Practice nurse
Practice nurses work in GP surgeries to assess, screen, treat and educate patients, and help doctors give medical care.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
In this role you could:
- run clinics for conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart problems and skin disorders
- apply dressings, treat wounds and take samples of blood and urine
- give advice on family planning, contraception, blood pressure and stopping smoking
- carry out infant injections, vaccinations and travel immunisations
- help patients to manage long term conditions
Working environment
You could work at a GP practice.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- specialise in health promotion, chronic disease management, diabetes or asthma care
- do a further qualification to work as a nurse practitioner and manage your own caseload of patients
- train to become a specialist community practitioner, providing advanced care while leading a team
- move into service management, teaching or research
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- knowledge of psychology
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- sensitivity and understanding
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be flexible and open to change
- customer service skills
- knowledge of English language
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
How to become
You can get into this job by applying directly.
To apply directly to work in general practice, you need to be a qualified and registered adult, child, mental health or learning disability nurse.
When applying for jobs, it might give you an advantage if you have experience in:
- chronic disease management, like diabetes or asthma
- child immunisations
- cervical screenings
- taking blood samples
You might need to do the Specialist Practitioner - General Practice Nursing course. This is an approved programme by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Return to nursing
If you've been out of nursing for a while, you could do a return to general practice nursing course.
You do not need previous general practice experience. You can do work placements in the community to help you move into a general practice nurse role.
Registration
- you'll need to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council
Further information
You can find out more about how to become a practice nurse from Health Careers.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.