Studying Nursing at University of Plymouth will enable you to commence a rewarding career within the Health sector. With an ongoing demand for nurses across the UK, employment prospects for nursing graduates remain very good.
As the healthcare sector moves towards more integrated, home and community-based services, the range of opportunities available for newly qualified nurses has never been greater. Our nursing graduates work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, GP practices, hospices, specialist units and in community teams supporting patients in their own homes. In addition to the NHS, there is a large private healthcare sector. Further opportunities exist in prisons, the armed forces and overseas.
As your career develops, you could take on a specialist role. In acute settings, this could include for example (and depending on your chosen branch of nursing) intensive care, diabetes, elderly care or neonatal nursing among many others. Specialisation is also an option in community settings, such as Health Visitor, District Nurse, School Nurse, or Public Health Nurse. Within the field of mental health nursing, specialisations might include substance misuse, offenders, eating disorders and psychotherapeutic interventions.
Progression into management roles can occur relatively early in your career, while others seek opportunities in nursing education, training and clinical research.
Researching your career options
Nursing can be an incredibly rewarding career where you can make a real difference to people’s lives. At the same time it can be physically demanding and emotionally challenging. Additionally, given the diversity of career options within the profession, it is important to research and explore these fully so that you can make informed decisions about your future. A key consideration will be which of four main training pathways (adult, child, mental health or learning disability) to take.
The following websites will help you with your decision making.
Employment Opportunities
Below is a snapshot of what University of Plymouth Nursing graduates told us they were doing 15 months after graduation. For some graduates, these roles served as stepping-stones by providing relevant work experience.
- Adult Nurse
- Adult Respiratory Nurse
- Camhs Nurse
- Chemotherapy Nurse
- Children's Nurse
- Community Mental Health Practitioner
- Community Registered Nurse
- Critical Care Nurse
- Critical Care Staff Nurse
- Detox Nurse
- General Nurse
- Intensive Care Nurse
- Junior Sister, Deputy Ward Manager
- Manager
- Memory Pathways Practitioner
- Mental Health Nurse
- Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse
- Neonatal Nurse
- Occupational Health Nurse
- Paediatric Staff Nurse
- Pediatric Staff Nurse Emergency Department
- Physical Interventions Trainer
- Practice Nurse
- Prison Nurse
- Radiographer
- Recruitment Senior Consultant
- Registered Adult Nurse
- Registered Children's Nurse
- Registered Community Nurse
- Registered Mental Health Nurse
- Registered Nurse And Staff Nurse
- Research Nurse
- School Nurse
- Senior Mental Health Nurse
- Simulations Facilitor
- Specialist Nurse
- Staff Nurse
- Student Health Visitor
- Substance Nurse
- Theater Scrub Nurse
- Theatre Nurse
- Theatre Practitioner
- Trainee Nurse Practitioner
EmployersOur graduates are found in most
NHS Trustsas well as the private healthcare sector.
- Barts Health NHS trust
- Birmingham Children's Hospital, NHS
- Bristol Royal Hospital For Children
- Camelot Care
- Care UK
- Castle Hill Hospital NHS
- CFT
- Cornwall Council - Public Health
- Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Cornwallis Care Ltd
- Dame Hannah Rogers Trust
- Devon Partnership NHS Trust
- Duchy Hospital- Ramsey Health Care
- Elm Tree House Residential Care Home
- Exeter Hospital
- Heartlands Hospital
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Langdon Hospital
- Livewell Southwest
- Mayfield Medical Centre
- Ministry of Defence
- Musgrove Park Hospital
- NHS - Derriford Hospital
- NHS - Plymouth Urban Trust
- NHS - The Great Western
- NHS - University Hospital of Wales
- North Bristol NHS Trust
- North Somerset Community Partnership
- Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust
- Pembroke Health Surgery
- Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
- Prospero Health And Social Care
- Queen Alexander Hospital Portsmouth
- Ramsay Healthcare
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Sanctuary Care
- Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
- Southern Healthcare
- Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust
- St Luke's Hospice
- Step One Charity
- Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
- Tiverton Hospital
- Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
- Trelisk Hospital
- University College London Hospital - NHS
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
*Data is from the Graduate Outcomes Surveys of 2017/18 and 2018/19. Graduates were surveyed 15 months after graduating. Data displayed is for 224 UK-domiciled, first degree, full-time graduates who are working, studying or looking for work.