The education and training of health visitors.

Abstract

FTER six years of the National Health Service, the breadth of the new function of the health visitor is making itself evident, and, as training is akin to function, it may be necessary in the very near future for us to undertake a radical reorganization of our present health visitor training. In general, training may be described as the road between two points, at the one end the raw material which is the unprepared student, at the other the finished product or qualified worker. This road may be straight and economical to traverse, or it may be winding and lengthy, full of interest but extravagant of the energy which is needed to reach its end. In viewing the whole picture and applying it to health visiting it is necessary to consider three questions: firstly, the basic qualities and qualifications which we look for in the potential student health visitor; secondly, the development of what is found; thirdly, the ultimate goal, namely, the function for which we should cater.