The minimum level of qualification you will need is five GCSEs and two A levels. Once you have become a registered nurse, you will usually need two years of nursing experience in order to enrol on a shorter degree or postgraduate course which will qualify you as a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse.
For nurses considering their next career move, I would definitely recommend community nursing. Whether they are newly qualified or have years of experience, the role suits anyone with a real passion for helping people and who relishes the variety that comes with the role.
Mental Health Nurses work with other health professionals to support those people, building trusting relationships with them, helping them to adhere to treatment programmes and advising on therapies and lifestyle choices that support good mental health.
Community-based nursing allows medical professionals to address the needs of individual members of a community. In community-based nursing, nurses implement various proactive programs in areas such as health education, disease prevention, and restorative care that can lead to healthier communities.
13 Qualities of a Good Nurse: Leadership & Personality Characteristics
- Caring.
- Communication Skills.
- Empathy.
- Attention to Detail.
- Problem Solving Skills.
- Stamina.
- Sense of Humor.
- Commitment to Patient Advocacy.
Working conditions
- Hours. Evening and weekend work is becoming increasingly common, and in many services you will work a shift between 8am and 8pm.
- Environment. You would usually be based at a health centre, as part of a community health care team.
- Travel.
At the very young age of 51 you are not even close to being too old to get into nursing. Many people are coming into the profession at every stage of life. In fact the oldest student I have met to date was 70 years old. If you've already been a 911 dispatcher, you can definitely hold your own in a nursing program.
Community health nurses work in hospitals, community centers, clinics, schools and government health agencies. Community health nurses are important to regions where healthcare is not easily accessible, so they can travel to remote places and isolated areas of a city.
A day as a district nurseDistrict nurses are just one of the types of nurses who work in the community, rather than in a hospital. As a district nurse, you may work in many different locations around the community, but your time will be spent mainly in people's own homes.
Our kindness, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, emotional stability, empathy and compassion are part of who we are as people on a personal level and serve us well as nurses. Exhibiting strong communication skills that help us communicate with patients and colleagues, sometimes at their worst life moments.
Entry-level nurses start on just over £20,000 per annum. District nurses might earn anything between £26,000 and £35,000 a year. Those taking on a more managerial role might earn up to £41,000 a year.
As well as providing direct patient care, you'll have a teaching and support role, working with patients to enable them to care for themselves or with family members teaching them how to give care to their relatives. District nurses play a vital role in keeping hospital admissions and readmissions to a minimum.
In every aspect of healthcare, nurses work to provide education, promote healthy practices, share their expertise and help patients heal. Guiding patients and their families, nurses can provide people in a community with referrals for other services, resources and classes.
