Primary care

Primary care is care carried out outside the hospital setting. It is vast in its scope and in the breadth of care delivered. It encompasses caring for people with mental health problems, those with learning difficulties, children, older people and everyone in between.

A typical nurse in this field might work in a general practice setting with as many as 9,000 patients in need of medical care. This care is dependent on the needs of the patient. The care can vary from giving travel immunisations to taking cervical smears to health promotion advice.

Starting out

Within the community setting, there are a variety of roles the nurse can take: district nurse, community midwife, psychiatric nurse, community learning difficulties nurse and health visitor to name a few. There are also a variety of nursing roles which are specialist roles and cross the boundary between primary and secondary care.

Most roles within primary care are more suited to the experienced nurse as, in most cases, the nurse will be working autonomously and independently, making their own clinical decisions. There is room to continue your education. All specialities require further training such as a nurse practitioner degree programme or a masters in respiratory medicine.

Skills required

Working as a nurse in primary care requires the nurse to be a jack-of-all- trades. A wide breadth and depth of knowledge and skill is needed, as we often have no idea what the day will bring! You'll need good communication skills and empathy. Developing a good rapport with patients, you almost become part of the family and share their joy and sometimes their sorrow.