Practice nurse

Practice nurse job description: Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills | Useful links | Find jobs and courses

Practice nurses work as part of a team of professional staff that includes doctors, health visitors and therapists.

Typical responsibilities include:

• patient consultations within surgeries/health centres
• carrying out physical examinations, investigatory procedures and cervical smear/pregnancy tests
• diagnosing and treating illnesses/ailments
• performing minor surgery
• providing advice about contraception and fitting contraceptive devices
• treating wounds
• applying and removing dressings
• providing emergency first aid/treatment
• giving advice, education and information about health conditions and ailments, stopping smoking and losing weight
• taking patient samples, swabs, specimens, pulses, temperatures and blood pressures
• administering immunisations, vaccinations (for example for influenza) and infant injections
• running well woman/man clinics and clinics for specific ailments such as diabetes and asthma
• liaising with other health care professionals, practice nurses, GPs and/or hospitals
• writing records and keeping patients notes up-to-date.

The job can be tiring but is nevertheless rewarding and highly respected.

Typical employers of practice nurses

• health centres
• clinics
• GP surgeries

Vacancies appear in newspapers, health authority jobs lists and publications such as Nursing Times and Nursing Standard.

Qualifications and training required

Qualification requires a 3-year diploma course or a 3-4-year degree course. Graduates with a degree in a relevant subject such as life, health, biological or social sciences can qualify via a shortened 2-year postgraduate diploma course. Degree course applications should be made through UCAS, or directly to institutions for shortened postgraduate courses and for diploma places in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Nursing and Midwifery Admissions Service (NMAS) (NHS Education in Scotland) handle diploma places, for which applications should be made before the December closing date at least one year in advance of the course commencing.

Previous relevant experience prior to training is not essential, but any gained caring for/working with people can be helpful.

Key skills for practice nurses

• good health and fitness
• excellent teamwork skills
• verbal and written communication skills
• resilience
• stamina