Public health - RCN resources

Here is a listing of RCN products and services relating to public health. We make clear in the description for each entry whether the product or service is available exclusively to RCN members.

Public Health Forum  

The Public Health Forum represents nurses from a range of public health disciplines all with an overaching aim and expertise within their roles to improve the health and quality of life of patients and communities. This is through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, achieved through surveillance of cases and monitoring of population trends and by the promotion of healthy behaviours based on evidence of what works. Visit the Public Health Forum. RCN members can join a forum for free online, see RCN forum communities.

CPD Online learning

The RCN's Learning Zone provides online continuing professional development (CPD) topics that are relevant across the whole nursing team. These topics include:

Diabetes essentials - this learning resource aims to provide you with an overview of diabetes and to provide some guidelines on treating patients with this condition as part of the nursing team. There are also some scenarios that look at different situations involving diabetes.

Diabetes essentials is supplemented by the Diabetes online resource which signposts quality resources including national standards and guidelines, evidence digests and guidance and initiatives both on specific aspects of diabetes and its management, and also those that focus on diabetes care for particular populations and contexts of care.

Dignity in health care - this learning area contains bite sized pieces of learning on: dignity and me; person-centres care; dignified differences; caring with dignity; communicating with dignity and a dignified environment.

Sexual health for non-experts - this learning area is just what you need if you are a nurse or health care assistant (HCA) who is likely to come into contact with patients and clients with sexual health care needs. The learning content is suitable if you are not a specialist, and don't have much experience in sexual health matters.

HIV / AIDS – what you need to know - the learning content provides an overview of the key issues related to HIV and is suitable for those with limited experience with HIV infection as well as for those who want to reinforce their knowledge and skills.

RCN Learning Zone

You can also access further learning opportunities via the Learning Zone. The Learning Zone is available to RCN members and aims to provide easy-access learning materials to support professional needs.  A wide range of topics is available. For details of the full range access the Learning Zone. [You will need your RCN membership to access these].

The following learning areas may be of particular interest:

Problematic substance abuse – for non-experts
This learning area looks at the barriers that prevent members from discussing problematic substance use with their patients. It uses a variety of case study scenarios that look at a number of different situations around how to start discussing problematic substance use. The learning includes sign posting to tools and techniques that can be applied to improve their confidence in dealing with patients where substance misuse issues may be a factor.

Stress management
The aim of this resource is to help the user answer the following questions, among others: What is stress? How does it affect you? What can you do and who can help you? How can you manage stress?  And what your employer should be doing.

Exploring leadership
This learning area is based around the need for all practitioners to lead the way in providing patient care and is designed to help everyone achieve their leadership potential.

The RCN also offers a variety of leadership programmes that can enable practitioners to enhance their practice and to influence health and social care policy at local or national levels. These include a Political Leadership Programme and Leading for Quality Care. There is also an RCN Consultancy Service which can design and develop bespoke programmes. This service works with organisations in all areas of health and social care to support improvements in care, careers for staff and the workplace.

Telehealth explained
With use of telehealth increasing this will help you to develop a deeper understanding of what telehealth is about and how it might be used in addressing some of the challenging problems in health care delivery such as providing integrated and quality care for people with long-term conditions.

Violence in the workplace
This learning has been primarily developed for nurses and health care support workers - those based in hospital and health care environments as well as lone workers. It includes an in-depth look at dynamic risk assessments.

Online resources

Further online resources:

Dignity - this online resource promotes dignified care and provides a range of resources to put this into practice. These resources will help to support a patient-centred approach to care and to enable patients, their relatives and carers to feel in control and be able to make decisions for themselves.

eHealth - these web pages have been developed to provide the nursing community with information and guidance about eHealth. The pages include three core areas: electronic patient records; education and training and telehealth and telecare.

Infection prevention and control - an online resource which brings together the latest news and guidance on infection prevention as well as resources that will help you prevent and control infection.

Older people - these pages bring together a range of resources that can inform and support care for older people, including information and publications from work that the RCN has been carrying out on older people's care.

Patient safety and human factors - an online resource which introduces you to a broad range of activities relating to patient safety and human factors. The resource signposts further resources and support available from the RCN, and provides an overview of the active patient agenda being pursued across the United Kingdom. This includes a section on preventing venous thromboembolism. 

RCN Principles of Nursing Practice - the RCN Principles of Nursing Practice describe what the public can expect from nursing practice in any setting. They can be used as a framework for quality improvement, practice development as well as continuing professional development.  This online resource provides information about the Principles and their development and resources and ideas to support their use.

Safeguarding - this resource aims to help RCN members locate information that is practical, useful, relevant and adaptable in different settings. Resources are arranged under the headings: adult; children and young people; vulnerable people; safeguarding professionals.

Social inclusion - this online resource presents key principles for inclusive practice and provides information about agencies, policies and guidance relevant to the UK social inclusion agenda with areas devoted to people who are asylum seekers and refugees, Gypsies and Travellers, sex workers, people with an offending history and  people who are homeless, have a learning disability or who have a mental health problem.

RCN Publications

The following are selected publications from the RCN and are downloadable from the RCN website.
Other titles can be accessed from the RCN website. See RCN publications.

The lists on the RCN website are arranged in alphabetical order of title. The following list is arranged firstly by publication date order (most recent first), and then alphabetically by title.

All publications are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

Going upstream: nursing’s contribution to public health: prevent, promote and protect. RCN guidance for nurses (PDF 342KB) (2012)
In public health,‘upstream approaches’ seek the causes of disease and preventable disability in order to address problems through prevention, rather than treatment. This publication aims to help RCN members and other health professionals navigate their way upstream, particularly service planners and commissioners of health services, tasked with finding cost effective solutions to the problems caused by unhealthy lifestyles and behaviours. Case studies are included which can help service planners and commissioners exploit the power of nursing to help shift the overall performance in the NHS in moving away from episodic acute care towards prevention and self-care. Four main sections in the document cover: setting the public health scene in the UK; celebrating the diversity of approaches to public health in each of the four UK countries; a framework to for engaging actively in upstream nursing; innovation in upstream nursing with examples of good practice from RCN members.

RCN’s UK position statement on school nursing (PDF 240.5KB) (2012)
Whilst each government in the four UK countries is mandated to respond individually to the health needs of its population and structure its health services appropriately, the RCN’s position is that there is a set of common core values in relation to the future of school nursing across all parts of the UK. This publication details the RCN’s position for school nursing across the UK and provides details on the context for reform throughout all four nations. It also provides information on the College’s position on the development of the school nursing workforce.

Role of school nurses in providing emergency contraception services in educational settings: RCN position statement (PDF 1.06MB) (2012)
The role of school nurses has extended to provide emergency contraception and advice on sexual health to school-age students in education settings, following OFSTED’s report on sex and relationship education in schools (2006). This updated RCN position statement aims to clarify the responsibilities of school nurses when they are providing emergency contraception to students in education settings. It also highlights the importance of appropriate training, experience and working together with education providers and looks at the laws around providing emergency contraception to under 16s and the duty of confidentiality.

Mental health in children and young people: An RCN toolkit for nurses who are not mental health specialists (PDF 282.5 KB) (2009)
One in 10 children and young people will experience behavioural, emotional and mental health problems at some point in their lives but identifying mental health problems and responding appropriately can prove challenging for nurses working with children and young people. This publication aims to assist those nurses who are not mental health specialists who work with children and young people in community and hospital settings. It will help them in identifying the skills and knowledge they need to recognise and, if necessary, refer children who have problems affecting their mental health.

Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive Staphylococcus aureus (PVL-SA): RCN guidance for health professionals (PDF 487.4KB) (2011)
The purpose of this guidance is to assist nurses and health care assistants in their assessment, diagnosis, management and prevention of suspected or confirmed Panton-Valentine Leukocidinpositive Staphylococcus aureus (PVL-SA) infections within the household, wider community and health and social care setting (including care homes).

Principles of Nursing Practice poster (PDF 635KB) (2010)
The RCN Principles of Nursing Practice describe what the public can expect from nursing practice in any setting. They can be used as a framework for quality improvement and practice development as well as continuing professional development. In addition to the poster there is an A6 card (PDF 894KB). For details of the background to, and ongoing work and developments around the Principles see the online resource Principles of Nursing Practice.

RCN response to the Public Health White Paper 'Healthy lives, healthy people: our strategy for public health in England' (PDF 284.0 KB) (2011)
The full response of the RCN to the Public Health White Paper includes an executive summary, responses to individual chapters and specific consultations questions within the white paper and the results of the consultation survey carried out by the RCN. There is also an executive summary available: see Executive summary (PDF 78.6KB).

RCN's UK position on health visiting in the early years (2011) (PDF 576KB)
In August 2010 the RCN published 'Pillars of the community: the RCN UK position on the development of the registered nursing workforce in the community'. This position statement builds on that document describing in more detail what this might mean for the future of health visiting in the early years across the UK. Case studies are encompassed in the publication showing exemplars of innovative practice. It is aimed at all RCN members and key stakeholders as well as policy and decision makers. See: 'Pillars of the community: the RCN’s UK position on the development of the registered nursing workforce in the community (PDF 311KB).

School nursing in 2009. Results from a survey of RCN members working in schools in 2009 (PDF 343.4KB)
In 2005 findings from the largest ever survey of school nurses in the UK were published by the RCN showing the breadth and depth of the role, highlighting the wide range of activities undertaken and placing the school nurse at the centre of liaisons with numerous agencies and other professionals working with young people. Four years on, the survey has been repeated to explore how school nursing has changed and what are the issues facing school nurses across the UK in 2009.

Sexual health competences: an integrated career and competency framework for sexual and reproductive health nursing across the UK (PDF 986.9 KB) (2009)
The sexual health of people in the UK today is a serious concern. Against this background there is now an increasing need for competencies for sexual and reproductive health nurses from primary, secondary and community care settings across the UK. This publication outlines a framework of competencies and is designed to help nurses to provide safe, effective and accountable care to clients. It is not prescriptive, but acts as a template that can be modified to suit local and individual need. It can be used to help managers and individual nurses to review their strengths and identify gaps in their competence and specific training and development needs.

RCN toolkit for school nurses: developing your practice to support children and young people in educational settings (2008) (PDF 285.9KB)
The publication aims to highlight the public health role of the school nurse and to disseminate best practice. As well as guidance on school health profiling, it covers infection control, travel health, safeguarding children and risk assessment. It also includes information on management and professional accountability, and on audit.

Nurses as partners in delivering public health (2007) (PDF 158KB)
Published by an alliance of organisations, the Public Health Alliance, this paper aims to support the nursing contribution to public health. It highlights how nurses can strengthen their positions to better influence the health of communities, and includes examples of innovative work already taking place.

Getting it right for children and young people: a self-assessment tool for practice nurses (2006) (PDF 1.7MB)
This self-assessment tool is arranged in two parts. Part one links to the 'Common core of skills and knowledge for the children's workforce' (DfES, 2005). Part two highlights the key clinical skills and knowledge required to address the needs of children and young people presenting with acute illness and injury, as well as the environment for care.

RCN Briefings

The Policy and International Department publishes policy briefings on a wide range of issues affecting nurses and nursing.