What Are the Main Types of Health Visitors?

To become a health visitor, you need to be registered nurse or midwive who specialise in the health and well-being of families with young children. They provide support, education, and advice on various health-related issues, particularly focusing on early childhood development, maternal health, and community well-being. There are a few areas of specialisation for health visitors, including:

• Family Health Visitor: The most numerous type of health visitor who works with families, providing support for babies and young children up to the age of five about their health and development. This would include providing parenting support, assessing children’s development, and advising about diet, immunisation, and mental health.
• School Health Visitor: These health visitors work with school-aged children to promote physical and emotional health at school. They focus on healthy eating or mental health, often working alongside teachers and other health professionals.
• Community Health Visitor: Works in a defined geographical area serving a defined population in the community. Provide preventative care and early interventions and work on the social determinants of health for families and children.
• Specialist Health Visitor: Some health visitors focus on particular areas, such as maternal mental health, substance misuse, or safeguarding vulnerable children, and provide more tailored support to families with complex needs linked to their specialist area.

What Does a Health Visitor Do?

Health visitors are responsible for supporting families with healthcare advice and information. Working within the NHS and in local communities, they are especially focused on the early years of a child’s life, aiming to promote healthy living and wellbeing, prevent illness, and ensure your child has the best start possible in life. Here’s what a typical day might look like for a health visitor.

• Home Visits: Health visitors regularly visit families at home to check up on the welfare of a baby and the development of a young child. They measure the baby’s growth, check whether he has developed some of the usual abilities, like smiling or rolling over, and ask the mother how she feels about the baby. They also advise feeding the child, how to help the child sleep, and other medical things such as immunizations.
• Health Education and Promotion: Health visitors promote healthy living. They help families to eat well, stay active, manage stress and anxiety, and stay safe. The health visitors encourage breastfeeding, advise weaning, and discuss healthy habits for children and parents.
• Help for New Parents: Health visitors offer parents of newborns emotional support and help them cope with the practical aspects of looking after their babies. They provide advice on the needs of newborns, answer parents’ queries, and help make the transition to parenthood easier.
• Monitor Child Development: Health visitors are crucial for continuously checking on a child’s development and ensuring they hit their milestones. Here, they evaluate the child’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development and provide early intervention if necessary.
• Safeguarding Children: Health visitors may be involved in protecting children. This may be where there are concerns that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, e.g., neglect or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Health visitors often work closely with social workers and other professionals, such as police and doctors, to protect vulnerable children.
• Mental Health Support: Health visitors support maternal and family mental health. They can support parents experiencing postnatal depression, help them access mental health services, and support them to manage stress and emotional wellbeing.
• Work with other professionals: Health visitors work with other healthcare professionals, social workers, and schools to ensure the family receives a joined-up service and can be referred to specialist services if required.

Average Health Visitor Salary

The salary of a health visitor in the UK is determined by the years of experience, the place of work (e.g., London, outer space), and the job title. Health visitors work for the NHS (National Health Service). Here is an overview of the typical salaries for health visitors as per their job position within the NHS’s Agenda for Change pay scale.

• Entry-Level Health Visitor: Health visitors typically start at Band 6 on the NHS pay scale, earning between £33,706 and £40,588 per year. These roles are for newly qualified health visitors who have recently completed their specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN) training.
• Experienced Health Visitor: With several years of experience, health visitors can earn between £40,588 and £47,672, depending on the level of responsibility and the location of their work.
• Health Visitor Team Manager: Senior health visitors or those in management positions, such as team leaders, are likely to be Band 7 and earn between £41,659 and £48,526 a year.

Health Visitor Skills

An individual who would like to pursue a career as a health visitor has to gain an extensive collection of clinical and interpersonal skills. Health visitors must be empathetic and knowledgeable and provide families with solutions to various difficulties. Here are the skills required to become a health visitor:

• Communication Skills: Health visitors have to explain complex health information to families, health practitioners, and other care agencies in a way that is easy to understand and convey, as well as to listen to and reassure parents.
• Empathy and compassion: A health visitor needs to empathise and show compassion, particularly when working with families, including new parents and vulnerable people. Health visitors should be understanding, empathetic, and supportive to reassure families.
• Observation and Assessment Skills: Health visitors need good observational skills to monitor the development of children and signpost the appropriate help when necessary. They need to assess the physical, emotional, and developmental health of the child and its caregivers and act appropriately if there is a cause for concern.
• Problem-solving and critical thinking: Health visitors frequently work with families with complex health or social problems. They must use their problem-solving skills to develop tailored interventions and signpost families to the right services when required.
• Protective Awareness: Health visitors need good knowledge of the safeguarding process to protect children from any harm they may be at risk for. They should be able to respond appropriately to concerns about possible abuse or neglect.
• Organisation skills: The health visitor is responsible for a caseload of families and needs to be well-organised to allocate time judiciously so that each family’s needs are met and have good record-keeping skills to record each visit, assessment, and intervention.
• Knowledge of Public Health: Good understanding of public health issues, particularly public health problems of children, maternal health, and early childhood development.

Health Visitor Tips

Here are some practical tips for aspiring health visitors who want to build a successful career:

• Get some nursing or midwifery experience: To qualify as a health visitor, you’ll need experience as a registered nurse or midwife. Try working in community nursing, paediatrics, or maternity care to learn the skills and knowledge required for this role.
• SCPHN course: Once you have worked as a nurse or midwife for a couple of years, you must complete the Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) course, which specialises in health visiting. The course is one year full-time or two years part-time and is available through several universities in the UK.
• Keep up to date with child development: Being aware of new developments in child development and early childhood health is a crucial part of being a health visitor. Continuing professional development (CPD) and attending workshops or seminars will help you keep up to date.
• Build Relationships with Local Services: Health visitors signpost families to local health and social services, so being on good terms with local organisations can help you match families with the right support more quickly.

Health Visitor Requirements

Becoming a health visitor requires completing a combination of nursing or midwifery training, gaining relevant experience, and pursuing specialist qualifications. Here are the common requirements to become a health visitor in the UK:

• Be a Registered Nurse or Midwife: To become a health visitor, you must first qualify as a registered nurse (RN) or midwife. This involves completing a nursing degree or midwifery degree and registering with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Get Experience: Having gained your qualification, it is useful to get some experience working in nursing or midwifery, in a job that allows you to gain valuable experience working with families and children and, ideally, in community or child health. Experience in paediatrics, maternity services, or community care will be particularly useful.
• Complete the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Course: As you build up experience, you will be expected to complete the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) course and specialise in health visiting. This course will further your knowledge and help you develop your skills as a health visitor.
• Register with the NMC as a Health Visitor: After qualifying as an SCPHN, you must register with the NMC as a health visitor to work as a health visitor in the UK.

How to Become a Health Visitor

Here’s a step-by-step guide to becoming a health visitor in the UK:

• Get a Nursing or Midwifery Degree: Obtain a nursing degree (Bachelor of Science in Nursing or BSc in Nursing) or a midwifery degree to become a registered nurse or midwife.
• Register with NMC: After completing your degree, the next step is to become registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to work as a nurse or midwife in the UK.
• Gaining experience: Work in a nursing or midwifery role, ideally in children’s health, community care, or family support. Work experience in either nursing or midwifery is recommended for the health visiting course, potentially as a development of a role that involves children’s health, community care, or family support.
• Complete the SCPHN Course: Apply for a Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) course to qualify as a health visitor.
• Register as a Health Visitor with the NMC: After completing the SCPHN course, apply to become a Registered Health Visitor with the NMC.
• Apply for Health Visitor Roles: Once qualified, apply for health visitor posts within the NHS or local authorities or specialist roles, such as maternal mental health or safeguarding.

Get Qualified as a Health Visitor 

Health and Safety Awareness, Occupational Health and Safety Training, Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care – CPD Certified, Health and Safety CPD Certification

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Should You Become a Health Visitor?

Working as a health visitor can be an extremely rewarding career because it allows you to make a huge difference to the health and well-being of children and families. If you like helping others, have an interest in child development, enjoy working with people, and want to stay close to the heart of your community, it might be the job for you. Health visitors are central to the safeguarding of children, the promotion of public health, and the provision of key support for parents.

Is Being a Health Visitor a Good Career Choice for You?

It could be the perfect job for a caring and patient person interested in child development and public health. The work is varied: a typical day for a health visitor in the community, as well as some clinical work, with regular home visits to help individual families. The job is also stable: there’s a high demand for health visitors in the UK, and it’s a well-paid, permanent position with good prospects for career progression.

Health Visitor Salaries

In the UK, health visitors earn between £33,706 and £47,672 a year, depending on experience and level of responsibility. Roles with more management responsibility or seniority—for example, team managers or specialists—are likely to be paid at the top of this range, particularly in larger cities or more specialist areas of health visiting.

Which Qualifications Can Help with a Career as a Health Visitor?

To qualify as a health visitor, you must first be a registered nurse or midwife after completing a BSc in Nursing or Midwifery. Then, you must complete the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) course, specifically in health visiting. Further qualifications, such as safeguarding or maternal mental health, can help you specialise and progress in your career.

Do I Need Experience to Get Started as a Health Visitor?

Yes, it is important to have nursing or midwifery experience before becoming a health visitor. Many health visitors will have had previous careers as registered nurses or midwives, have worked in community nursing and paediatrics, or have completed their SCPHN course and transitioned into health visiting.

Health Visitor Career Outlook

As such, the role has continued to be in high demand in the UK, and this will only increase as public health services concentrate their efforts on preventative care and early intervention for families and young children. This is a hugely rewarding job with good job security. For those in the UK interested in a career as a health visitor, check out this course.

Health Visitor Hierarchy and Progressing Within the Role

You can become a Health Visitor Team Leader, responsible for managing a team of health visitors and support staff, or you may become a specialist in a particular area, such as safeguarding, maternal mental health, or early childhood development. More experienced health visitors can move into community health services or local government management roles.

Health Visitor Exit Options and Opportunities

Some health visitors might develop careers outside of health visiting, moving into public health management, community health education, or policy development. In contrast, others might move into specialist areas of nursing, such as child protection, health promotion, or school nursing. A health visitor’s skillset is highly transferable, so there are many career change and development opportunities.