Community nursing in healthcare

From daily duties to salary insights, uncover the fundamentals of community nursing.

Community nursing plays a hugely significant role in the UK healthcare system. Whether you’re interested in the day-to-day activities of a Community Nurse and their expected salary, or are keen to discover how an MSc in Nursing can help community nurses develop the skills to drive their practice forward, here’s all you need to know.

What is the role of a Community Nurse? 

As part of the broader healthcare system, a Community Nurse plays a crucial role in promoting health and well-being within the community. 
 
They do this by providing preventive care, health education and support to individuals and their families in various places out of the regular surgeries and hospitals. This care could include travel to individual’s homes, community centres or schools and universities.  
 
Community nurses collaborate with other healthcare professionals and use research and data to address health disparities, manage chronic conditions and improve overall community health. 

What do community nurses do?  

The role of a Community Nurse is far-reaching, and no two days are the same. Here are some examples of what community nurses do and how their skills and care benefit communities: 

Delivering primary care services and preventive healthcare measures  

Regular health assessments and screenings are great ways to positively impact the health and well-being of communities. For example, a Community Nurse may organise a healthcare clinic pop-up at a local community centre, where they offer the likes of blood pressure checks, cholesterol screenings and even vaccinations to community members. 

Managing chronic diseases within the community 

Similarly, a Community Nurse may establish regular clinics for individuals with chronic conditions or diseases such as diabetes or hypertension. During these clinics, the community nurses regularly assess and monitor the patient's health status, and review prescribed medication adherence.

These clinics also offer the opportunity to educate communities on disease management and lifestyle changes to positively impact overall health and well-being. 

Delivering care directly to patients' homes 

Community nurses provide essential healthcare services directly to patients’ homes. This approach has many benefits for the individual, including being in familiar and comfortable surroundings, removing the need to travel to clinics, surgeries or hospitals, which is particularly helpful for those with mobility issues or complex medical needs.

The Community Nurse will monitor responses to treatment and assess health status, and perform tasks such as dressing wounds, administering medication and assess overall well-being. They also offer education to patients and their families on managing health conditions, dietary guidelines and more.

Providing health promotion activities 

Part of a Community Nurse’s role is also to provide health promotion activities to communities and raise awareness of prevalent health issues. Through these activities, they will also uncover the most appropriate ways of empowering individuals to take proactive steps to improve their health, as well as intervening where necessary to improve overall community health. 

Community Nurse salary 

According to Indeed’s most recent data, the average salary of a Community Nurse is £33,638 per year in the United Kingdom. The exact expected salary will depend on a number of variables, including location and years of experience. 

The benefits of an MSc in Nursing 

An MSc in Nursing can help community nurses develop the specialist skills, knowledge and inter-professional insights needed to drive their practice forward. 
 
Our online, part-time MSc in Nursing is designed to aid registered, qualified nurses from every area of the profession. We bring together nurses from all different backgrounds, specialisms and corners of the world.

The course is online and part-time, meaning you can fit your work around your life, and not the other way round. Find out more details over on our course page: