DEVELOPING AUTONOMOUS PRACTICE IN SCPHN (HEALTH VISITING) - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module will provide opportunities for students to develop into culturally competent autonomous practitioners within health visiting, critically appraising the contemporary evidence base to link theory to practice (NMC (2022) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses). Students will be supported in practice by an appropriately skilled and qualified practice assessor and practice supervisor who will provide learning experiences and continuously assess progress utilising the Practice Assessment Document (PAD).
SCPHN health visiting students will become skilled practitioners in leading and influencing public health care across diverse families, communities and populations implementing person and child-centred and proportionate care within universalism. Working with families with children under 5, students will develop unique skills in supporting them in their own homes and communities, building trusting relationships to influence positive health outcomes.

Module provider

School of Health Sciences

Module Leader

ROBERTS Sarah (Health Sci.)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Students must be undertaking the PG Diploma in Public Health Practice in SCPHN Health Visiting programme.

Module content

To be informed by high impact areas in health visiting and Breastfeeding Friendly Initiative themes.
Decision making in complex and unpredictable environments.
The impact of equality, diversity inclusion on areas of professional practice.
Promoting and supporting continuous education and development of individuals and teams within a positive learning culture.
Knowledge and application of theories of normal and atypical child development when working with infants, children and families.
Child, adolescent and adult sexual and reproductive health and contraception.
Infant and child nutrition and healthy weight.
Supporting parents and carers of a child with a life changing or life limiting diagnosis to access services and resources.
Bereaved parents.
Medicines management and management of minor illnesses and injuries.
Partnership working with midwives and school nurses in times of transition.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to: provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the integration of evidence based theory with the acquisition of practice skills. In the PAD, students will identify the strengths, challenges, opportunities and barriers (SCOB) to their learning at three key points in their learning journey. This will enable them to set their learning objectives, agree a plan for achieving them with their practice assessor (PA) and evaluate their progress.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Part 1 OSPA  Observed Structured Practice Assessment. The student is observed undertaking a structured assessment of an individual or family's holistic needs. The OSPA should be on one of the core assessments. A marked copy of the OSPA which is signed by the practice assessor, scanned and submitted to Surrey Learn  Pass/Fail (addresses learning outcomes 1,2 and 5)

Part 2 Practice Assessment Document A PAD of evidence which demonstrates the achievement of SCPHN spheres specific to the student¿s pathway. The evidence in the PAD should contextualise the student's learning and demonstrate their application of knowledge and skills to the health visiting pathway of professional practice. Assessment in practice is measured against the Standards of Proficiency for SCPHN (NMC 2022). A minimum number of 847.5 hours of practice should be achieved Pass/Fail (addresses learning outcomes 1 - 6)

Part 3 Written Assignment A 2000 word reflective account of the student's learning journey to an autonomous practitioner in health visiting. This will be joint marked by the practice assessor and the academic assessor   (addresses learning outcomes 1,4 and 5)

In line with Professional and Regulatory body, Codes of Practice/Standards of Proficiency, if there is evidence of unsafe practice or any breach of confidentiality, the assessment will not meet the criteria to achieve a pass.

Formative assessment: In practice, students will undergo a process of continuous formative assessment by their practice assessor and practice supervisor. There will be progress reviews in practice with the student, their practice assessor and academic assessor on a minimum of three occasions throughout the module where the students will be encouraged to self-assess their progress to date.

Feedback: Regular tutor groups and individual tutorials with the academic assessor will be offered as opportunities for verbal feedback to support learning and development of academic writing. Students will receive regular written and verbal formative feedback from their practice assessor and Practice Supervisor in practice.

Module aims

• For students to achieve competence in the NMC (2022) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses ¿ Health Visiting.
• To critically evaluate and apply evidence-based knowledge related to health visiting practice
• To develop safe, autonomous health visiting practice supported by evidence based decision making
• To empower students to develop innovative approaches to contemporary issues affecting infants, children, families and communities.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Apply the current theoretical and methodological approaches to build a sound knowledge base in relation to health visiting.

 Utilise interprofessional learning within a non-threatening environment to explore the complexities of health visiting practice.

Develop individual professional attributes and abilities within the context of shared experiential learning. This allows students to develop capacities required for successful collaborative working.

Prepare students to have an inquiring attitude and empower them with an ongoing curiosity regarding new and emerging research that informs their health visiting practice

Equip the students with the skills to build upon previous expertise.

Challenge values, beliefs and assumptions in relation to the risk and resilience factors that impact on infants, children .and families.

The learning and teaching methods include: Lectures Online  learning materials/ discussion board Classroom discussions to link theory to practice  Problem based learning  Group work to include scenario based workshops  Practice based learning  Simulated learning in relation to practice

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: NURM196

Other information

The school/department of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas: Employability: Students are registered healthcare professionals and will be developing skills and knowledge that can be applied to their role and will enhance their future employability. Students will develop a critically inquiring attitude and professional curiosity regarding their health visiting practice and network with other professionals. Global and cultural capabilities: Module content incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures; through conversations around culture, faith and religion, students are encouraged to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences. This will support the development of cultural competence to support the diverse range of communities engaging with services. Students will reflect on cultural practices and the impact of judgements in relation to working with clients and colleagues. Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to events throughout the module and in the practice environment. This pillar is fundamental to the development of effective and safe health professionals. Scenario based examples are used to develop students¿ ability to respond effectively to situations within health visiting.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.