Adult branch nurses
Nurses who provide care for adults must be critical thinkers, reflective practitioners and effective communicators, using clinical judgement to improve the quality of life of people with a broad range of conditions.
By providing care that is completely focused on the needs of patients, you will help people manage long-term illnesses, regardless of their disease or disability. The role of a nurse is diverse and there are many career opportunities.
Community nurses
As more care is offered in patients' own homes, the role of the community nurse is expanding. As a community nurse, you will meet the needs of an increasingly complex patient population, providing vital care up to and including at the end of a patient's life.
Ward nurses
Working on a ward means the opportunity to work in a diverse range of settings. In Nottingham alone these include the:
- regional cardiac centre
- specialist haematology and bone marrow transplant unit
- ophthalmic specialist unit
- regional trauma unit
Specialist areas
You will have the chance to specialise in one particular field of healthcare, becoming a nurse specialist or nurse consultant. These roles require you to study at a higher academic level so you can develop advanced clinical skills in areas such as non-medical prescribing and clinical assessment.
Learning in Practice
During the first year of your course, you'll be introduced to the fundamentals of caring for those aged 16 onwards and the challenges nurses face. Typically, you'll begin on a hospital ward and you can expect to be hands on right from the start.
As you progress, you could find yourself in any number of specialist care units or caring for people in their own homes. You'll learn to make assessments and plan treatments, as well as understand how social circumstances have a dramatic effect on patients' lives. You could also work in a prison, school or occupational health environment; you may also promote public health, care for those with drug and alcohol problems or look after individuals with long-term conditions such as HIV or AIDS.
Further along in the course you'll hone your specialist skills ready for registration, building on a diverse range of experiences.