Student Health Visitor Jobs

Student health visitor jobs can be a great way to gain experience and grow as a nurse or health visitor. The roles are only open to registered nurses, but with the NHS desperate for more people to get into the career and start filling nursing positions, the qualification can come in many forms.

What is a Health Visitor?

A health visitor is a registered nurse who has completed additional training to work with families and children from birth up to the age of five. They offer support, advice and guidance on all aspects of child care, including breastfeeding, diet, and healthy eating, sleep, and emotional wellbeing.

Health visitors may also work in school environments and may have additional duties, such as taking blood pressure readings, measuring height and weight.

What is a Student Health Visitor?

A student health visitor is an individual who has completed their nurse training but hasn’t yet qualified to be a health visitor. They work closely with registered nurses in order to gain the required knowledge for qualifying as a health visitor.

Health visitors have to complete various types of training, including theory work at university and practical placements in the community. During student nurse placements you will visit families, attend meetings with other professionals such as social workers and midwives for example, complete detailed case studies on individual children or families and also spend time shadowing more experienced health visitors.

Training

You must be a registered nurse to become a health visitor, especially if you are going to work alone. There are schemes whereby you can undertake high-level degree apprenticeships to become a health visitor and this provides an alternative path, though many health visitors start their journey with a degree in nursing.

The registered nurse degree apprenticeship (RNDA) is one of the main alternatives. This entails four years of training, with the student health visitor completing their degree at the same time as getting hands-on experience in a nursing role.

Student Nurses and health visitors are paid while they train, although this will be less than a registered nurse’s wage. There may also be student loans or bursaries available to study for your nursing qualification depending on your circumstances.

What Skills Health Visitors Need

The skills that health visitors need are vast, but some of the key ones include:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills as this job is centred around working with others
• The ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• A good knowledge of child development from birth to five years old and beyond
• Knowledge of public health issues and how to promote healthy lifestyles
• Understanding of safeguarding children and how to respond in the event of a child protection issue
• The ability to work with people from all backgrounds, and different cultures.

Find a Student Health Visitor Job

Most student health visitor roles are advertised through NHS Jobs and you may also see them advertised through student and graduate jobs boards such as here on Developing a Student.

Finding a role that includes training such as an RNDA may also involve looking at what is available through learning establishments and training providers.