Nursing
Nursing staff are the largest single staff group in the NHS and are a crucial part of the healthcare team. Nursing careers are often commenced from support roles, which require no set qualifications, then proceed, through training and qualification, to registered nursing degrees or diplomas. Others nursing staff apply straight to university for their medical and nursing tuition. If you have an interest in caring for people, there are few more interesting, rewarding or challenging careers as nursing. A degree or diploma in nursing will allow you to register with the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), which opens opportunities in NHS nursing. Dependant on experience and training there are plenty of nursing opportunities to progress to senior nursing positions, team management, ward and departmental management and on to consultant level.
There are many specialisms in nursing, starting with healthcare assistants, who help with caring for patients' comfort and well-being. They work in a nursing environment to support nurses, midwives and other nursing and healthcare professionals. Children's nursing deals with children of all ages and conditions in hospitals, day care centres, child health clinics and in a child's own home. Adult nurses in nursing work with age-diverse adult conditions, caring, and improving the quality of their patients' lives. Nursing as a school nurse usually requires experience as a registered nurse working with children, in child protection or health promotion. School nursing staffs are often employed by individual schools, a trust, local health authority or primary care trust. District nursing often involves working from home, GP surgeries or a residential home.
District nursing practitioners are required to qualify as a registered nurse and then complete a degree-level specialist practitioner programme, which usually lasts at least one academic year, before you can become a district nurse. Neonatal nursing involves working with unwell or premature newborn babies. Health visitor nursing is for registered nurses or midwives working in a network of health organisations, usually within a geographic area. Practice nursing may involve being the sole nurse in a small practice or working as part of a primary care team that includes other nurses, doctors, pharmacists and dieticians.
Prison nursing employs registered nurses through the prison service or the NHS. A background in mental health nursing may help. Nursing in the mental health branch of nursing helps care for patients with mental illnesses.
The Recruitment Agency Network's members are well established recruitment agencies - who are there to help and advise you in reaching that goal.