Specialist Community Public Health Nursing PGDip and MSc (top-up)

Do you have a good first degree in Nursing or Midwifery and are ready to study at post-graduate level? Are you a UK Nurse or Midwife registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and looking for your next career step?

Would you like to progress into a more autonomous role in a community and public health-based role where you will use your leadership skills to influence and facilitate change in public health?

The Post-Graduate Diploma is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), leading to Registration on Part 3 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (UK) register.

On successful completion of the Post-Graduate Diploma (120 credits) in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing, at Brunel University London, you will be eligible to apply for Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) posts within your field of practice. You will also have the option to register ( an additional fee) for the full -time or part-time MSc top-up dissertation module (60 credits).

The Post-Graduate Diploma in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing programme offers three field of study:

Health Visiting (HV)

You’ll learn to promote health and the prevention of ill health in a proactive and innovative way for families with children under five years of age. You will also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a health visiting team of variable skill mix and influence change in practice.

Occupational Health Nursing (OHN)

You’ll learn how to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of the workforce. This will include learning about health and safety at work, risk assessment, management of occupational disease and the promotion of physical and psychological health among the workforce.

School Nursing (SN)

You’ll learn how to make a difference to the health and well-being of children aged 5-19 years of age. You will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote school health, meet the health-related needs of children and young people and their families and carers. You will also develop leadership skills so that you can lead a school nursing team and influence change in practice.

The programme can be studied full time (52 weeks a year) or part time over two years (104 weeks) and starts in September each year.

You will study theory modules at the university and will learn practical knowledge and skills in a supervised practice placement. The schedule of study for a full-time student is two days university- based learning and two days in practice.

The schedule for a part-time student studying over two years is attendance at university one day a week in year one, and one day a week in year two. Throughout the programme, you will work with designated Practice Supervisors who will support your learning in practice and you will be assessed by a Practice Assessor.

If you are considering studying Specialist Community Public Health Nursing at Brunel University London, then you are committed to working jointly with the NHS to demonstrate the values and beliefs of the constitution.

The SCPHN Programme Lead is Angela Davy and can be contacted on email: angela.davy@brunel.ac.uk

NHS values

The NHS values are at the core of everything we do; working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives and everyone counts.

The NHS values provide common ground for co-operation to achieve shared aspirations, at all levels of the NHS. We have great links with the local NHS and Community Trust, as well as organisations employing Occupational Health Nurses.

Patients, public and staff have helped develop this expression of values that inspire passion in the NHS and that should underpin everything it does. Individual organisations will develop and build upon these values, tailoring them to their local needs.

All incoming health and social care students must be double vaccinated against Covid-19 before the start of the course. More information can be found on the Immunisation Checking web page. ***Please note Brunel is aware that the mandatory vaccine policy is under Ministerial review and we will add an update here in due course.***

You’ll benefit from a course designed to combine your professional education with academic excellence. You’ll continue to gain valuable work experience while you study, as half of your time will be spent on supervised practice placements.

You’ll also undertake a combination of compulsory and professionally-specific modules, the latter will be during the practice-based component of the course.

This course can be studied 52 weeks full-time or 104 weeks part-time, starting in September.

Our London location is ideal for access to a wide variety of fieldwork placements, so you’ll add exceptional clinical placement experiences to your Curriculum Vitae.

If you are seeking to progress into a leadership role in community nursing, a SCPHN qualification we’ll enable you to achieve these ambitions.

Qualified nurse/midwife with active registration on part one, or part two of the NMC Nursing Register (NMC PIN number should be provided within the application) with:

• 2.2 or above in a Nursing Degree

or

• A Nursing Diploma of Higher Education or the equivalent of 120 level 3 credits will be considered with nursing experience.

Two satisfactory references, one of which one should be an employment reference.

All applicants are required to be interviewed to ascertain their academic and professional readiness to undertake postgraduate study.

Please note: Students will be required to complete certain professional course requirements, this includes completion of a Criminal Conviction Disclaimer, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) application and a Pre Course Occupational Health Questionnaire. The application process, costs and more information about these requirements can be found here: Professional course requirements | Brunel University London

For further guidance please email dbs@brunel.ac.uk.

An additional 60 credit module fee is charged for the dissertation for the award of MSc.

Overseas students who are funded by the NHS will be charged the NHS fee. Fees should be available early summer, however this fee is paid by NHS London. Self funded overseas students will be charged the displayed fee.

You’ll benefit from a programme designed to combine your professional education as a Nurse Registrant (NMC UK) with academic excellence, and be taught by experts in your SCPHN field.

In university, you’ll be assessed through a range of assignments which include written papers, oral presentations, and a viva voce. All theory assessments will be submitted via the online portal WISEflow and marked by academics on the SCPHN programme.

In practice, you’ll be allocated a Practice Assessor who assesses the achievement of practice-based competencies as specified by the SCPHN Standards of Proficiency (NMC, 2022). All practice-based assessments are submitted via the electronic Practice Assessment Document (ePAD).