Jobs in health and social care

Nurses are part of a team of specialists looking after patients. Nurses are responsible for the care of patients and for managing and co-ordinating treatment of patients while they are in hospital, or being treated at home. The main four specialist areas in nursing are: adults, children, people with learning difficulties, people with mental health problems.

In hospital wards

• they work with the doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other health professionals to plan and provide care for people to enable them to get home as quickly and safely as possible

• among other tasks, they give injections and medicine, examine and change wound dressings and teach people to do things for themselves, for example teaching diabetic patients to give their own insulin injection

• they check patient progress, for example, by taking temperatures and blood pressure and keep careful records of all medicines and treatment

• they help patients with daily needs such as eating, washing and going to the toilet and moving around e.g. getting out of bed.

• they give information and advice to patients and their relatives

In hospitals' operating theatres

• they work with the doctors and technicians to plan and carry out the operation

• they are responsible for ensuring that patients are well treated while they are in the operating theatre

• they check patient progress, for example when they are coming round from an anaesthetic

• they are responsible for giving painkillers and ensuring patients are comfortable after the operation

• scrub nurses a re responsible for assist doctors in he operation and ensure stocks of equipment and that instruments are sterilised

In a GP surgery

The practice nurse gives injections, takes blood, examines and changes wound dressings when patients have left hospital and looks after patient tests. Many work with women to give information and advice about contraception, sexual health, and advice on getting pregnant. They give advice on travel vaccinations, and health promotion advice on how to avoid ill-health for example, stress, heart disease, stopping smoking , losing weight, HIV and Aids, substance and drug abuse etc.

In the community

There are a number of specialist nurses who visit people in their homes or in community clinics:

The District Nurse does the same sort of things as the practice nurse, but for people who cannot leave their homes . They also plan care and provide equipment (pads, commodes etc.)  for people who suffer from incontinence (unable to control bladder and bowel).

The Health Visitor gives information and advice to women who have just had babies, (particularly help with babies who continually cry), and advice on breast and bottle feeding. They can also help with children who have eating problems and with women who are caring for children with physical or learning disabilities, ensuring that people know where and how to get all the social benefits and services available. Health Visitors also have a role in protecting children from harm, for example, child abuse, violence in the home. They also give the same advice as the practice nurse.

There are teams of nurses who work with people who have cancer (Macmillan Nurses) and those who wish to die at home, organising control of pain, nausea and other symptoms.

The School Nurse works with children who are at school, giving advice about growing up, coping with relationships, sexual health, drugs and substance abuse, healthy foods to eat, combating stresses disorders like anorexia, bulimia. They work with teachers to help children who have illnesses like asthma and eczema, to help them to understand and help children to take their medication, and to help those with special problems such as allergies. School nurses also work with teachers to protect children from physical and sexual abuse, bullying and difficult relationships.

Example 1
Ahmed, who is 12, has had his appendix taken out. He is afraid that if he moves it will hurt. The nurse knows that he needs to move around to prevent other complications, so she helps him to understand why he must get up. Then she gives him some pain killers before he has to get out of bed., and helps him get up and have his lunch.

Example2
The Community Psychiatric Nurse is visiting Mr. Jones who is very depressed and has expressed a wish to kill himself. The nurse encourages him to talk about his feelings and to take his medicine as this will help to lift the depression and enable him to return to work. She arranges to come and see him the next day.

Example 3
Lucy Smith has recently returned from trip abroad where she had unprotected sexual intercourse. She is worried that she may be pregnant and also that she might have caught HIV. The nurse gives her a pregnancy test, which is positive (she is pregnant). They have discussion about whether she wants to continue with the pregnancy and the nurse provides information about the possibility of the baby being HIV positive, if Lucy is. The nurse discusses with her whether she wants an HIV test and explains the implications of this, for example, how it may affect her work if she were to find out that she was HIV positive. The nurse then takes an HIV blood test and talks her to her about safer sex. She arranges an appointment for her to discuss a termination with a women's health doctor.

• how the body works (muscles/bones/organs/brain/nervous system)
• how different illnesses can affect the body and the mind
• how different medicines and treatments work
• how to carry out treatments for example. injections, wound dressings
• how to work with the team to plan for patient care and to keep records
• how to give advice on health and the prevention of illness
• how to help people make choices about their health and about their treatment
• sociological and psychological aspects of illness and disease
• resuscitation, safe administration of medications
• support and empathy for the dying patient and their family
• how to work effectively in a team
• ethics and law

While you are training, you can specialise in working with adults, children, people with learning difficulties, people with mental health problems.

Career development:

Once you have become a registered nurse, and gained some experience, you can do further training for a different profession e.g.
• Midwife (although you do not have to be a nurse to become a midwife, there is also direct entry midwifery training - see 'midwife' under jobs)
• Health Visitor, working with children or the elderly in their homes
• Practice nurse, providing care in the GP's surgery, injections, health advice, smear tests, wound treatments etc
• Occupational Health nurse, looks after the health of employees
• Health Promotion nurse, promotes a health lifestyle to a range of people in the community
• Psychiatric nurse, cares for people with mental health problems living at home

Nurses can also become Nurse managers