Nurses are high profile healthcare professionals who focus on patient care for individuals, families, and communities, ensuring that they attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and functioning. Capable of assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating care independently of doctors, nurses provide support from basic triage to emergency surgery.
Hospital Nurses
Ward nurses are probably the professional carers that the public mostly associate with nursing. Working exclusively on the hospital wards, this group of nurses tend to nowadays operate as a team and usually on a rotating shift pattern such as 7 x 12 hour shifts spread over a 2 week period. Some of the jobs involved in this role might include:
- Assessment and management of the patient’s health
- Monitoring of patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, saline levels
- Moving the patient around in bed to avoid bed sores / DVT possibilities
- Administering patient drug prescriptions
The purpose of each hospital ward can vary
- Accident & emergency – Trauma care and triage services
- Recovery ward – Immediate post operation or surgery
- Recuperation ward – patient management to hospital discharge
- Acute – Patients who need 24 hour total care
- Psychiatric – Patients with mental health issues
- Paediatric – Children only
Community Nurses
Community nurses are fully qualified, registered nurses who work in the community in locations such as people’s homes, schools, local GP surgeries and health centres. Those community nurses that actually visit patients in their homes are usually a) Health visitors who check up on the medical issues surrounding the patient or b) District nurses who actually perform clinical duties on the patient such as wound management and the changing of dressings, giving injections and helping people get any home nursing aids and equipment they need. The patients that community nurse look after may be ill or disabled, or particularly vulnerable people for example, older people, children and people with learning disabilities. Community nurses can provide help and advice on a wide range of health issues. They may also teach families and carers basic caregiving skills. If you are leaving hospital, the hospital may arrange for a community nurse to visit you regularly as part of your ‘continuing care’ arrangements. Community nurses work closely with GPs, local social services and hospitals. Your GP can refer you to a community nursing service.
Community roles may are broken down into
- GP practice nurse
- District nurse
- Dental nurse
- Cottage Hospital nurse
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