Health visitor
Encyclopedia
Health visitors are UK
community health nurses who have undertaken further training to work as part of a primary health care
team. As their name suggests, their role is to promote mental, physical and social well-being in the community by giving advice and support to families in all age groups. Limited resources and staff within the NHS
have traditionally meant that their work has been focused on childhood development, but the scope to expand their roles is slowly improving. The Healthy Child Programme published in October 2009 influences the service available to families. It is presented in three key documents: The First Five Years, The Two Year Review and The Healthy Child Programme for 5-19 year olds. They help a mother before and after she has had a baby.
They usually work with mothers once postpartum
care is handed over from the midwives, advise on feeding, care and support to both infants and parents, provide routine child development checks and have responsibility for child protection issues. They are also able to help people of any age who suffer from chronic illness or live with a disability. They may run health promotion schemes such as stop-smoking clinics.
Qualified health visitors are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
community health nurses who have undertaken further training to work as part of a primary health care
Primary health care
Primary health care, often abbreviated as “PHC”, has been defined as "essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost...
team. As their name suggests, their role is to promote mental, physical and social well-being in the community by giving advice and support to families in all age groups. Limited resources and staff within the NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
have traditionally meant that their work has been focused on childhood development, but the scope to expand their roles is slowly improving. The Healthy Child Programme published in October 2009 influences the service available to families. It is presented in three key documents: The First Five Years, The Two Year Review and The Healthy Child Programme for 5-19 year olds. They help a mother before and after she has had a baby.
They usually work with mothers once postpartum
Postnatal
Postnatal is the period beginning immediately after the birth of a child and extending for about six weeks. Another term would be postpartum period, as it refers to the mother...
care is handed over from the midwives, advise on feeding, care and support to both infants and parents, provide routine child development checks and have responsibility for child protection issues. They are also able to help people of any age who suffer from chronic illness or live with a disability. They may run health promotion schemes such as stop-smoking clinics.
Qualified health visitors are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council
Nursing and Midwifery Council
Established in 2002, the Nursing and Midwifery Council is a statutory body set up by the Parliament of the United Kingdom through the . The NMC is the UK regulator for nursing and midwifery professions with a stated aim to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public...
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