You will need to have a keen interest in healthcare, be capable of working in a team, and have a caring and understanding personality and outlook to enjoy working as a nurse.

General Nursing involves caring for and meeting the needs of adults and their carers/families in a variety of hospital and community clinical settings. A general nurse is a key member of the healthcare team, providing for the physical, psychological and social wellbeing of patients with acute or chronic physical illness. 
General Nursing students are required to be motivated, knowledgeable, accountable and responsible, and possess excellent clinical and interpersonal skills.
General Nurses also have an important part to play in health education, health promotion and rehabilitation of persons across the age spectrum. Students will have the opportunity to learn and gain experience in a wide range of setting including:

• Medical Wards
• Surgical Wards
• Emergency Department
• Operating Theatres
• Intensive Care
• Coronary Care
• Community Nursing
• Maternity Nursing
• Child Care Nursing
• Care of the Older Adult
• Out Patients Department

General nursing offers the most varied of careers with opportunities available across a number of settings. Although general nursing may involve looking after sick people in traditional settings such as hospitals, it offers so much more. General Nurses work in general practice, the community, nursing homes, hospices, the armed forces and universities as well as in public and private hospitals.

Following completion of their Bachelor Degree in Nursing and registration as a General Nurse with The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI), many graduates choose to spend at least their first year gaining experience in the clinical setting by working within either the public or private hospital setting. The choice of hospital and clinical focus e.g. surgical, medical, older adult are normally dictated by the fact that during their undergraduate degree, student nurses are attached to a particular hospital. As a result, they develop insight into the variety of clinical specialities e.g. but also the type of nursing that appeals to them most. This time gaining experience and being part of a clinical team is invaluable in ultimately determining what direction your career may take.

Ultimately, career progression is dependent on a mix of further study and work experience. In Ireland, there are a number of specialist courses and programmes available.

For further information on post registration programmes, please visit the School of Nursing and Midwifery Postgraduate website.