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Patient care

Nurse

Cares for people who are ill, injured or recovering: assessing their needs, giving treatment and medicines, and supporting patients and families.

Nurses work on hospital wards and in clinics, care homes, schools and people's homes, and in the UK each trains in a field such as adult, children's, mental health or learning disability nursing. It suits calm, practical people who notice small changes in a patient and stay kind under pressure.

Also called Registered nurse, Staff nurse, Charge nurse or School nurse.

At a glance

Way in
Bachelor's degree, often in nursing, adult nursing, children's nursing, mental health nursing and learning disability nursing
Pay in the US
$97,550 a year, the medianFor registered nurses, 2025
Pay in the UK
£32,000 starting to £48,000 with experience
US outlook
Faster than average, 2025-2035
Suits you if
You are caring and observant and stay calm when things move fast.

Pay is a guide: it moves with the country, the employer, the sector and the years in the job. Figures from O*NET OnLine (US) and the National Careers Service (UK); see the sources below.

The work

What does a nurse do?

  • Assess patients on arrival and decide who needs care first.
  • Measure vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure and temperature, and act on changes.
  • Give medicines, dress wounds and manage drips and other treatments.
  • Draw up care plans and keep patient records accurate and up to date.
  • Teach patients and families how to manage their care once they are home.

Where they work

  • NHS and private hospitals
  • GP surgeries and health centres
  • Care homes and hospices
  • Patients' homes
  • Schools and prisons

Skills

The skills a nurse needs

  • Clinical observationspotting when a patient is getting worse
  • Medicines safetycorrect doses, routes and double checks
  • Communicationlistening to patients and handing over clearly
  • Teamworkworking with doctors, therapists and carers
  • Resiliencestaying steady through long shifts and hard days
  • Infection controlhand hygiene, aseptic technique and safe waste

Route in

How to become a nurse

  1. Study biology or another science at school to prepare for a nursing degree.
  2. Complete an approved nursing degree with long supervised placements on wards and in the community.
  3. Join your country's nursing register, passing a licensing exam where one is required, as in the US.
  4. Start as a registered nurse, then specialise in an area such as intensive care or theatres.

Degrees people take

  • Nursing
  • Adult nursing
  • Children's nursing
  • Mental health nursing
  • Learning disability nursing

In the UK, nurses join the NMC register, and a nursing degree apprenticeship is another way in. In the US, nurses pass the NCLEX-RN for a state licence.

Practise for it

The quizzes and tools that fit

Also on biofideX

Next to it

Careers to weigh against it

Sources

Where the facts come from

Written for biofideX from these public sources. The pay figures are theirs, copied as published, last read 2026-10-25.

Requirements differ by country and change over time; check with the body that registers the profession where you will work. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll correct it.

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Each with what it asks, how people get in, what it pays and the quizzes that fit it.

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