Specialist Community Nursing - District Nursing Pathway

Entry requirements

• Current first level Professional Registration on Part 1 of the NMC Register (Registered Nurse).
• Either a BSc (Hons) or evidence of success at degree level study.
• Level 2 Maths and English prior to commencing the programme (requirement of the apprenticeship route).
• Sponsorship from an authorised NHS Trust/Organisation.
• The selection process is undertaken in association with the sponsoring NHS Trust/Organisation.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Please note, all course information including entry requirements relates to the 2022/23 academic year.

Would you like to train as a District Nurse? Keele University's School of Nursing and Midwifery has developed an NMC approved, full-time one-year and part-time two-year Specialist Community Nursing (District Nursing) programme.

The pressures on the role of the District Nurse have changed substantially over recent years. District Nurses deliver care to patients with a range of complex clinical conditions; these caseload changes are largely as a result of the demographic changes we have seen in recent years (Office of National Statistics (ONS), 2014). An increasingly ageing population and the proposed national shift in the preferred location of care to ‘care closer to home’ (Queens Nursing Institute (QNI), 2013; Department of Health (DH), 2014), has dramatically changed the complexity of the care the service delivers and the dependency of patients requiring such care. These changes have intensified demands on the District Nursing service (QNI, 2015).

The aim of this programme is to support the development and enhancement of essential knowledge and skills in the registered practitioner to equip them for a career in specialist community nursing. This will be actualised through building upon the theoretical and clinical basis of their specialised area of practice, through delivery of a coherent programme of study. The award options have a contemporary focus and meet the NMC Standards for Specialist Education and Practice (NMC, 2001) for those aspiring to work within the field of District Nursing.

Information for international students

Please note this programme is available for Home students only who are employed in a community nursing role and are seconded by their employer or funded to undertake the apprenticeship route.

Fees and funding

For information related to fees and funding, please visit the individual course page on the Keele University website.