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Health and social care is one of the largest sectors in the UK. Approximately two million people work in the sector - ⅔ work for the NHS, with the remainder working with private healthcare providers. For people who are interested in careers for people who care about caring for others, roles within health and social care can be incredibly rewarding.
Nurses are clinical healthcare professionals who provide care to patients in order to help them recover, improve, or maintain their health, and will work as part of a multidisciplinary team made up of other healthcare professionals, to help a patient achieve the best possible quality of life.
Nurses work in all care settings, and although many skills and responsibilities may be similar, some of the duties or patients will differ. Nurses in primary care such as GP surgeries will treat minor injuries, or examine patients before referring them to a doctor, whereas nurses in secondary care may care for patients with fractures, pneumonia, or even cancer. In social care, nurses will visit homes, helping patients with daily activities and ensuring they can continue to be independent.
From supporting patients from the start of their journey to following through after treatment, nurses are leaders on hand to help patients with whatever care they can provide. But don’t just take our word for it - let’s see what nurses have to say about the career itself!
Nursing is a career that can take you in many different directions, with plenty of scope for creating your own path. With so much choice available in nursing, which one might suit you?
Nursing careers are varied, often due to the specialisms that are available. Typically, nursing can be split into four different specialisms. Although the core skills behind them are the same, nursing specialisms bring interesting possibilities and new challenges. Let’s take a look at the four areas!
They may suffer from one or more long or short-term physical health conditions - this could include heart disease, injuries from an accident, pneumonia, arthritis, diabetes, or cancer.
You’ll observe patients, assess their needs, and deliver the most appropriate care for them. Due to patients having different needs, this treatment can differ quite a lot. You could also find yourself working in a variety of settings including hospital wards, outpatient units, patients’ homes, or clinics. Ultimately, your aim is to improve your patients’ quality of life, whatever their situation.
Sometimes referred to as paediatric nurses. Your workplace could vary from hospitals, homes, and across the community.
You’ll play a crucial part in assessing the nursing needs of the child while keeping in mind their medical, social, cultural and family circumstances. In your role, you’ll be supporting the child’s family too - so, it’s important you’re empathetic and can be sensitive to the whole family’s situation.
As well as their families and staff teams, to help them live a fulfilling life.
You’ll interact with patients who have differing needs, and will play a vital role working across the whole life span in both health and care settings. Learning disability nurses look to reduce barriers that a patient may be experiencing that prevent them from being independent, and they support the patient to live a fulfilling and healthy life.
It’s a unique area of nursing as you’re enabling someone to reach their potential, just as much as you’re caring for their health needs.
Mental health nurses specialise in helping patients with complex mental health issues ranging from mild personality and psychological disorders to psychoses. It’s the aim of mental health nursing to support a person through their recovery or management of their condition.
Nurses within this specialism commonly work in lots of different healthcare settings - there is an increased demand for community-based care, with mental health nurses often visiting patients and their families at home, residential centres, or specialist clinics.
This is what newly qualified nurses can expect to start their careers earning, and there will often be opportunities for this to increase with experience, too.
This is what a typical working week looks like - nurses work in shift patterns, which can include weekends, nights, and bank holidays. Some patients need 24/7 care, but there’s plenty of support to make sure you get the time you need for yourself and your loved ones.
Both the NHS and private healthcare providers are keen to help people who really care about what they do. If you become a nurse, there will be possibilities to get further training, support, and progression opportunities to take you where you want to go.
Healthcare providers will help provide a healthy work/life balance, including part-time opportunities, flexibility, and childcare support. When you care for others, it’s important that the healthcare provider places the value in you, meaning that you’re able to focus on providing the best quality care.
Nursing is a varied profession, but there are a core set of responsibilities that’ll you experience no matter which type of patients you care for. Let’s take a look!
Nurses play a vital role in understanding how a patient is feeling. By speaking to patients, nurses can assess their needs and even understand what a patient might be experiencing, even if the patient can’t easily explain it.
Most nurses will help in providing medication to patients that have been prescribed by a doctor, and they can also be involved in administering basic care. This can include helping patients go to the toilet, get dressed or washed, or be as comfortable as possible.
It’s often really important that healthcare professionals have a good overall understanding of a patient’s medical history. If a patient is allergic to a type of medication, or their family has a history of a particular illness, it’s important that the healthcare teams know so that they don’t do anything to jeopardise the patient’s health.
Nurses will often help patients get ready for particular treatments, such as operations or dialysis, and they’ll also perform some standard treatments. This can include cleaning and dressing wounds, changing bandages, or inserting catheters.
Nurses can perform some diagnostic tests and procedures, including checking vital signs, checking a patient’s temperature or blood pressure. Procedures and exams like this can help the entire healthcare team understand how a patient is feeling and responding to treatment.
Understanding how a patient is reacting to treatment is crucial. Nurses will monitor and observe patients, to see if there are any important changes to their condition, or whether they are receiving the correct amount of medication.
Nurses will often help collect samples for further analysis by other members of the healthcare team, such as healthcare scientists. This could be tissue, blood, stool, or urine samples, and are vital for diagnosing a patient’s condition.
When there’s something not quite right with our health, it can be tough. Nurses play a key role in being empathetic and providing emotional support when it’s needed.
It’s important that patients are involved in their own care. Nurses will often have to explain treatments and care plans to both patients, carers, and families. They can even be responsible for educating people on how to manage an illness or condition. It’s all about knowing what information to give, and how to explain it.
Like most healthcare professionals, nurses will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide the best care possible for their patients. By relying on different expertise and opinion, nurses can play a key role in a team that looks after the complete health needs of a patient.
