PgDip Specialist Community Nursing – Community Children’s Nursing/ Community District Nursing/General Practice Nursing

 For January starters there will be induction sessions on the 3rd, 4th and 5th January 2024, attendance is required.

Please ensure you select and apply for the correct course and level, failure to do so will impact on your registration and may delay your access to the course, if you are unsure please contact the Programme Lead or CPD Admissions.

About this Course

The Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) Specialist Community Nursing course gives you the opportunity to develop and demonstrate knowledge, understanding and skills in community nursing. It is designed to support professionals to establish skills and strategies necessary to promote health and well-being in partnership with individuals and groups in a variety of community settings. It fulfils the professional standards for the education and preparation of specialist community practitioners developed by the UKCC [2001] and is endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. 

The course is suitable for all registered nurses who want to achieve registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council as a Specialist Community Nurse in community children’s nursing, community nursing in the home – district nursing or general practice nursing.

The 3 different pathways for this course do differ as follows:

As a Community Children’s Nurse you will provide a high level of specialist care to sick children and young people with complex health needs in the community setting. As well as providing direct care will provide support to parents and families, which may include teaching of specific care required to maintain the child at home whenever it is safe to do so.  You will also be expected to work in partnership and liaise with the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency team.

As a District Nurse you play a crucial role in the primary healthcare team. They visit people in their own homes or in residential care homes, providing increasingly complex care for patients and supporting family members.  As well as providing direct patient care, you'll have a teaching and support role, working with patients to enable them to care for themselves or with family members teaching them how to give care to their relatives. You will play a vital role in keeping hospital admissions and readmissions to a minimum and ensuring that patients can return to their own homes as soon as possible. You will be expected to work in partnership and liaise with the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency team.

As a General Practice Nurse you will work in GP surgeries as part of the primary healthcare team, which might include doctors, pharmacists and dieticians. In larger practices, you might be one of several practice nurses sharing duties and responsibilities. In others, you might be working on your own, taking on many roles.  The overall scope of your role will depend on the needs of the employer. You will be expected to work in partnership and liaise with the multi-disciplinary/multi-agency team.

Why Choose this Course

The course gives you the opportunity to gain specialist skills and knowledge in Specialist Community Nursing, which will enable you to:

• Evaluate the current organisational and professional agendas that influence care delivery in primary healthcare and community settings.
• Focus on the multi-professional and multi-agency approaches to care. 
• Study leadership and management skills so that when you graduate you will be able to provide effective leadership within a mixed skill team and multi-agency work setting as well as to work proactively in a commissioning environment.
• Combine learning at the University with hands-on experience in a practice environment, with an equal allocation of practice and theory hours.
• Achieve the V100 prescribing qualification, where local arrangements allow or the V300 Non-Medical Prescribing for Nurses (to be discussed further once registered on the programme.) 

Entry Requirements

The normal entry requirements for the PGDip Specialist Community Nursing course are:

Access to an appropriate specialist community practice placement with a designated practice supervisor and practice assessor for the duration of your studies on the course. This is normally provided through the sponsoring employer.

• A UK degree, or other qualification at equivalent level, in a health-related subject 
• All applicants are required to demonstrate effective registration on part 1 of the NMC register.  
• All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency. The following qualifications and grades will be considered:

o GCSE English language grade A-C

o IELTS 6.5 (with no less than 5.5 in any band)

If you do not have the required level of English for entry, our academic English and foundation courses can help you to achieve this level.

Course Structure

To attain a PgDip award you need to complete 120 credits.  To top-up to an MSc you will need to complete a further 60 credits (180 credits).  There is an interim award available of a Postgraduate Certificate which can be awarded after completing 60 credits.  There is no professional qualification associated with this award.

Teaching Methods

You will experience a wide variety of learning styles on the PGDip Specialist Community Nursing course. During your studies you will develop your capacity for self-directed study and your interpersonal skills.

We particularly emphasise the importance of structured research: well-prepared written and verbal presentations and computer literacy. Alongside elements of standard lectures, seminars, tutorials and laboratories, you also learn through case studies, individual and group projects and other student-centred activities.

You will develop your capacity for independent study and interpersonal skills on this programme. There is an emphasis on structured research, well-prepared written and verbal presentations and computer literacy.

Modules are assessed by a variety of methods for example essays, presentations, reports, posters and practical examinations.

During your studies you will need to undertake 30 credits worth of optional modules and choose either of the following:

Integrative Review of Community Nursing (15 credits) AND V100 Community Nurse Prescribing (15 credits). Both can be selected during the application process.

OR V300 Non-Medical Prescribing for Nurses (30 credits). If you wish to study V300 you will need to discuss first with the tutor once registered on the programme. 

You will be able to discuss these options with the programme tutor once registered on the course.