Health Visitor

Also known as:

Public Health Nurse

Introduction

Health visitors, or public health nurses as they are now called in Scotland, advise and educate people on health matters, and monitor the development of babies and children. They work in the community, visiting people at home. They are usually attached to a health centre or doctor's surgery. They take specialist training after qualifying as a nurse.

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Work Activities

Public health nurses advise and educate people on health matters. They take the role of family counsellor, teacher and nurse, providing much more than just basic nursing care.

One of the main responsibilities of a public health nurse is to check the development of babies through regular visits and clinic sessions. They have links with parents before and after the birth, but the main involvement occurs after the first 28 days of the baby's life. This is when the public health nurse takes over from the midwife. Public health nurses advise on normal child development, feeding, safety, and how to play with and stimulate a child.

Public health nurses are involved in running clinics and classes - Child Health Clinics, Well Baby Clinics, antenatal and postnatal classes. These can be attached to a GP's surgery or can be separate health clinics.

A lot of the work of the public health nurse is based in the community, visiting people (including older people and those with disabilities) in their own homes. It involves advising on health matters or managing complex situations like child abuse. They liaise with other organisations such as the Housing Department, Social Work Departments and Citizens' Advice Bureaux.

Public health nurses also help to promote health care in the community. They collect and use information about the health and social problems of the local population, and devise the best ways of meeting health needs. Health promotion activities may be aimed at encouraging changes in diet and lifestyle. Public health nurses are also required to write and keep accurate reports and records.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

You will need to be sensitive and tactful when dealing with people and respect their preferences, particularly when working in people's homes. It is important that you have an understanding of social pressures and that you can communicate with people from different social backgrounds.

You will need the ability to make decisions alone and accept responsibility for those decisions and actions. You should also possess stamina. The work can be emotionally and intellectually demanding.

Maturity and experience will give you confidence when dealing with people and entering people's homes.

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Pay and Opportunities

National Health Service (NHS) employees are paid on a rising scale within defined pay bands, according to their skills and responsibilities.

On the Agenda for Change pay scales, health visitors are on Band 6. From April 1, 2008 this has been £24,103 - £32,653 a year.

Public health nursing specialists and those with management responsibilities can earn up to £38,352 a year, on Band 7.

Public health nurses work a basic 37.5-hour week, which may include day and evening work.

In February 2008 there were 1826 public health nurses practising in Scotland. They usually cover the area of a GP's practice. The website www.jobs.scot.nhs.uk advertises a range of NHS vacancies.

There are current moves to amalgamate the jobs of public health nurse, district nurse, family health nurse and school nurse. The new job, combining the functions of all four professions, will be called General Community Health Nurse. This change will take place in the first instance in spring 2008 within four regions: Lothian, Tayside, Borders and Highland.

Public health nurses have opportunities to work in other countries, especially in developing countries.

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Adult Opportunities

Age limits apply to this occupation. To start training as a nurse, you must be aged at least 17 in Scotland (17 and a half in England) on the day the course starts. You must be at least 16 before you can apply for the course.

If you don't have the qualifications that are usually needed to enter a degree or DipHE in nursing course, you might be able to start one after completing a college or university Access course, eg, Access to Nursing. You don't usually need any formal qualifications to start an Access course, but you should check individual course details.

Other possible routes into nursing training for adults can be a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) level 3 in a relevant subject (eg care), Access to Nursing course, modular course credits from the Open University, and Return to Practice courses.

Shortened or accelerated training courses are available for some graduates. For example, a two-year nursing course can be taken if you have a degree in a relevant subject area, such as life sciences, social sciences or in health-related topics.

Students on a pre-registration nursing or midwifery DipHE or degree course are eligible for a bursary.

Employers usually sponsor specialist post-registration training for health visitors.

The Government is keen to welcome qualified and experienced people back into the NHS. If you have not practised for five years and want to return to the NHS, you can join a Return to Practice programme. This 2 year part-time course refreshes clinical skills and there are classroom sessions to discuss theory. There may be funding available through the Scottish Government.

For more information contact NHS Education for Scotland.

• 31% of people in nursing occupations, including health visitor, work part-time.
• 6% have flexible hours.
• 4% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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