Secondary care
Starting Out
Secondary care nursing offers a range of exciting and varied career pathways, in a variety of care settings. This includes services such as accident and emergency or general surgical services, as well as speciality work such as nutrition or tissue viability. Nursing in secondary care typically means working in a hospital setting. These can be either public (the NHS) or private; NHS hospitals may or may not be foundation trusts. NHS foundation trusts are a new type of NHS hospital tailored to the needs of local populations, run by local managers, staff and members of the public. The main difference between public and private hospitals is that patients receive public healthcare free at the point of care, while with private healthcare they usually have to cover the costs of the medical treatments themselves or through private insurance payments.
Hospital settings vary widely from the very new and modern ward environments – with plenty of single side rooms and ward bay areas both with en-suite facilities for patients – to the old style nightingale wards. Most acute hospitals operate on a 24-hour basis, so shift work will usually be required. These shifts vary from short shifts (eight hours) to long days (twelve-and-a-half hours) and night shifts. However, with the implementation of the Improving Working Lives (IWL) initiative in the NHS there are increased opportunities to work more flexibly. Roles for newly qualified nurses in the secondary care setting are varied, and the complexity depends on the area in which you work. However, whatever the clinical area, responsibility for planning, providing and evaluating nursing care is an essential part of the role, as well as the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and care and rehabilitation of the sick. The supervision of students during their practice experiences is also an integral element of the trained nurse role. Secondary care settings offer an enormous range of exciting and varied career development opportunities. Information to allow you to make informed choices about your career development can be obtained from senior nursing and practice development staff who will advise you appropriately. Career development is also discussed during the formulation of your personal development plan (PDP) during regular appraisal sessions.
Skills required
You will need to:
- promote a patient-focused multidisciplinary approach in collaboration with carers, healthcare professionals and other agencies
- maintain effective communication
- be able to work under your own initiative
- be able to work as part of a team
- prioritise your workload.
The clinical variety and acuity, opportunities for further education and career development, teamwork and excellent clinical skills development are among the best bits. Financial constraints, acuity level can make some areas quite stressful environments.
