Essential things to know about Adult Nursing

Dec 12, 2016
Paul Johnson

Like every other field of practice in Nursing, Adult Nursing is a highly demanding field. It comes with its rewarding paybacks and the fulfillment from making a difference in people’s lives.

If you are thinking of starting a career in Adult Nursing, you should read this.

Adult nursing deals with providing nursing care to adults suffering from a wide range of medical conditions. It is also concerned with supporting treatment to speed-up recovery and their complete well-being.

As an adult nurse, you serve as the main point of meeting for adult patients and their families. You are the person they refer to in case of any health issue.

Adult nursing is not a job done in isolation. You play a crucial role by working with a team of other qualified medical personnel like doctors, therapists, and social workers. You equally attend to your patient’s emotional stability and medical needs.

The skills of an adult nurse are quite different from what obtains in children nursing and other fields. You’ll need the following skills:

  • Quick responsiveness and sensitivity to patients’ needs
  • Oral and written communication skills
  • Good observation skills
  • Management and leadership skills
  • An ability to deal with emotional highs and lows of patients
  • Flexibility
  • Great teamwork skills (required in working with other medical staff)

What does an Adult nurse do?

The primary job roles include:

  • Evaluating and planning nursing care requirements
  • Providing care before and after an operation
  • Carrying out routine rounds of administering medication, injections, and intravenous infusions and taking patient samples
  • Checking pulses, temperatures, and blood pressures
  • Writing care plans and records
  • Handling emergencies
  • Supervising junior staff and tutoring student nurses
  • Encouraging healthy lifestyle and hygiene
  • Providing emotional support and assurance of recovery to patients and family

On the other hand, adult nurses can choose to specialize in a particular clinical field as they progress in their career. These specialized fields may include public health, care for the elderly, cancer care or surgery, and recovery.

Job opportunities for adult nursing are inexhaustible. You can work with the NHS Trusts, Hospitals, Health-Care centers, Prisons, Charity homes, Residential homes, Schools, Military base, and many more.

How do you qualify to be an Adult Nurse?

To qualify as an adult nurse, you need to have a nursing degree in one of the four nursing specializations:

  • Adult nursing
  • Children’s nursing
  • Learning disabilities nursing
  • Mental health nursing

Some degree courses combine two of these fields, and they are known as ‘dual field’ degrees. Most nursing degree courses span for three years except for dual field degrees. Nursing degree courses provide a fusion of formal teaching and practical experience.

If you are yet to get a university degree, you can work as a nursing degree apprentice with an NHS employer. Nursing degree apprenticeships were recently developed to make the admission route easy. This training combines academic study and internship. Within a space of 4 years, you’d have become a qualified nurse in the UK.

Another route for applying for a full-time degree is via The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The criteria vary, but you will need at least 2 A levels or equivalent qualifications, plus a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C which equals grade 4 including English, Mathematics and often, biology.

On a final note, upon the completion of your Nursing degree or its equivalent, you have to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC is the regulatory body for the nursing profession in the UK. It doesn’t provide jobs for nurses but affords your license to practice in any health institution.

Adult nursing is not an easy path to tread because of its high demands. But if you think you’ve got all it takes to become an Adult Nurse, brace up and take your chance.