Nursing

A professional qualification is essential for jobs within nursing. Employers also look at your wider personal skills and abilities: the way you work and engage with people, for example, is crucial to your work as a nurse.  Over the course of your degree you develop a wide mix of subject-specific and technical skills, you should consider these skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile.

Working as a Nurse 

See the full video at Careers4U

Prospects

Nursing is a vocational degree. In 2010, six months after graduating, almost 85% of nursing graduates were in UK or overseas employment. Almost 8% opted to combine work with further study.

Of those who were in work, 94% were working as health or associate professionals. Just over 1% of nursing graduates were in social care and welfare jobs, while 1% had taken roles in public or private sector managment. Around 2% were believed to be unemployed.

Nurses work in many locations including GP surgeries, community settings, residential homes, occupational health services and hospices. Areas of work open to nursing graduates can also include management and training roles.

Qualified nurses also have the option of working abroad in countries where their qualifications are recognised. Find out more by contacting the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) international office.

Where are the jobs?

Common employers include:

• The National Health Service (NHS) (see NHS Careers);
• the independent sector;
• voluntary organisations;
• local authorities (for work in nursing and residential homes);
• schools and further and higher education institutions;
• industry;
• prisons and the armed forces;
• private sector organisations such as leisure cruise companies and private nursing homes

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Adult nurse
• Health visitor
• Learning disability nurse
• Mental health nurse
• Paediatric nurse
• District nurse
• Occupational health nurse
• Practice nurse
• School nurse

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Further education lecturer
• Higher education lecturer
• Police officer
• Social worker
• Education welfare officer
• Counsellor

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it's not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

You can find more about the skills you develop during your course, the jobs listed above, plus case studies and where to find these jobs at Prospects.

Included with the permission of AGCAS. For the latest version of this publication, see www.prospects.ac.uk. For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk