Nursing: Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Adult nurse - provides medical care, supports the recovery of and promotes good health amongst patients suffering from short and long-term illnesses.
• Health visitor - works with vulnerable groups such as young children and the elderly. You might work with families in their own homes, promote immunisations or check the development of young children.
• Learning disability nurse - supports people with learning disabilities to live their lives as fully and independently as possible in the community.
• Mental health nurse - works with GPs, psychiatrists, social workers and other health professionals to plan and deliver care for people suffering from mental illness.
• Midwife - provides advice, care and support for women, their partners and families before, during and after childbirth.
• Paediatric nurse - works to promote optimum health and prevent ill-health amongst children from premature birth up to the age of 18.
• Paramedic - works in rapid response ambulance units to deal with medical emergencies.

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Further education lecturer- in a nursing context, teaches on health-related and vocational programmes to post-16 students as well as students taking access courses.
• Higher education lecturer - in a nursing context, teaches clinical and academic skills to student nurses in higher education institutions offering nursing diplomas and/or degree programmes. You would need to be an experienced nurse to undertake this role.
• Social worker - supports disadvantaged members of the community. Works with a range of clients from children and the elderly to those with special needs. Further study is essential.
• Police officer - maintains law and order, protecting and supporting the public.
• Counsellor - helps people to explore feelings about their lives so that they can reflect about what is happening to them and consider alternative ways of doing things.

Other options

A degree in nursing provides openings to a wide range of other careers but, in order to boost prospects, it is also important to gain as many of the relevant skills and as much relevant work experience as possible before embarking on a particular career.

Volunteering, internships, part-time jobs and student projects can help enhance confidence as well as improve skills in communication, organising workloads, using initiative, working collaboratively, conducting research and project management.

Related work experience in a clinical environment is always strongly recommended and may even be essential for work in the health sector. It can help to increase knowledge of the sector and enable you to establish important contacts. It is also possible to make speculative approaches, especially to employers whose business is in the line of work that you are considering.

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.

Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.