Public Health Practice SCPHN School Nursing PGDip - 2025/6
Awarding body
University of Surrey
Teaching institute
University of Surrey
Framework
FHEQ Level 7
Final award and programme/pathway title
PGDip Public Health Practice SCPHN School Nursing
Subsidiary award(s)
| Award | Title |
|---|---|
| PGCert | Public Health Practice SCPHN School Nursing |
Professional recognition
Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as a post-registration and CPD qualification.
Modes of study
| Route code | Credits and ECTS Credits | |
| Full-time | PTA56917 | 120 credits and 60 ECTS credits |
| Part-time | PTA56918 | 120 credits and 60 ECTS credits |
QAA Subject benchmark statement (if applicable)
Other internal and / or external reference points
NMC (2022a) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-of-proficiency-for-specialist-community-public-health-nurses2/ NMC (2022b) Part 3: Standards for post-registration programmes https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/standards-for-post-registration/standards-for-post-registration-programmes/ NMC (2018a) Part 1: Standards framework for nursing and midwifery education https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards-for-education-and-training/standards-framework-for-nursing-and-midwifery-education/ NMC (2018b) Part 2: Standards for student supervision and assessment https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards-for-education-and-training/standards-for-student-supervision-and-assessment/
Faculty and Department / School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences - School of Health Sciences
Programme Leader
JONES Felicity (Health Sci.)
Date of production/revision of spec
09/05/2025
Educational aims of the programme
Programme learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | Awards | Ref. |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Programme structure
Full-time
This programme is studied full-time This programme is studied full-time over one year, consisting of 120 credits at FHEQ level 7. Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
Part-time
This programme is studied part-time over two years, consisting of 120 credits at FHEQ level 7. Possible exit awards include:
- Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits)
Programme Adjustments (if applicable)
N/A
Modules
Year 1 - FHEQ Level 7
Module Selection for Year 1 - FHEQ Level 7
N/A
Year 2 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7
| Module code | Module title | Status | Credits | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCRM043 | ADVANCED ASSESSMENT AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING PRACTICE | Core | 15 | 1 |
| HCRM052 | SAFEGUARDING IN HEALTHCARE | Core | 15 | 2 |
| NURM202 | LEADING SERVICE DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING | Core | 30 | Year-long |
Module Selection for Year 2 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7
N/A
Year 1 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7
Module Selection for Year 1 (Part-Time) - FHEQ Level 7
N/A
Opportunities for placements / work related learning / collaborative activity
| Associate Tutor(s) / Guest Speakers / Visiting Academics | Y | |
| Professional Training Year (PTY) | N | |
| Placement(s) (study or work that are not part of PTY) | N | |
| Clinical Placement(s) (that are not part of the PTY scheme) | Y | Yes |
| Study exchange (Level 5) | N | |
| Dual degree | N |
Other information
On achieving a Post Graduate Diploma Public Health Practice in SCPHN Health Visiting, students will be eligible for registration with the NMC as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. The student award must be registered with the NMC within five years of successfully completing the programme and if a student fails to do so they will have to undertake additional education and training or gain such experience as specified in NMC standards for the award to be registered. (NMC 2022b 5.2).
Exiting the programme with a Post Graduate Certificate in Public Health Practice will not lead to any NMC awards. Any combination of modules, apart from Developing Autonomous Practice in SCPHN (Health Visiting), can be used to meet the 60 credits for the Post Graduate Certificate.
The School of Health Sciences is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience.¿ This programme is specifically designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas, enhanced detail is provided within each module specification:¿¿
Digital capabilities: Students will develop their digital capabilities by the critical use of information, problem solving and innovative approaches, such as technology enhanced learning.¿ These skills will be transferable to their role as a specialist community public health nursing and a leader where public health data underpins the identification of health needs and supports service development. The students work in a dynamic, modern health or social care environment, currently driven by the need for innovation in digital health and transformation of services. The modes of student learning have been designed to encourage student to engage with available digital resources (e.g., self-directed, blended, hybrid, asynchronous/synchronous).
Employability: All students on the programme will be a NMC registered nurse (level 1) or NMC registered midwife. They will be developing skills and knowledge that can be applied to their role and will enhance their future employability and career aspirations. On achieving a Post Graduate Diploma Public Health Practice in SCPHN Health Visiting, students will be eligible for registration with the NMC as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. Therefore enhancing their professional role and developing employability is core to this programme.
Global and cultural capabilities: To mirror the diversity within Health and Social care environments, the programme incorporates perspectives and practices from a range of cultures, thus enabling students to diversify their knowledge and reflect on different experiences in a healthcare setting. The importance of equity, diversity and inclusion, is core to this pathway and the NMC (2022a) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses. This is achieved in a variety of ways, but particularly through engagement with clinical experts and users of the services to expand on the expertise within the teaching team.
Resourcefulness and Resilience: Throughout the programme students are guided to develop the ability to reflect, evaluate, adapt, and respond flexibly to ever changing needs of working in a community setting as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse Health Visitor. This pillar is fundamental to the development of effective and safe health professionals. Scenario based examples are used during the programme, utilise experiential learning theory to draw on the students considerable clinical and life experiences, to develop students¿ ability to respond effectively to situations within their professional field.
Sustainability: Students are encouraged to recognise and respond to the need for sustainable community public health provision. Throughout the programme students will be developing skills to enable them to advocate for and improve people's fundamental human right for health and wellbeing through leading and developing innovate services that reflect contemporary developments in the delivery of public health and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As a programme team we are very aware of the responsibility we also hold, supporting programmes that are funded by central government, and therefore state funded, utilising a hybrid approach, enables clinical colleagues to engage with programme design and delivery, but where possible in a virtual format to ensure they remain able to support national healthcare services.
Quality assurance
The Regulations and Codes of Practice for taught programmes can be found at:
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.