District nursing: record year for uptake of specialist practitioner qualification

Growth in district nurse SPQ numbers points to continued need for advanced practice in the community

A record number of district nurses have attained their specialist practitioner qualification (SPQ).

Some 554 district nurses qualified as specialist practitioners in 2019/20, with an additional 121 whose two-year studies were delayed due to pandemic disruption, due to complete the course later this year.

This will mean that 675 district nurses will graduate with a SPQ, making the 2019/20 cohort the largest to gain the qualification since the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) started recording numbers in 2013, when just 254 completed the programme.

In addition, 761 district nurses embarked on the SPQ course in 2019/20, with 819 signing up to begin their studies in 2020/21.

Continued appetite for district nurse leadership education

The figures were revealed in the QNI’s annual report on district nursing education in the UK. QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman said they pointed to a continued need among employers for district nurses who can practise at an advanced level.

Dr Oldman said: ‘This was an exceptional year for the student intake and those continuing their two-year programmes, as all courses were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, these are extraordinary figures.’

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She added it is unclear whether shortages of funding or study time might be curtailing the number of district nurses undertaking the programme, and this is an issue the QNI intends to investigate.

The QNI’s report is based on a survey of 43 universities, of which 38 responded, and of which 36 were running a district nurse SPQ.

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