Specialist Practitioner School Nursing

Dorset Healthcare University Nhs Foundation Trust; Poole; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 33,000; Part time

Job summary

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Specialist Practitioner to lead and participate in the School Nursing core programme, underpinned by the Healthy Child Programme. You will work with children, young people, families, Local Authority and schools to deliver targeted public health services.

You will collaborate with pan Dorset 0-19 CYP Public Health Teams, support ChatHealth texting, safeguarding and School Nursing Requests for Support, and provide supervision and line

Qualifications

• Experience of specialist working in public health or school nursing.
• Experience of leading and mentoring junior staff.
• UK professional registration and membership of the relevant professional body.

Responsibilities

• Provide a high-quality person-centred care delivery approach emphasising safety, privacy and dignity.
• Support Healthy Child Programme delivery for 5–19 age group and families within CYP PH service.
• Promote health and wellbeing of 5–19 population and families.
• Provide specialist advice for management and care of patients/service users.
• Develop specialist programmes of care for 0–19 team and other professionals; ensure delivery.
• Plan and review health improvement programmes across settings to meet health and social needs.

Skills

Specialist working

Clinical reasoning

Communication skills

Team leadership

Education

Registered Specialist Public Health Practitioner (School Nursing)

Job description

Job summary

As a Specialist Practitioner, you will lead and participate in the School Nursing core programme, as underpinned by the Healthy Child Programme and will work in partnership with children, young people and families, the Local Authority, Early Intervention Services, Children's Services, Schools and other Health Care providers.

You will be required to work closely with the pan Dorset 0-19 CYP Public Health Teams, to provide services in response to identified needs, including supporting the delivery of the ChatHealth texting service, Safeguarding and School Nursing Requests for Support.

You will be Registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner School.

You will be able to demonstrate specialist clinical reasoning skills to assimilate information in order to make a clinical judgement regarding diagnosis and intervention.

Applications from candidates who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are unfortunately ineligible to apply for this position.

Employment in this post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which the Trust will cover the cost of.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a high-quality person-centred approach to care delivery which always considers people's safety, privacy, and dignity.
• To work within the Children Young Person Public Health (CYP PH) Service to support the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme and targeted interventions to children 5 to 19 and their families.
• To promote the health and wellbeing of the 5 to 19 population and their families.
• To provide specialist advice to others regarding the management and care of patients / service users.
• To devise specialist programmes of care for members of the 0-19 team and other professionals, to deliver and ensure they are delivered appropriately.
• To plan, implement and review health improvement programmes in a range of settings and be proactive in delivering the national and local public health agendas in response to identified health and social need.
• To work in partnership with other agencies and meet agreed standards, objectives, and statutory requirements.
• Provide supervision, mentorship, training and clinical support to students and trained practitioners.
• To provide line management and leadership within the 0-19 team.

About us

At Dorset HealthCare we're on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined-up healthcare services. We're a dynamic, forward-looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.

We do things differently here - it's one of the reasons the CQC rated us 'outstanding' in 2019. It's also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference. Whether you're looking to work with us in one of our bustling market towns, vibrant urban locations, thriving seaside spots, or among the rolling hills of Dorset, there are lots of ways you can make a difference in our communities.

Our 7,000-strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We're all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We're an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.

Working with us you'll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don't know. And you'll be working towards our vision to create healthier lives, empowered citizens and thriving communities.

Details

• Date posted: 21 October 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 6
• Salary: £27,704 to £33,361 a year p.a.
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Part-time
• Reference number: 152-M203.26B

Job responsibilities

For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate's individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role. All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please contact [e-mail].

Person Specification

Job Specific Experience

• Essential: Experience of specialist working
• Essential: Recent previous experience within a comparable role
• Essential: Experience of managing change
• Essential: Experience of developing specialist programmes of care for an individual or groups of patients/clients and of providing highly specialist advice
• Essential: Able to demonstrate specialist clinical reasoning skills to assimilate information in order to make a clinical judgement regarding diagnosis and intervention.
• Essential: Ability to prioritise and organise workload effectively

Managerial/Supervisory Experience

• Essential: Experience of providing clinical supervision and mentoring to junior staff
• Essential: Experience of leading and managing a team
• Desirable: Experience of devising and delivering training

Knowledge, Skills and Training

• Essential: Registered Specialist Community Public Health Practitioner School Nursing degree/diploma level
• Essential: Membership of the relevant Professional Body
• Essential: Evidence of recent professional development in an up to date portfolio
• Essential: Knowledge and understanding of Trust Strategy relevant to role
• Desirable: Learning and Assessing in Practice Qualification or equivalent practice assessors training

Personal Qualities and Attributes

• Essential: Evidence of demonstrating the Trust's values and behaviours
• Essential: Able to communicate effectively at different levels of the organisation and with staff, patient/service users, visitors or external organisations both verbally and in writing in the exchange of highly complex, sensitive or contentious information which may require the use of negotiating and/or persuasive skills
• Essential: Able to overcome barriers to understanding where there are physical or mental disabilities
• Desirable: experience

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

Employer name: Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Seascape, 1st Floor, Southbourne, 19 Beaufort Road, Southbourne., Bournemouth, BH6 5AJ, United Kingdom

Employer's website: https://www.dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/work-for-us

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact: 0-19 Public Health Locality Lead, Sue Flint, [e-mail], 07780683178

Closing date: 08 November 2026