Introduction

Our standards for specialist community public health nurses (SCPHN) and community nursing specialist practice qualification (SPQ) programmes set out the legal requirements, entry requirements, requirements for the curriculum and practice learning, requirements for supervision and assessment, and information on the awards for these post-registration programmes.

Public safety is central to our standards. Registered nurses and midwives undertaking these programmes are post-registration students in this context. They will be in contact with people throughout their education. It’s important they grow in confidence, and further develop their knowledge and skills in a safe, supportive and effective way.

These programme standards must be read with our Standards framework for nursing and midwifery education and Standards for student supervision and assessment, both of which apply to all NMC approved programmes. NMC Approved Education Institutions (AEIs) intending to deliver post-registration education programmes must comply with all these standards to run an approved programme.

Education providers structure their programmes to comply with our programme standards. They design their curricula around the proficiencies we set. Proficiencies are the knowledge, skills and behaviours that nurses and midwives need in order to practise.

We also publish standards of proficiency for nursing and midwifery professions, including Standards of proficiency for specialist community public health nurses and Standards of proficiency for community nursing SPQs.

Our standards for education and training highlight the need for programmes to adopt an inclusive approach to recruitment, selection and progression, ensuring admissions and all other academic processes are open, fair, transparent and demonstrate an understanding of and take measures to address underrepresentation.

Curricula for specialist community public health nurses and community nursing specialist practice qualifications may be flexible to accommodate opportunities for shared learning, including between post-registration programmes and the differing fields of SCPHN and community nursing SPQ practice that reflect the range of learning opportunities and needs and in recognising prior experience as registered professionals. Students will learn and be assessed in theory, simulation and practice environments and settings.

Students are assessed against proficiencies for their intended field of SCPHN practice or SCPHN public health nurse practice.

The awards are as follows:

• SCPHN: health visitor, school nurse, occupational health nurse
• SCPHN: public health nurse²

Students are assessed against proficiencies for their intended community nursing SPQ practice.

The awards are as follows:

• Community nursing SPQ: in the field of community children’s nursing, community learning disabilities nursing, community mental health nursing, district nursing, general practice nursing
• Community nursing in health and social care SPQ: for which other fields of community nursing may be specified³.

We believe that involving people who use services and members of the public in the planning and delivery of curricula will promote public confidence in the education of nursing and midwifery professionals. We encourage the use of supportive evidence and engagement from people who have experienced care.

Successful completion of the programme confirms the student is capable of providing safe, effective and kind care that improves health and wellbeing.

Students will learn and be assessed in theory, simulation and practice environments and settings in a specific field of practice SCPHN role, a SCPHN public health nurse role, in a specific field of practice community nursing SPQ role or in a community nursing in health and social care SPQ role.

Through our quality assurance processes we check that education programmes meet all of our standards, that the programme outcomes relate to the proficiencies for particular qualifications and that AEIs and practice learning partners are managing risks effectively. We monitor risks to quality in education and training using internal and external intelligence. This intelligence gathering includes analysis of system regulators’ reports.

Before any programme can be run, we make sure it meets our standards. We do this through an approvals process, in accordance with our quality assurance framework.

Overall responsibility for the day-to-day management of the quality of any educational programme lies with the AEI in partnership with its practice learning partners.

Legislative framework

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Article 5(2) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (‘the Order’) requires the NMC to establish the standards of proficiency necessary to be admitted to each part of the register and for safe and effective practice under that part of the register. This article applies to SCPHN standards of proficiency.

Article 15(1) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 requires the NMC to establish the standards for education and training which are necessary to achieve the standards of proficiency for admission to any part of the register. This article applies to SCPHN programme standards.

Article 19(6) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 allows the NMC to establish standards of education and training for any additional qualifications that may be recorded on the register. Articles 15(3) to (9) and articles 16 to 18 shall apply in respect of those standards as if they were standards established under article 15(1)(a). This means the NMC may establish standards of education and training and may approve a course of education or qualification in relation to SPQs.

These post-registration programme standards are established under these provisions.