Program Overview

Broaden your understanding and develop a critical awareness of the role and responsibility of key aspects of district nursing, including the coherent an detailed knowledge at the forefront of care.

Our course is designed for qualified nurses who hold a current registration as a nurse (part 1) with the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council Register (equivalent to parts 1 or 12 of the NMC Register). The programme enables the student to qualify as a District Nurse and record the qualification with the NMC.

An attractive feature of the programme is that the Postgraduate Diploma element of the courses can be taken full time for 1 year (self-funded) or part-time over 2 years (possibility of Welsh Government funding if you work in Wales) or flexibly by a module by module approach (over 4 years).

The Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) is open to students who hold a minimum of 120 credits at level 6. On successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma (Postgraduate Diploma in Health & Social Care (District Nursing) students can continue their studies and achieve a full Masters, titled MSc Health and Social Care (Community Specialist Practice).

This programme is also offered at Undergraduate level - see BSc (Hons) Community Specialist Practice for more details.

Key Course Features

The specific aims of the programme are to

• Broaden the student’s understanding of key aspects of district nursing including the acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge at the forefront of care.
• Prepare students for study and competent practice at a specialist level within district nursing in order to meet the NMC (2001) Standards for Specialist Practice.
• Develop a critical awareness of the role and responsibilities of Specialist Community Nurses in contemporary society.
• Utilise contemporary research and advanced scholarship to critically analyse and evaluate key aspects and developments in District Nursing.

Additional features

• You will be taught by a dedicated team of professional nurses who have backgrounds in District Nursing and Community Nursing Roles.
• On successful completion of the Community Specialist Practice Programme, the District Nursing qualification will be recordable with the NMC.
• The programme consists of 50% theory and 50% practice (minimum of 600 hours practice) within a district nursing team and has a 6 week period of practice consolidation at the end of the programme, ensuring that you feel fully prepared for your new role as a District Nurse.
• On successful completion of the Post Graduate Diploma students who have accrued the required credits at level 7 can be offered the opportunity to undertake a 60 credit dissertation leading to a full Masters qualification titled MSc Health and Social Care (Community Specialist Practice)