It is a good idea to visit the town/village in which the placement base is located to get a feel for the area by looking at the types of housing and local amenities.  Telephone the health visitor to introduce yourself and ask if you can visit the base (this may be in a GP surgery, a local health centre or children’s centre).  This will demonstrate that you are interested in the placement and give you an opportunity to meet your mentor and other staff at the base beforehand.  Try to travel to the placement at the same time of day that you will be starting work.  This will enable you to plan your journey and estimate the time it will take to get there. All this will ease any anxiety you may have.  This is particularly important for this type of placement as, unlike ward areas where there are a number of students in situ, you are likely to be the only student at the location.  Ask the health visitor about the type of clients you will be visiting and the health needs of that population.   Although you will be working alongside the health visitor and other members of the team it is good to have an awareness of the lone worker policy and procedures that govern their actions.

There are many learning opportunities available whilst on placement with the Health Visitor. For example:

• You will certainly be able to enhance your knowledge of child development, and public health activities such as the immunisation programme.
• Infant screening activities such as the heel prick and hearing screening will be part of local midwifery services and you should take the opportunity to observe both the administration of these tests and the delivery of results to parents.
• Safeguarding of Children and Child Protection interventions are a key part of the health visitor’s role and there may be opportunities for you to observe important statutory meetings such as a Core Group or Case Conference (your mentor will guide you in selecting appropriate opportunities and permission will need to be sought from families and professionals for you to be in attendance).

Other fundamental areas of practice which you should endeavour to observe are:

• Breastfeeding support by the health visitor, midwife and via peer support groups. 
• Postnatal depression identification and support.
• Maternity services.
• GP services.
• Weaning advice.
• Identification and treatment of minor childhood ailments and illness.
• Management of enuresis and encopresis.
• Behaviour management.