Community nurses play a vital role in helping provide care for people outside of the traditional hospital setting, whether this be home visits, going to the local GP or inside their care home.
It’s a great career path for those who fancy a change in pace and enjoy moving from location to location.
Carry on reading to find out more about becoming a community nurse, including key skills, qualifications and realities of the role.
Routes to entry
To qualify as a community nurse, you will need a degree in nursing. Those with a related degree such as science, have the option to take a post-grad nursing degree. In order to build up your skills and industry knowledge, a minimum of 2 years work experience in adult nursing is a must. Lastly, you need to take a specialist training course to transition into the community nurse role - which requires slightly different skills to regular nursing roles.
What skills are required?
Clear communicator - you will be speaking to patients regularly, so it’s important you are a confident communicator who can make medical information accessible.
Strong listening - it is paramount that you are an active listener and get to know each of your service users and their idiosyncratic needs in detail.
Interpersonal skills - interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds, with a variety of conditions requires strong interpersonal skills.
Patience - sometimes you may come face to face with a few challenging patients, but it is important you take your time with them and give everyone an equal opportunity to reach the best outcome.
Empathy - having the ability to put yourself in your patients’ shoes is essential to providing effective care .
Typical day-to-day?
As a community nurse, you will help clients who are no longer in hospital but need aftercare or assistance managing a long term condition. Although each day varies, you can expect to be doing the following:
Visiting patients at home for general check-ups
Taking blood pressure and temperature
Helping with injections
Setting up drips
Cleaning wounds
Monitoring and educating patients and their general health/medical condition
If you’re looking for a community nursing role, get in touch with MCM Medical via info@mcmmedical.co.uk or give our friendly consultants a call on 0203 929 4010.
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