Fostering professional curiosity in student health visitor practice

We invite you to join us on 13 February, 15:30-16:30 for the first SCPHN student health visitor networking event of 2025, where we discuss professional curiosity, how student health visitors can be professionally curious, and the potential barriers. We will also hear from our co-chairs, (newly qualified health visitors), who will share their experiences and tips on psychological safety and self-care.

Fostering and embedding professional curiosity and respectful uncertainty from the beginning of a student health visitor’s career is important to exploring, observing, and understanding the family’s situation and what life is like for babies and children. It enables a holistic assessment of possible indicators of vulnerability and risk of abuse or neglect, while maintaining an objective, professional and supportive approach to safeguarding babies and children.

Professional curiosity is one of the most common learning points that arises from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, as highlighted in the latest Annual Report by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

Amanda Holland – chair, and co-chairs Claire Black, are delighted to be joined by Jennifer Kirman, Principal Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, and co-author of a book chapter on safeguarding¹. We are also thrilled to be joined by our new co-chair and winner of the 2024 iHV SCPHN student health visitor award, Nicola Taggart.

This event is available to iHV SCPHN student health visitor members. If you are not a member yet, you can find out more about student membership here.

This networking event aligns to the NMC 2022 Standards of Proficiency for Specialist Community Public Health Nurses – Health Visiting, in particular;

Sphere C – Promoting human rights and addressing inequalities, assessment, surveillance and intervention
Sphere E – Advancing public health services and promoting healthy places, environments and cultures

Kirman J and Smith N. Safeguarding. In Chilton S and Bain H, editors. ‘A Textbook of Community Nursing – 3rd edition’. Taylor and Francis. 2025. (Available to pre-order).