As a nurse, you assess and care for patients, providing a medical plan for preventative, rehabilitative or curative purposes. You may work in a range of environments, including hospitals, nursing homes, specialist units, community facilities and patients’ homes. Nurses administer medications, redress wounds, and help prepare patients for surgery. You focus on the needs of your patients, rather than their illnesses or conditions, and you are the main point of contact for patients as part of a multidisciplinary health care team.
Your daily tasks as a nurse are wide and varied. Nurses work on a rotating roster, working both nights and days, generally in eight hour shifts. During these shifts you have to maintain patient care, monitor medication dosages, treat wounds, perform routine observations (patient pulse, blood pressure, and temperature), adjust medical equipment where necessary, and prepare patients for operations.
You must continually update the records of patients’ conditions, and brief specialists when they arrive on the ward. Other common tasks include setting up drips and blood transfusions, offering support during tests and evaluations, organising staff and workloads, monitoring and ordering medical supplies and equipment, and constantly being prepared for an emergency.
As a nurse, you will need to have an interest in people and natural ability in health care. Your job will require you to have patience, tact, a high tolerance, and a gentle, caring nature. You will have to be able to cope in emergency situations, acting with initiative and speed. If you are a non-conformist, then the strict care and safety procedures are not likely to appeal.
It is important for you to have strong communication skills, as patients often need someone to talk to. They will need your support to take their mind off their problems, to make them feel calm and less alone. The ability to trust your own judgements is important, as is the ability to work both independently and as part of a larger, multidisciplinary team.
Nursing is an inspiring and satisfying job, when you are able to help patients prevent or recover from a medical condition or situation. Their improvement into a state of wellbeing is very rewarding, and often they view you as an important part of their recovery. As a nurse, you get to meet many different people from many different backgrounds and cultures.
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