In this role you will:

• take temperatures, blood pressures and pulse rates
• help doctors with physical examinations
• give drugs and injections
• clean and dress wounds
• set up drips and blood transfusions
• use medical equipment
• monitor patients' progress
• update patient records and handover information to colleagues at the end of a shift
• work with doctors and other healthcare professionals to decide what care to give
• give advice to patients and their relatives

You may need to wear a uniform.

You could work in an NHS or private hospital, at a health centre, at a hospice, at an adult care home, at a client's home or in a prison.

Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.

With experience, you could specialise in a particular field such as intensive care or operating theatre work, or become a nursing sister, ward manager or team leader.

You could train as a midwife, neonatal nurse, health visitor, or district or practice nurse. You could also move into management, as a matron or director of nursing.

With a postgraduate qualification, you could become an advanced nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist, then a nurse consultant. There are opportunities to go into teaching and research.

You could also become self-employed or work overseas.

You can find out more about career progression from the Royal College of Nursing.