Community Nurse Jobs

Community Nurse jobs: frequently asked questions

Welcome to our Community Nurse jobs page, featuring all the latest community nursing jobs throughout the UK, as well as frequently asked questions below.

What does a Community Nurse do?

Community Nurses work within communities – providing care at GP surgeries, patient’s homes, schools and much more besides.

As a result, the nature of what Community Nurses do varies greatly from one job to the next.

But in comparison to a hospital-based Nurse, a key difference is that a Community Nurse tends to offer care that’s better served within a community setting – ongoing treatments for elderly patients, disabled patients or those with diabetes, for example.

Otherwise, Community Nurses do much of the same work that Registered General Nurses do.

What are the daily duties of a Community Nurse?

Community Nurses’ duties vary according to where they work.

But typical responsibilities include:

• Basic care - like checking temperature, blood pressure and breathing

• Administering medication and injections

• Cleaning and dressing wounds

• Setting up intravenous drips and monitoring ongoing care

• Creating and managing long-term care plans

• Working closely with other community professionals such as occupational therapists

• Educating and supporting families on patients’ situation and needs

Community Nurses do sometimes have to provide emergency care too, so have to be fully prepared for any eventuality.

Unlike General Nurses, Community Nurses can usually work a standard 9-5, Monday to Friday pattern with occasional evenings and weekends – although this can vary too.

What qualifications do you need to be a Community Nurse?

To become a Community Nurse you will initially need to complete a nursing degree.

You can complete a degree in any of these four core areas: adult, child, mental health and learning disabilities.

Courses typically last three years and are available at universities all over the UK.

You typically then need to work as a General Nurse for at least two years before applying for a postgraduate course in community health nursing.

This course will normally last one year, and it’s common for Nurses to get funding through the NHS trust they’re working for by training under supervision.

In the private sector, sponsorship is also available which is another route into this career.

However, such is the current demand for Nurses across all fields that many trusts and organisations will consider Registered Nurses who don’t have a formal community nursing qualification.

How much do Community Nurses get paid?

Community Nurses are paid on the same NHS bandings as General Nurses – so start at band 5, technically earning just over £24,000 a year to begin with.

From there, more experience and qualifications can help you to work your way up into higher bandings.

Band 6 salaries can reach as high as £37,000, and Band 7 salaries peak above £43,000.

However, because Community Nurses normally need experience and further qualifications, their starting salaries are almost always higher than a newly qualified General Nurse.

Beyond this, your career could go in many directions.

As a Senior Community Nurse or District Nurse you could go on to manage wider teams or educate others as a researcher or lecturer.

You could even become a consultant, which could see your earnings go as high as £70,000 and beyond.

The NHS is the major employer of Community Nurses but there are lots of private employers in community settings too. Here, pay is unregulated and varies from job to job.

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