQ), District Nurse.
Accredited by
This course is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Graduates are eligible to apply to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse - Health Visitor or School Nurse.
You must be registered with the NMC in order to practise as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse in the UK.
To access the full course and gain the NMC recognised qualifications, you need to be sponsored by an employing NHS organisation (hence have NHS contract for the length of the course).
Come to an open day
Find out more at our postgraduate open days. Book now for your place.
How you learn
All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.
This course is designed to promote independent, lifelong learning. You’ll benefit from a balanced approach that incorporates 50% theoretical knowledge and 50% practical experience in healthcare settings.
We take a dynamic and interactive approach to learning, combining in-person teaching with the latest in digital education. Expert lecturers and industry professionals deliver engaging seminars, workshops and practical sessions on campus.
You learn through:
- Lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials
- Practical sessions
- Poster presentation
- Independent learning and group work
- Simulated role plays
- Case studies and client stories
- Conducting real consultations under exam conditions
Key Themes
You’ll explore attachment and parenting, child and adolescent development, motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy. We integrate these with topics like health promotion, prevention and clinical condition management, alongside initiatives for reducing health inequalities and promoting environmental health. We emphasise interprofessional education and collaborative practice, ensuring you’re able to adeptly provide expert care while upholding ethical and professional standards in public health nursing.
The course includes advanced physical assessment and consultation skills for community nurses and non-medical prescribing modules. These enable you to develop awareness and understanding of holistic assessment and person-centred approaches to independently prescribe.
You’ll develop an in-depth understanding of the fields of management and leadership in the contemporary health and social care context while considering your own role and future development. You’ll also develop your awareness and professional understanding of factors affecting people and organisations. We’ll examine current issues and complexities of practice to enable you to conduct an in-depth project that contributes to your professional practice.
Course Support
Our high ratio of staff to students means you’ll be able to receive the support you need on your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate-level employment. This includes:
- Access to our student support triangle to help with your personal, academic and career development
- Access to our Skills Centre for support with one to ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments and assessment preparation
- Support and guidance from your course and module leaders, and you’ll have a named academic adviser and employability advisers
Applied learning
Work Placement
When it comes to putting what you’ve learned into practice, you’ll benefit from strong partnerships with health, education and local authority organisations in the region. You’ll undertake modern and diverse placements designed to meet the changing needs of children, young people and families. These placements could be with social services, education or voluntary sector organisations.
Practice placements encompass direct caregiving, simulated practice, observation, discussions with experienced practitioners, and reflective exercises.
On placement, you’ll be supervised and supported by practice supervisors, practice assessors, link lecturers and academic assessors – enabling you to learn and safely achieve proficiency and autonomy in your professional role.
Live Projects
You'll undertake a community development project which involves meeting the identified health needs of a population. This shows the close integration of practice with public health theory.
Networking Opportunities
You’ll have extensive networking opportunities through our well-established connections with healthcare organisations. You’ll be able to connect with healthcare organisations and fellow professionals in public health nursing, including health visitors.
You’ll also benefit from guest lectures by leading figures in the field, providing insights into contemporary practices in various healthcare settings. With workshops and dedicated employability advisers, you'll be preparing for a successful career in public health nursing and midwifery. This comprehensive approach means you’ll be well prepared to meet the demands and responsibilities of specialist practitioners in the healthcare sector.
Future careers
After successfully completing the course you’ll be able to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a registered specialist community public health nurse – as either a health visitor or school nurse.
The course prepares you for a career in:
- A specialist role, working with early interventions, homeless, asylum seekers, safeguarding, looking after children (LAC), domestic violence (DV) or child sexual exploitation (CSE)
- Practice education
- Family nurse partnership nursing (FNP)
- Counselling
- Sexual health advice
- Management opportunities
- Research nursing
- Further study
- Overseas with voluntary service
Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for:
- Hospital and community nursing environments
- Health centres
- Education
Where will I study?
You study at Collegiate Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
Collegiate campus
Collegiate Campus can be found just off Ecclesall Road, a bustling student district.
Collegiate Campus map | Campus facilities
Collegiate library
Collegiate Library can be found just off Ecclesall Road. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEquipment and facilities
On this course you work with:
- A range of clinical nursing placement environments
- Our purpose-built clinical simulation suites
- Mock wards and community spaces
- Technology-enhanced learning
- Clinical skills laboratories
- Oxford Medical Simulation
- Virtual reality software
- 24-hour libraries and study spaces designed
Entry requirements
All students
You will normally have:
- 120 credits at level 6 (or pending results prior to the course starting)
- Current registration on part 1 (Nursing) or part 2 (Midwifery) of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register
- Enhanced level of disclosure Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
- Self-declaration of good health and character in line with the NMC requirements
- Please note in order to be eligible for this course you need funding arrangements in place via sponsorship with an NHS employer with a minimum of 1 year contract. if this employment is terminated at any point this will result in the loss of your place on the course. Please note this is a requirement to apply for the course and is different from tuition fees explained under section 7.
- Opportunity and managerial support to access an appropriate placement overseen by a Practice Teacher
- Ability to demonstrate the potential to practice at specialist level on completion of the programme
Additional information for EU/International students
If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.
For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.
Modules
Important notice: The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.
Final year
Compulsory modules
Developing Specialist Practice
Developing Therapeutic Relationships With Clients
Evidence Based Approaches To Public Health Practice
Family Centred Public Health
Nurse Prescribing (V100)
Perspectives On Safeguarding For Scphn Practice
Researching For Practice (Distance Learning)
Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students starting full-time study in 2024/25 is £9,250 for the course. These fees are regulated by the UK government and are therefore subject to changes in government policy.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
Postgraduate student loans
Up to £11,222 available for Home students on most masters courses.
Additional course costs
This link allows you to view estimated costs associated with the main activities on specific courses. These are estimates and, as such, are only an indication of additional course costs. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
Additional costs for Nursing and midwifery courses (PDF, 358.7KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
