About This Course
This is a part-time, level 6 distance learning short course delivered online.
Who is this course for?
This short course is suitable for new and experience NMC registered practice nurses seeking to advance their skills and knowledge in general practice.
Why study this course?
This module will support the learner to:
- Develop skills in person-centred outcomes approaches, motivational interviewing, and personal outcomes approach.
- Apply and critically analyse appropriate health promotion and disease prevention strategies within the primary care setting.
- Critically evaluate evidence -based medicine and its application to general practice.
- Explore a variety of acute and long-term presentations within general practice.
- Develop knowledge of a range of appropriate clinical skills such as: ear care, health screening, travel health, immunisation, and therapeutic monitoring.
The module is an excellent opportunity for any nurse new to general practice. The module aims to enhance the development of basic skills appropriate to general practice. Principally the module encourages the nurse to develop a strong foundation in this diverse area of practice.
How long does this course take to complete?
This module runs part-time twice a year over 15 weeks, usually in the Autumn and Spring.
The next course will run as follows:
Autumn 2025
8 online study days on the following dates:
- Monday 13 October
- Monday20 October
- Monday 10 November
- Monday 24 November
- Monday 1 December
- Monday 8 December
- Monday 12 January
- Monday 26 January (exam)
The 3 assessments on this short course will include:
- Blogs (completed during the module)
- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) exam
- Clinical competencies
Further Information
The module is supported by a TDM called, GPN Training the Supervisors. This short course is to educate and support clinical supervisors in assessing and completing the documentation related to the general practice nursing module.
Contact the course lead for further information.
Tutor
Helen Charles, Lecturer in Health Sciences (Medical Nursing)
Helen is the Programme Lead for the Community Nursing Specialist Practice Qualification (SPQ) in General Practice and also leads the All Wales General Practice Nursing course. She contributes to the Independent Prescribing and Prescribing for Pharmacists programmes and is a registered nurse.
Helen began her nursing career on a respiratory unit before becoming a Nurse Practitioner, delivering hospital-at-home care for patients with COPD across primary and secondary care. She later worked as a Practice Nurse and Advanced Nurse Practitioner in General Practice and out-of-hours services, with a specialist interest in respiratory medicine.
Helen joined 91¾«Æ·ºÚÁÏ³Ô¹Ï as a lecturer in 2019. She is a fluent Welsh speaker.
Course Content
What will you study on this course?
Module Content will include but is not limited to:
- History taking and communication skills
- Health promotion
- Health screening
- Therapeutic monitoring
- Immunisation
- Ear care
- Travel health
- Women’s health
- Men’s health
- Family planning and sexual health
- Supporting long term conditions in general practice (The topics that will be covered include cardiac, respiratory and diabetes)
- Mental health assessment
- Leadership and change management/audit
What will attendees get out of the course?
This module will support the learner to:
- Develop skills in person-centred outcomes approaches, motivational interviewing, and personal outcomes approach.
- Apply and critically analyse appropriate health promotion and disease prevention strategies within the primary care setting.
- Critically evaluate evidence -based medicine and its application to general practice.
- Explore a variety of acute and long-term presentations within general practice.
- Develop knowledge of a range of appropriate clinical skills such as: ear care, health screening, travel health, immunisation, and therapeutic monitoring.
The module is an excellent opportunity for any nurse new to general practice. The module aims to enhance the development of basic skills appropriate to general practice. Principally the module encourages the nurse to develop a strong foundation in this diverse area of practice.
Course Cost
Enquiries regarding Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) funding should be directed to bcu.nurseeducation@wales.nhs.uk.
Funding opportunities may be available for those working locally (i.e. in the north Wales and Powys areas), please contact the relevant module co-ordinator for details.
All other application and funding related enquiries should be directed to the module co-ordinator.
Please see our Undergraduate Fees and Finance page for further information.
Entry Requirements
Applicants must fulfil the following criteria to be considered eligible for this course:   
- NMC registered nurse working in the general practice.
- Supported by an experienced clinical supervisor to successfully complete clinical competencies relating to the NHS Wales Competency Framework for Nurses working in General Practice.
Application
How to Apply
Please make sure you read and follow the step-by-step application guide as this will specify which sections of the application form are compulsory for the type of course you want to apply for and save you time.
Please prepare the following information (in a Word document):
- Current employment details;
- Years of experience, and employment history (where relevant)
- Name of staff member and organisation that have approved your funding for this module.
This will speed up the process of completing the application form.
To apply for this course, you need to create an account in our
You will need access to the email address you specify while creating your account to confirm it.
Step 2 - Application Tabs (Personal, Info, Contact)
After creating an account, you will see a homepage with several tabs:
- Personal
- Programme
- Info
- Contact
- Education
- Employment
- Language
- Finance
You need to complete all sections before submitting your application.
When a section is complete, a ‘tick’ symbol will appear below it.
- Click on ‘Non-graduating applications / Stand alone Modules’, then select ‘Non-graduating Undergraduate'.
- In the next section, select Non-Graduating Taught Modules in Health (NGU/HS) Click Save and Continue.
- On the next page, the default for the first question is Full Time. You need to change this to ‘Part time’:
- You now need to input the module code. General Practice Nursing: the code is NHS:3213 *for April start or NHS:3180 *for September start . This section must be completed for your application to be processed.
- You also need to state the start date. Please make your selection, then click ‘Save and Continue’.
- IMPORTANT: You do not need to write a personal statement to apply for this course. Instead, please upload the document including employment, experience and education information that you have created prior to starting the application that contains the name of your current employer, the number of years of experience you have, and your highest qualification to date. Click Save and continue.
You only need to enter the details of your highest qualification to date, e.g. if you have a postgraduate qualification, please only only include this.
You will be asked for evidence of the qualification. Please either upload a copy of your qualification if it's easily accessible, or upload the Word document again (that you prepared earlier).
Please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘I have no employment history’ (as you have already provided this in your Word document).
If you are HEIW / Health Board funded, please answer the questions as follows:
- How will you finance your studies? Sponsored
- Exact name of funding authority: Health Board
- Country: United Kingdom
- Give details of the amount of the award? Fully funded.
- Sponsorship will cover: Tuition Fees
- Have you been awarded this funding? Please select ‘yes’ * Note that you will be required to upload evidence of the funding. If you wish to confirm ‘yes’ to this question, but do not have any written confirmation to upload, you can upload your Word document here again.
If you are self-funding, please provide all details as appropriate.