Nursing Career
Your nursing career starts here. Becoming a nurse is a vocation and you really don't go into it because you want to earn a high salary. Really nursing is a caring career and there are many paths you can follow. The main role of a nurse is caring for the needs of patients and their families when they are in hospital for an operation, recovering from illness or require post op care rather than diagnosing specific illnesses.
What is a Nurse ?
A nurse is not only work in hospital wards as nurses can work outside of hospitals in patients homes, working in schools (as the school nurse), administering care in GP surgeries or caring for people in old peoples homes or in prisons.
Midwifery is another nursing area where midwifes are the first port of call for pregnant women and handle the birth of the child and monitor postnatal issues.
The roles that a nurse can undertake are varied. Below are the main streams of career a nurse can take
- Adult nursing - working mainly in hospital wards caring for the elderly and young adults
- Mental health nurses - For all ages of patient working with general practitioners, psychologists and psychiatrists in residential homes, care in the community and patient homes
- Child nurses - working with children of all ages including babies, teenagers and child protection you'll work with the patient in hospital and the child's home as well as day care centres.
- Neonatal nurse - looking after babies after they are born if they are born prematurely or have an illness or are sick so they are monitored and provided the correct care and treatments
- Health visitors - Work is mainly in the community and patients' homes who need a health visitor to come to them as they may not be able to visit their GP
- Learning disabilities nursing - providing specialist care to those with mental and physical conditions helping them lead as normal life as possible
- District nurses - the role of the district nurse probably hasn't changed in generations and their role is to visit people at home in the community for people of all ages. Additional qualifications are required after the degree to complete a specialist practioner programme
- Prison nursing - As a registered nurse you'll work in a local prison covering all types of issues from mental health or abuse.
- School nurses - working directly with the school to administer help for everyday cuts and bruising but also offer advice as some children have allergic reactions or required daily drugs or injections
The qualifications you need to become a qualified nurse are listed below.
Nursing Entry Qualifications
Nursing courses are available for nurse training. The first step is to complete a
pre-registration course and there are many available throughout the UK. Although there
are no minimum qualifications required but it is recommended that 5 GCSEs at grade C
or above are needed to study a diploma course and these are set by the United Kingdom
Central Council (UKCC). Universities and colleges have their own criteria.
You can take a degree course at university with placements in hospitals and the course is made up of 50% exams with theory and 50% working practice. Like all degrees it lasts for three years with the first year introducing common nursing principles called a Common Foundation Programme. Then you choose with area you wish to specialise in such as disabilities, adult or child care or mental health. Courses to become a midwife follow the same pattern. Learn more about becoming a nurse at the Royal College of Nursing website here
NHS Bursary
Unlike most students nurses are not required to pay university tuition fees as these are covered by bursaries from the NHS and these are non-repayable. They are paid in 36 monthly installments and can be up to £6,372 if you are not income assessed. You may also be entitled to child care allowance, parents learning allowance and dependents allowance depending on your circumstances.
Adult Nursing
One of the specialisms to follow is to become an adult nurse. The main role is to care for the patients' welfare whilst recovering from operations and to administer any drugs required. You'll also take blood pressure, temperatures and urine samples. Most adult nurses work in local hospitals although you can work in residential care homes and in schools.
Midwifery Nursing
All midwives in the UK are required to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Training to be a midwife is undertaken at approved universities through degree programmes which
last for 3 years. The focus is on understanding a pregnant woman's needs and if there may be
any complications during the pregnancy and labour. At least 50% of the training is with
actual pregnant women, their babies and families so you need to want to work directly with
people and have a calm demeanor. Learn more about becoming a midwife at the NMC website here
Nurses Pay
There is a new nurses pay scale under the agenda for change scheme. At the very bottom of the scale are clinical support workers that start at band 2 (£12,992 plus any weighting - see below) with most newly qualified nurses and midwives starting at band 5. Each year you'll move up to the next scale pay point within the band until you reach to top of the band you are in.
Examples of some of the jobs in nursing and their pay scales are maternity care assistant (£17,316), qualified nurse and midwife entry level (£20,225) rising to a minimum of £24,103 and maximum of £32,653 (health visitors and nurse team leaders get the same) nurse advanced (£29,091), midwife team manager (£29,091), modern matron (£37,106 max £44,527) and nurse consultant in the range of £37,106 and £64,118.
There are higher cost area supplements or weighting scales. In London you also receive a weight of 20% of basic salary in inner London (min £3,855 max £5,938) in outer London 15% of basic salary (min £3,261 max £4,156) and in the fringe areas 5% of basic salary (min £891 max £1,544). Full information on nurses pay is contained on the NHS Careers website found here
Developing Your Nursing Career - Senior Positions
Once you have qualified as a nurse you may wish to further your career in many of the senior positions offered. The most senior positions are a modern matron managing a ward or the most senior is a nurse consultant. Other career promotions include nurse specialist, nursing team manager and midwife team manager or higher level. There really are vast opportunities to develop your career in nursing.