BSc (Hons) Community Specialist Practice

Start date: September

Course length: One year full tme or up to three years part time

Campus: Kedleston Road site, Derby Campus

This course is for qualified nurses who want to gain a professional qualification in either district nursing or practice nursing. For those who hold either a Diploma or Advanced Diploma in nursing studies, it will enable you to top up your qualification to degree level. If you already have a nursing degree then you can progress onto our MSc Community Specialist Practice instead.

Within primary care the role of the district nurse is changing to reflect the needs of communities. There is a lot more emphasis on bringing care to patients so it is closer to their home environment. This means you will be keeping your professional development in line with latest healthcare guidelines.

By completing this course you'll be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of clinical practice, care and programme management, clinical practice leadership, and clinical practice development. We'll teach you in a variety of ways including lectures, workshops, seminars and group discussions. You'll be assessed through assignments, exams, presentations and the production of a practice portfolio. You'll also be assessed on your placement by your practice teacher.

In order to study this course you'll need to organise for an NHS Primary Care Trust to sponsor you so they can support you throughout your practice placements and provide you with a practice teacher. Without this, unfortunately we won't be able to offer you a place.

You'll study these modules:

• Specialist Issues and Professional Development in Practise (District Nursing)
• Public Health, Inequality and Associated Vulnerability
• ‌Evidence Based Practice
• Leadership and Management in a Commissioning Based Health Care Environment
• Independent Study

You'll need:

• to be registered on part one of the Nursing and Midwifery Council register
• to have sponsorship from an NHS Primary Care Trust
• 120 credits at Diploma level, or equivalent academic credits / Accreditation of Prior Learning.
• at least one year of post-registration experience.

If you're undertaking a recordable pathway, you must have completed a period of sufficient length to have consolidated pre-registration outcomes and to have gained a deeper understanding in relevant professional practice. This will normally be one year.

It will be the Employers responsibility to ensure that any necessary CRB checks and health checks are carried out prior to confirming the offer of a course place.

This is a specialist course.

UK students

• Full time: £7,995 (each year)

How you'll learn

We’ll teach you in a variety of ways including lectures, workshops, seminars and group discussions. You'll spend half of your time on practice placement. Your placement is akey element of your learning and you will gain vital skills and experience working within primary care settings.

How you're assessed

You'll be assessed through assignments, exams, presentations, and the production of a practice portfolio. You'll also be assessed on your placement by your practice teacher.

This course will encourage you to reflect on your practice and develop the knowledge and skills you will need to keep your career moving forward. When you have completed this course, you will have the relevant skills to become a practitioner in your own area of expertise and become a confident district nurse.

When you've completed this course you could continue your professional development by studying a masters such as our MSc Advanced Practice and take your career to the next level. If you already have a bachelors degree in nursing then you should study our MSc Community Specialist Practice which will help you to become an advanced practitioner in your own area of expertise.

Eithne Gallagher, one of our recent graduates:
"I have enjoyed this course and it has prepared me for a career as a district nurse. It's an intense course and requires a lot of work, but the subjects covered have given me a varied knowledge base and have assisted me to develop and progress into this new role. There is a lot of support from the university and the practice teachers during the year to assist you in moving from a community staff nurse to a district nurse."