The news comes as nurses are set to embark on the first courses revisedunder standards drawn up by the nursing regulator, the Nursing andMidwifery Council.
Previously, school nurses, health visitors, occupational health nursesand, in Scotland, family health nurses have undertaken separatecourses.
However, under programmes starting in colleges this September, they willstudy together on a single course with role-specific pathways. Allnurses taking the course will qualify as specialist community publichealth nurses.
Liz Plastow, the council's professional advisor for specialist communitypublic health nursing, said the joint approach would also help to boostrecruitment as it would equalise the status of all public healthnurses.
She claimed that school nurses' and health visitors' roles were vieweddifferently in some areas but the qualification would encourageemployers to pay school nurses and health visitors equally.
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