| HEALTH VISITOR EDUCATION: 1965 – 1994 syllabus and regulation | PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING: HEALTH VISITING AS PART OF THE SPECIALIST COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING FRAMEWORK 1995-2008 | SPECIALIST COMMUNITY PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING: ‘THIRD PART OF THE REGISTER’ 2004 – present | |
| Entry Requirement | Part 1 of the nursing register (RGN) 5 x passes at GCSE, CSE grade 1 or Scottish school leaving certificates; must include English, Welsh or history | Entry from any part of the current nursing register, including second level (enrolled nurses) but not RFN; RM after 2000 5 x passes at GCSE, CSE grade 1 or Scottish school leaving certificates; must include English, Welsh or history (abandoned 2000) | Any part of the current nursing and midwifery register |
| Length | 51 weeks in length | At least 32 weeks; i.e. an academic year or equivalent May be less with accreditation of prior learning | 52 weeks = 45 programmed weeks (i.e., after annual leave;) May be less with accreditation of prior learning |
| Content | Social aspects of health and disease Individual in the group (sociology) Development of the individual (physical and psychological) Social Policy Principles and Practice of Health Visiting | Clinical nursing practice Care and programme management Clinical practice leadership Clinical practice development At least one third in common core with all community nurses; at least one third in specialist area of practice | 10 key standards for public health as basis for education Principles of health visiting redesignated as ‘domains’ Health visiting not mentioned in proficiencies |
| Academic Level | Not specified until after the advent of Project 2000; all validated at least to Diploma level after 1988. Wide variation – certificate to post-graduate level before that. | Minimum of degree level Post-graduate level increasingly common | Minimum of degree level Post-graduate programmes in place |
| Theory and Practice | At least one third practice in part one; i.e. a minimum of 13 weeks Supervised practice period of at least 11 weeks after completion of ‘part one’ of the course; i.e. a total of 24 weeks minimum in practice Regulations governing size/type of caseload to ensure practice experience; alternative practice experience encouraged | 50% theory and 50% practice, i.e. a minimum of 16 weeks in practice in total Supervised practice no longer required No specified type of practice/caseload experience required | At least half in areas of central importance to ‘annotated area of practice’ No specified type of practice/caseload experience required Must encompass a ‘range of practice and experiences’ 50% theory and 50% practice over whole year; consolidated practice of 10 weeks at the end |
| Supervision | During part one of the course, the student to be allocated to a qualified community practice teacher; (CPT) one student to one CPT In supervised practice (part 2) a different assessor; more than one student per CPT allowed Health visiting courses had to be led by a qualified health visitor tutor | No requirements for practice teacher or supervision; presumption of preceptorship on qualification Health visitor tutor not required; qualification abandoned Presumption of adequate specialist skills in teaching team, to be checked at validation | Supervision in practice area by ‘appropriately qualified’ teacher Health visitor tutor qualification and community practice teacher qualifications subsumed under ‘standards for teachers’; must demonstrate sufficient skills in teaching team. |
| Statutory position | Training rules in statute. Registered health visitor is a protected title, mentioned in many laws, e.g. Children Act 1989. | Programmes ran as ‘modified courses approved by Council,’ where they did not meet the statutory requirements for standard programmes (e.g., in terms of length and content) Training rules not updated until 2000, when entry criteria changed; no other changes. Health visiting register remained in situ | Health visiting register closed August 2004 ‘Health visitor’ ceased as a protected title,; it has no legal status, so removed from all laws in which it previously featured. Health visitors moved to SCPHN register. Protected title is SCPHN ‘ Annotation of area of practice by NMC rules; this arrangement is not in statute, and is under review 2009 |
