Keele University Prospectus Postgraduate | 2016 | Page 76

NURSING Specialist Community Nursing: District Nursing  Overview Keele University School of Nursing and Midwifery offer this pathway as a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approved, full-time one year Specialist Community Nursing programme: District Nursing. Specialist Community Nurses (District Nursing) provide up to date, specialist and highly technical care to patients in their own environments as well as supporting families and carers. As a District Nurse today you need to be highly skilled and educated to manage the changing demographics of communities and populations you will work within. Furthermore, you will be expected to lead teams of both qualified and support staff in a community setting. Recent government policy outlines a call to action and model for district nursing services and this award, providing a qualification in Specialist Community Nursing (District Nursing Pathway), is timely to support this, leading to a recordable specialist qualification with the NMC. Additional information The course has been designed to produce specialist community nursing practitioners who are safe, competent, and professional, to lead district nursing in a community nursing setting. This includes meeting Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards for Specialist Community Nursing, Education and Practice. You will develop your leadership skills whilst on the programme, so that you are able to plan and lead services and initiatives which promote health, support long-term conditions and provide specialist nursing care, including community practitioner prescribing as applicable to your role. You will achieve the recordable qualification through the postgraduate diploma; however, there is the opportunity to undertake a dissertation through a part-time route to convert this postgraduate diploma to a master’s degree. Key Information Course type Postgraduate diploma Mode of study Full-time (or part-time by arrangement) Entry requirements Applicants are required to be qualified adult nurses. Please see the school website for further information on entry requirements Contact email [email protected] Module titles You will study the following core modules: • Research Methods in Health • Leadership and Management for Healthcare Professionals • Specialist Community Practice • Strategic Management of Long-term Conditions The following is a list of indicative elective modules: • Health Assessment in Clinical Practice • Community Practitioner Nurse Prescribing (V100) Good to know Community staff nurses can be funded onto a district nurse specialist practitioner programme via their employing organisation. www.nhscareers.nhs.uk Specialist practitioner programmes comprise 50% theory and 50% practice and concentrate on four areas: • Clinical nursing practice • Care and programme management • Clinical practice development www.keele.ac.uk/pgcourses 76 • Clinical practice leadership