Specialist practice and services

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41-minute read

Who is this resource for?

This resource is aimed at nurses and nursing support workers across all settings and levels of practice, including students of health, social work and care professions.

Resource contents

Below is an interactive list of resource contents, clicking will navigate you to that resource page.

This career framework highlights the wide range of sexual and reproductive health services. Provision may be through dedicated services, such as integrated sexual health, or as part of broader clinical and specialist care.

In 2024, we updated our definition of nursing, highlighting its complex role as a safety-critical profession founded on the pillars of clinical practice, education, research and leadership.

Sexual health and reproductive health care includes distinct areas of practice and specialised services.

There are examples of excellent development pathways across the UK. Some examples can be seen in the following case studies.

The nursing support workforce plays a vital role in delivering safe and effective care.

Nursing associates were introduced into the health and care workforce in England from 2019 and play a vital role in delivering safe and effective care. They are currently being considered for implementation in Wales.

This section focuses on newly qualified nurses or those new to sexual health and reproductive health care. Once qualified, any nurse can choose a pathway that includes sexual health and reproductive health.

This section focuses on how to augment skills and knowledge in sexual health and reproductive health care.

This section focuses on developing advanced practice skills and knowledge in sexual health and reproductive health care.

This section focuses on consultant-led sexual health and reproductive health care.

In this section you will find a glossary of terms.

Glossary

The RCN delivers quality-assured and up-to-date resources for the nursing workforce. Reviewed annually, RCN Learn resources meet the RCN Nine Quality Standards.

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PDF created on: 14 Mar 2026.

Downloaded from: https://rcnlearn.rcn.org.uk/Search/Specialist-practice-and-services.

Please check: https://rcnlearn.rcn.org.uk for a more up-to-date version of this content.

Last quality assured: No date available

41-minute read