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CONTENTS

1. Nursing in the NHS

2. Adult nurse

3. Children’s nurse

4. District nurse

5. General practice nurse

6. Learning disability nurse

7. Mental health nurse

8. Nursing associate

9. Prison nurse

10. Theatre nurse

Nursing in the NHS

A career in nursing in the NHS could open a wealth of opportunities working in a multidisciplinary team in a variety of settings. With experience, you might decide to specialise in a particular area of nursing or client group.

Adult nurse

Adult nursing involves caring for adults of all ages with a wide range of physical health conditions. These might be short-term illnesses or long-term conditions like diabetes, arthritis or cancer.

You’ll learn how to plan, deliver and evaluate appropriate care and develop your skills to become a great communicator, building up trust with patients, relatives and carers. You’ll also work with other health professionals like occupational therapists, radiographers and pharmacists involved in care packages.

Read our guide on How to become an adult nurse to find out more.

Children’s nurse

As a children’s nurse, you’ll have a sound understanding of child development and superb communication skills to interpret a child’s behaviour and reactions. You’ll also be particularly observant, as changes in a child’s health often happen rapidly.

You’ll get the chance to work with other healthcare and child services specialists and might be based in a hospital, day care centre, clinic or at a child’s home.

Read our guide on How to become a children’s nurse to find out more.

District nurse

District nurses play a vital role in the community, keeping patient admissions and re-admissions as low as possible. You’ll help to provide complex care for people day-to-day in their own homes or residential care homes.

As well as delivering direct care, you’ll educate patients and their relatives to look after themselves. District nurses work with people of all ages, most commonly with the elderly, people recently discharged from hospital and those living with a terminal illness.

General practice nurse

A general practice nurse is one of the most varied nursing roles in the NHS as you work with patients of all ages. This involves most aspects of nursing from immunisation, wound management, blood testing, health screening, sexual health, and health education and prevention.

You’ll work in a GP surgery as part of the primary healthcare team and may be one of several general practice nurses or work alone, depending on the surgery size. The role involves further training once you qualify as a nurse to keep up to date with the many different aspects of the job.

Learning disability nurse

As a learning disability nurse, you’ll make a big difference to the quality of life for a person with a learning disability and their families. You’ll be involved with improving or supporting physical and mental health and reducing barriers to help a person live as independent and fulfilling life as possible. You’ll also help reduce the stigma attached to having a learning disability and act as an advocate for the people you support.

This area of nursing often involves shift working to provide 24-hour care and you’ll be part of a wider team of professionals liaising with a range of healthcare professionals like doctors and speech and language therapists as well as teachers and social workers.

Mental health nurse

To be an effective mental health nurse, you’ll be skilled at building trust quickly. You’ll be trained to confidently advise people on how to take medication and how to access social activities and therapies that would be beneficial to their needs. You’ll also know whether someone might be at risk to themselves or others and the legal context of your work.

You might be based in a hospital ward or specialist unit, a community health care setting or someone’s home. Shift work is sometimes involved especially if you work in a residential setting.

Read our guide on How to become a mental health nurse to find out more.

Nursing associate

A nursing associate is a relatively new role and involves working with registered nurses and other healthcare workers to provide patient care. Nursing associates work in all four areas of nursing, i.e., adult, children, mental health and learning disability so it might help you decide which area you’d be best suited to. It’s often seen as a stepping stone to qualifying as a registered nurse.

Prison nurse

As a prison nurse you’ll often provide many of the same nursing services as you’d find in a doctor’s surgery, albeit in a more unique and challenging environment. You’ll need to have a compassionate and non-judgmental attitude and be prepared for a range of health issues from minor injuries and illnesses to poor mental health, substance abuse and end of life care. You might work in a particular type of prison such as high-security, women only or young offenders' centre.

Theatre nurse

Theatre nurses provide skilled care to patients of all ages during each of the four stages of an operation. You’ll be part of a large team working with professionals in the pre-assessment, anaesthetics, surgical and recovery phase of perioperative care. As a theatre nurse you might specialise in one of these four stages or you might rotate though each phase. You’ll enjoy working in a high-pressured environment, be highly organised, react quickly and able to concentrate for long periods of time.