Public health: CPD

Public health knowledge and skills development

The Public Health Skills and Career Framework describes public health competences and the underpinning knowledge against levels of career development.

The ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: public health workforce strategy’ (2013) identified the need to refine the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF), and to develop a new ‘skills passport’ to support the public health workforce in career development and planning.

The Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) programmes, see NMC SCPHN registration.

Post registration nursing qualifications in three specific branches of public health nursing; Health Visiting, School Nursing and Occupational health nursing. These qualification leads to registration on the third part of the NMC register. The NMC are currently reviewing all post registration qualifications including the SCPHN routes. Programme details are available from the individual approved educational institutions.

Resources from the RCN

The public health subpages give further information on specific courses related to areas of public health work. See also Public health Professional Resources.

See the RCN library public health subject guide

Related RCN publications

• Supporting behaviour change
• Going upstream
• Immunisation knowledge and skills competence assessment tool
• Female genital mutilation
• Female Genital Mutilation. RCN guidance for travel health services
• Female Genital Mutilation. RCN guidance for sexual health care
• An RCN toolkit for school nurses
• Children and young people's mental health, every nurse's business
• Safeguarding
• Public health nursing practice. An RCN reflection tool. This leaflet has been designed to be used by public health nurses as a reflective/revalidation tool. See also: Revalidation

Other useful resources:

See All Our Health: personalised care and population health collection and the Interactive All Our Health e-learning sessions

Department of Health and Public Health England resources for public health nursing across the life course: Developing the public health contribution of nurses and midwives: tools and models 

Department of Health and the Institute of Health Visiting:

• health visiting domestic violence and abuse professional guidance
• SAFER communication guidelines

Academy of Social Sciences Making the case for the social sciences. No. 9 Mental Wellbeing. Considers the impact of mental health on growth and development.

RCN sub page; Public mental health