What does a nurse do?

What exactly is it like to be a nurse? What do they do and is 4 years worth of hard study worth it? Are there any jobs now?

Nursing is a very rewarding but very demanding job.

Your basic role is to look patients basic needs, medical and personal. This includes washing, bathing, nutrition. That is nursing at its most basic level. You are also responsible for administering medication both oral and intravenous/injections etc. Dressing of wounds, arranging social care packages for when patients get discharged from hospital.

You can also specialise in different areas such as intensive care, theatres, health visiting, occupational health and many others. All specialities mean you have to learn new skills and gain a lot of extra knowledge.

I'm kind of assuming you're in the Uk and the NHS is changing these days, not for the better in a lot of cases. There will always be jobs for nurses in many different settings, however due to changes it can be very stressful and emotionally demanding.

I am actually a nurse on a cruise ship now, which is fantastic, get to see the world and nurse at the same time. We see a lot of medical cases on the ships which can range from seasickness to cardiac arrests.

In short being a nurse is a fantstically rewarding career, maybe not financially but in other ways. There is always opportunity to learn more anad in order to kep up your registration you do have to do a certain amount of study every year.

Nurses are no longer the doctors hand maiden, we are highly erducated, highly skilled professionals in our own right and we do actually make a real difference to peoples lives.

message to mcfifi - you may have had a bad experience but your comment is very insulting. At the end of the day, nurses often work 12 hour shifts and when your a visitor you see them for 2 hours during visiting time. Those nurses probably haven't had a minute to sit down all day and after all we are just human, we are allowed to talk to each other and have a laugh during our working day. may I ask what you do for a living?

I THINK THEY ARE VERY HARD WORKER'S BUT THERE ARE VERY FEW JOB'S FOR THEM NOW

BLAME THE LABOUR GOV:
There are always plenty of nursing jobs out there. A nurse is really the one that runs the hospitals and such. They check vitals,clean up patients,administer medications,and chart everything that goes with caring for a patient. They also keep the doctors informed of everything going on with the patients.
Jobs in health care are one of the most in demand.
In my recent experience, they spend a lot of time hanging round the nurses' station, chatting about their boyfriends, and studiously ignoring the patients and their relatives.
Nurses are always in demand and as a matter of fact, at least here in North Carolina, they get nice bonuses to start, but, they put in long hours. with that being said, what do they do? Everything they are told to do. From taking care of the patient to making sure all runs right on the floor. They do what the Doctor says and most times they, in my opinion, are the backbone of the operation. They are great people who work very hard at what they do. You definitely have to have the desire to want to be in that field.
Both my daughters are in that profession. It is hard work. You have to be able to handle cleaning up incontinent people, be able to handle seeing people die, it is a hard and difficult profession. You have to take abuse You have to be totally dedicated. Thank goodness my daughters have now been promoted.