Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (Occupational Health Nursing) PGDip

The content of this module is designed to enable students to meet the needs of service users, carers and organisations in the 21st Century and to achieve the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2022) Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses. The spheres of practice will be taught and assessed throughout the module and at the end of the programme and point of registration, the registered SCPHN will be proficient in all core and field proficiencies within the spheres. 

• Sphere A: Autonomous SCPHN practice
• Sphere B: Transforming specialist community public health nursing practice: evidence, research, evaluation and translation 
• Sphere C: Promoting human rights and addressing inequalities: assessment, surveillance and intervention  
• Sphere D: Population health: enabling, supporting and improving health outcomes of people across the life course 
• Sphere E: Advancing public health services and promoting healthy places, environments  and cultures
• Sphere F: Leading and collaborating: from investment to action and dissemination

This module provides a comprehensive foundation in public health theory and practice across the lifespan, focusing on population health and community wellbeing. You'll explore emerging public health themes, policies, and governance at local, national, and global levels, supported by epidemiology and demography to assess health needs and social determinants. Emphasis is placed on ethical, legal, and evidence-based frameworks that empower inclusive, person-centred care and health promotion. You'll develop skills in partnership working, community development, and safeguarding, while gaining specialist knowledge in social prescribing, genomics, and epigenetics. The module also covers infection control, vaccination, and managing public health incidents—preparing you for effective, community-focused practice.

Module content will include: 

• Underpinning theories and principles of public health across the lifespan, population health and the wellbeing of people and communities. Emerging public health themes, key policies, strategies and related governance requirements, including global and national policies and research. 
• Understanding epidemiology and demography. Specialist knowledge and application of epidemiological evidence at national and local policy levels, to include utilisation of data in the assessment and identification of need within social determinants of health across the lifespan. 
• Utilisation of professional, legal and ethical frameworks to empower individuals and communities to engage effectively with public health and health promotion initiatives promoting person centred inclusive care. Adopting an evidence base to underpin specialist community and public health nursing practice to support innovative approaches to influence people’s motivation, choices and behaviour to maximise their health potential.  
• Partnership roles. Understanding the unique contributions which specialist community nursing and public health nursing practice make to establishing and maintaining collaborative partnerships with people, families and communities.
• Understanding of how culturally responsive resources and community and strength-based assets support health and wellbeing. Application of specialist knowledge of social prescribing and commissioning. Identifying those who are vulnerable and taking action to support, safeguard and protect them. Understand and apply genomics and epigenetics in sufficient detail to inform the concept of health as a fundamental human right and a shared value. 
• Understanding how communities are developed and sustained in relation to their specialised characteristics and assets, and acknowledge their impact when planning preventative strategies to reduce inequalities within a diverse and multicultural society. Political and economic drivers in communities which impact upon resource allocation and health. Understanding how to assess, plan, implement and evaluate major incidents and outbreaks in population health. Infection prevention and control including immunisation and vaccination programmes.

This module develops your ability to engage with evidence-based practice and data-driven decision-making to improve professional and clinical outcomes. You'll explore key research concepts, including formulating research questions, sampling, data validity, and the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Various research designs—such as ethnography, surveys, and mixed methods—are introduced alongside practical data collection techniques like interviews, observation, and audits. Ethical and legal considerations, including data protection, confidentiality, and cultural competence, are emphasised throughout. You’ll also learn how to audit current practice, involve service users, and apply quality improvement models to drive innovation, evaluate services, and lead meaningful change in professional settings.

The module content will include:

• Data and professional practice: Evidence-based practice, benchmarking, audit, evaluation, practice development and quality improvement. 
• Key concepts and issues in social and behavioural research: Research topics and research questions, answering questions with data, validity and reliability of data, qualitative and quantitative data, description, exploration, finding connections, formulating and testing hypotheses, populations and sampling, cultural competence in research practice. Research traditions and designs: Ethnography, survey, experiment, mixed method, research process. 
• Gathering and analysing data: Observation, questionnaires, interviews, surveys, audits, psycho-biometrics. Data analysis and drawing conclusions. 
• Ethical and legal frameworks, constraints in specialist practice, data protection, confidentiality, human rights, cultural competence, Helsinki declaration.  
• Auditing current practice: Prioritisation, best practice standards, service and carer user involvement, collecting data, analysis and evaluation. 
• Quality Improvement: QI models; co-production with service users; community of practice; leadership; monitoring methods and techniques for dissemination. 

The module content will include:

• Data and professional practice: Evidence-based practice, benchmarking, audit, evaluation, practice development and quality improvement. 
• Key concepts and issues in social and behavioural research: Research topics and research questions, answering questions with data, validity and reliability of data, qualitative and quantitative data, description, exploration, finding connections, formulating and testing hypotheses, populations and sampling, cultural competence in research practice. Research traditions and designs: Ethnography, survey, experiment, mixed method, research process. 
• Gathering and analysing data: Observation, questionnaires, interviews, surveys, audits, psycho-biometrics. Data analysis and drawing conclusions. 
• Ethical and legal frameworks, constraints in specialist practice, data protection, confidentiality, human rights, cultural competence, Helsinki declaration.  
• Auditing current practice: Prioritisation, best practice standards, service and carer user involvement, collecting data, analysis and evaluation. 
• Quality Improvement: QI models; co-production with service users; community of practice; leadership; monitoring methods and techniques for dissemination.