This course is open for applications
Page last updated 13 September 2024
Introduction
Develop your leadership and influencing capabilities, build the confidence to shape and enhance community nursing practice, and gain the skills to inspire and lead large nursing teams.
Accreditations and partnerships:
Why study district nursing?
Working in the community, district nurses lead nursing teams to provide care and support for patients with a variety of acute and long-term health conditions.
Many employers require nurses in team leadership roles to hold the district nurse qualification.
An opportunity to take your career to the next level, you’ll build your leadership skills and play a more strategic role in how care is delivered in the community.
Why UWE Bristol?
Learn from an experienced team of community nurses at UWE Bristol, with strong industry links and access to the latest research. Benefit from their depth of knowledge across advanced clinical practice, research and education.
With outstanding onsite facilities, and a combination of theory and practice-based learning, you'll gain the strong academic and practical grounding you need to practise competently and confidently as a qualified district nurse.
Relevant to the changing landscape of community nursing, you’ll gain a deep understanding of current issues. This will help you take a more strategic and political view of your care provision, drawing on policies, literature and evidence that influence your care delivery.
We place a strong focus on nurturing positive relationships with team members and other colleagues, disciplines and agencies. We also work in partnership with service users and carers to develop person-centred holistic care.
Where can it take me?
MSc Specialist Practice: District Nursing is a professional practice course for registered adult nurses working in the community, aspiring to move into team leader grade roles.
NHS employers increasingly require band 6 community nurses to hold the NMC recordable specialist practice qualification (SPQ) in district nursing, as well as the independent/supplementary prescribing qualification. You'll achieve both these qualifications by successfully completing the course to PGDip level.
Undertaking the Master’s course, you can take your learning further, carrying out your own research or project in an area of practice that interests you.
Structure
Content
The below information is indicative of the course content and is subject to final UWE Bristol approval. The approved content will be published on this page as soon as possible. When the content has been published, any optional modules listed will be those that are most likely to be available, but they may be subject to change.
Year one
You'll study:
- Evidence Based Practice in District Nursing
- Leadership and Innovation
- Physical Assessment and Clinical Reasoning
- Professional Practice in District Nursing
- Independent and/or Supplementary Prescribing*.
*Two versions of this module are available. The version you take will depend on credit requirement and will be subject to Programme Leader approval.
Year two
You'll study:
- Health and Social Care Research: Methods and Methodology.
Plus one optional module from:
- Dissertation
- Evidencing Work Based Learning.
This structure is for full-time students only. Part-time students study the same modules but the delivery pattern will be different.
The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved, we'll inform you.
Learning and Teaching
The course comprises a mix of lectures, small-group seminars, student-led sessions and clinical skills practice. In addition, Action Learning will support you to develop as a self-directed, reflective practitioner.
Completing the course alongside your current work, you'll be supported by a suitably qualified practice assessor/ supervisor within your organisation. This will enable you to apply what you learn to your own practice and bring your experiences into the classroom.
Work with other health professionals on selected modules, building on the inter-professional and interpersonal skills that are essential to district nursing.
Develop your knowledge of the socio-political context of community nursing, prescribing, the latest evidence and research, and leadership and innovation.
Learn about research techniques, critical appraisal and evaluation and draft your own research proposal. You’ll then undertake a research study or service improvement project.
See our full glossary of learning and teaching terms.
Study time
Available as a full or part-time course, you can work at a pace that suits you and your employer, studying for at least 45 weeks.
Assessment
We'll assess you using a mixture of essays, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), exams and presentations.
You'll also produce a practice portfolio you can take with you, providing valuable evidence of your learning.
Learn more about assessments.