Specialist Practitioner Qualification (Community Children’s Nursing) PgDip

Buckinghamshire New University

Community children’s nurses provide a vital role assessing, and reacting to, the health needs of children in the community – including those with very complex needs. Approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), this postgraduate diploma gives you the in-depth grounding to take your career forward in this dynamic area of nursing.

This course is for qualified nurses with a degree. You will be sponsored by a health organisation or trust and achieve a postgraduate diploma, while gaining advanced skills and knowledge in an area of community nursing you want to specialise in.

You will benefit from an excellent standard of teaching provided by staff from the University and practice, in partnership with our NHS Trust partners. As well as this you will be taught by lecturers who have a wide expertise in the field. Our lecturers also maintain close links with practice, ensuring that the programme is up-to-date with modern practice.

We offer continuous support throughout the programme, and you will receive personal tutoring and benefit from a high level of research within the teaching team. Your personal tutor will help guide you through your studies, support you with your academic development and give advice when needed.

Highly regarded by students and practice partners for our teaching in this area, BNU has a strong reputation for its health visitor and school nurse training. You will work with highly skilled academics, who have worked in the community – and spend 50% of your time in practice yourself, consolidating and deepening your understanding and skills.

Learning about the main aspects of contemporary community children’s nursing practice, you will study topics such as mental health across the lifespan, safeguarding and effective caseload management.

Developing strong leadership, critical thinking and research skills, you will also learn to take a more strategic view of the way children’s healthcare is delivered in the community, drawing on the latest research, ideas and policy.

This course covers all the areas needed to meet the NMC professional requirements for community children’s nurses.

As well as spending half your time in practice, case study-type simulations will allow you to explore the kind of issues you will face as a children’s community nurse. You will also work closely with students from other community nursing courses at BNU, building your experience of working in a multi-professional way.

By the end of the course, you will have developed the higher level of skills and knowledge you need to become a leader in this specialist field of nursing. Your e-portfolio will provide evidence of this, to validate your learning with the NMC.