Newborn hearing screeners help and support families with vital information about their babies' hearing.
There are no set entry requirements for newborn hearing screeners. Employers expect a good standard of numeracy and literacy and may ask for GCSEs or equivalent and may ask for a nursery nursing or child-care related qualification, such as NNEB, BTEC or vocational qualification. Experience of working with children and families is advantageous as is experience of working with deaf people. This can be either or paid or voluntary work. You will be given the training you need for the job including how to use the equipment, health and safety and child protection. Newborn hearing screeners can join the British Society of Audiology (BSA) as associate members. The BSA offers conferences and meetings where hearing screeners can update their skills and network with others working in the field.
As a newborn hearing screener you will typically be on Agenda for Change band 3. You may be able to apply for more senior positions at AfC band 4 - eg as an assistant practitioner, after further training and experience. Newborn hearing screeners work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. Some may work shifts, which could involve nights, early starts, evenings and weekends. Terms and conditions will usually be different for clinical support staff working outside of the NHS.
As a newborn hearing screener, you need to be happy to handle newborn babies, calm and reassuring, able to explain procedures to parents, willing to work with people from all walks of life, able to work as part of a team but use your own initiative, able to follow instructions and use equipment. You'll also need very good communication, customer care and organisational skills
You could become a newborn screening coordinator, supervising and organising the work of a team of screeners. You could move into other jobs in the wider healthcare team or with the appropriate qualifications for entry to university, you could apply to train as a healthcare professional, such as a midwife or nurse or as an audiologist.
Related roles
- Audiology [2]
- Experienced paramedic [3]
- Emergency care assistant [4]
- Clinical informatics [5]
Public health practitioners can have a huge influence on the health and wellbeing of individuals, groups, communities and populations.
Qualifications are likely to vary as a public health practitioner, depending on the nature of the role. An example entry route would be to get a qualification and experience of working in a public health related area. Depending on the specific practitioner role, related qualifications could include a first level degree in Public Health or related area, Nursing, Environmental Health, or Sport and Exercise. A degree apprenticeship standard for public health practitioners has been approved for delivery.
NHS staff usually work 37.5 hours per week but terms and conditions for non-NHS employers and contractors vary. You may be asked to work some evenings and weekends. Most jobs in the NHS are covered by Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales. Many public health practitioners are employed outside the NHS, especially in local authorities or voluntary organisations. Salaries can vary widely, but start at around £21,000.
Some of the skills and qualities you'll need as a public health practitioner include well developed people skills, an ability to value difference and diversity, creativity, analysing and interpreting information, creating marketing materials, writing publications and reports and making recommendations about how services could be delivered.
Public health practitioners may develop their skills and expertise through more senior practitioner roles or go into management, service lead roles or leadership positions.
Related roles
- Public health nurse [7]
- School nurse [8]
- Health visitor [9]
- Project manager [10]