Nurse/Nursing Associate

 

Role and Responsibilities

As a registered nursing associate working in social care, you bridge the gap between the healthcare support workers and the registered nurse and will be working with people and their families, carers, and partners to promote health and prevent ill health.

Your nursing role will mean you will work with adults of all ages and their partners, families, and carers.

  • Carrying out clinical tasks such as blood pressure, temperature, and ECGs
  • Monitoring an individual’s condition and behaviour and sharing this information with the registered nurse.
  • Supporting adults of all ages and their partners, families, and carers.
  • Working closely with a registered nurse and interacting with different professionals such as doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers
  • Working closely with colleagues to monitor the care and support they offer.

 

Skills and experience

You will have the skills and knowledge to work in teams to produce a personalised approach to the health and care needs of people. This will be identified through understanding their wishes and plan of care assessed by the registered nurse.

The most important skills are you communication and interpersonal skills. You will need to communicate, contribute and often advocate care needs with a wide range of people including professionals. You will need to understand the importance of personalised care and, alongside a registered nurse, be able to listen to people to understand how you can support them to make choices about the care they receive. You will also need good decision-making skills, be able to teach and monitor to ensure quality of care outcomes and experience.

 

Prior Requirements

The route to nursing associate is at foundation degree level either through direct entry or an apprenticeship route. Entry requirements can vary depending on where you’d like to study but most university courses will ask for GCSE grades 9 to 4 (A to C in maths and English), or Functional Skills Level 2 in maths and English.