Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing) - 2012 entry

Course content

On successful completion of the course:

• you will receive a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing)
• you will be considered to have met the NMC requirements to be a mentor
• your details will be forwarded to the NMC for registration on the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing part of the register, and for registration as able to prescribe from the community practitioner’s formulary.

The course comprises six compulsory modules. All six modules need to be taken over the year for the full-time route. The two-year part-time route requires the six modules to be taken over the two years with the required amount of practice.

There are many opportunities for you to continue to study after the end of the course and we aim to encourage you towards lifelong learning. On successful completion of the postgraduate diploma, you may achieve a master's in Public Health Nursing by enrolling for the Student Designed Award and undertaking the research module and a triple dissertation module. This will require independent funding.

The six compulsory singles modules are:

• Leadership in Health and Social Care allows you to develop and apply the knowledge, conceptual and practice skills needed to be an effective leader within health and social care environments, both in the public and private sectors.
• Advanced Health Promotion will explore practical aspects of health promotion, including how to develop strategic and action plans.
• Public Health Nursing 1 is a practice-based module which enables you to develop an in-depth systematic understanding of the knowledge and skills in public health nursing in relation to health visiting or school nursing.
• Public Health Nursing 2 is a practice-based module which will enable you to demonstrate originality and initiative in your consolidation of public health knowledge and skills.
• Community Practitioner Nurse Prescribing (V100) incorporates the learning outcomes specified by the NMC for registration to enable practitioners to prescribe from the Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary for Community Practitioners.
• Risk and Protection of Children will critically examine contemporary childhood from an international perspective including children's rights, child welfare and wellbeing and children's experiences of harm in society.

Please note: as courses are reviewed regularly, the list of modules may vary from that shown here.

Faculty

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Social Work and Public Health

Course length

Full-time: 52-week course, of which 45 weeks are programmed over a maximum of 78 weeks
Part-time: 2-3 years over a maximum of 156 weeks

Teaching location

Headington Campus, Marston Road site

Start date

September 2012

Entry requirements

Access to the SCPHN course is open to practitioners who meet the following criteria.

You must:

• be registered on either the nursing or midwifery parts of the NMC register
• be able to demonstrate evidence of advanced level study on entry
• have the support of your manager or sponsorship from a PCT
• have access to a community practice teacher
• have a source of funding to enable you to meet the course fees.

Additionally:

• entry onto the course will be subject to satisfactory Criminal Records Bureau clearance
• evidence of being currently on the NMC register will also be required.

Scholarships and funding

You need to obtain funding to undertake the course through your local strategic health authority via your local trust.

For more information, please contact the Programme Administrator.

For general sources of financial support, see funding for Postgraduate students from the UK and EU.

Why Oxford is a great place to study Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing)

As a student in Oxford you'll be at the heart of the UK's most successful economic region and in a centre for leading industries which provides you with a host of learning opportunities.

Because Oxford is one of the world's great academic cities, it is a key centre of debate, with conferences, seminars and forums taking place across education, science, the arts and many other subjects.

In addition to our own excellent libraries and resource centres, our postgraduate students have access to the world-renowned Bodleian Library, the Bodleian Law Library and the Radcliffe Science Library.

Support for students studying Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Health Visiting or School Nursing)

All our courses adopt a student-centred approach to teaching and learning and are strongly focused on encouraging you to attain your full potential as lifelong learners.

There is a range of support mechanisms for students, such as academic advisers, who will facilitate your academic development, and student support co-ordinators, who provide a drop-in service for queries about any aspect of student life, covering both academic and personal welfare.

The university’s support services include Upgrade, which provides advice on study skills such as planning and writing essays, assignments and dissertations, research, or preparing for an exam. They also give advice on statistics and maths. There is a dedicated Student Disability and Dyslexia Service, which provides support for students with disabilities including sensory and mobility impairments, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties, mental health problems and medical conditions. Here, staff offer advice and support on a range of issues, including physical access, funding, alternative assessment arrangements and liaison with teaching staff to ensure that they are aware of your requirements.

How Brookes supports postgraduate students

Supporting your learning

From academic advisers and support co-ordinators to specialist subject librarians and other learning support staff, we want to ensure that you get the best out of your studies.

Personal support services

We want your time at Brookes to be as enjoyable and successful as possible. That's why we provide all the facilities you need to be relaxed, happy and healthy throughout your studies.

Research excellence

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, and interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Over the past few years, these researchers have won external research and consultancy contracts including grants, fellowships and studentships for NHS staff. Our research staff collaborate with researchers from across Oxford Brookes University and from the Institute of Health Sciences at Oxford University, 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. They also have a significant record of research and publications on the topics of management and leadership. The currency of the course is also assured by the lecturers' close involvement in the health and social care sector and their movement between that sector and education.

We are very pleased with the results received in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 70% of our research in Allied Health Professions and Studies was rated as being of international significance in the assessment of research, of which 10% was rated as world-leading. The university has been careful to nurture emerging research strengths, and the international standing achieved by subjects allied to health demonstrates significant progress since 2001.

For more details about our research portfolio, go to our website.