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The NHS’s greatest strength is its people, and as demand for healthcare continues to grow, the NHS wants to inspire the next generation to consider a life-changing career in nursing and play a vital role in shaping the future of the NHS.

This National Careers Week, the NHS is looking to inspire people to pursue a life-changing career as a nurse or a healthcare support worker (HCSW), both of which offer an incredible variety and diverse range of career options through specialisms.

Candidates for nursing university courses have access to a support system to guide them step by step through the application process, alongside tailored support. Annual payments of at least £5,000 are also available to help you in your nursing studies. And you won’t need to pay it back!

Once qualified as a nurse, you can specialise in a huge range of areas, including learning disabilities, mental health, adult and children’s nursing – all varied, exciting and challenging in equal measure. And after qualifying, if you want to continue on training, there are endless opportunities within the NHS to further your career through training, so you can earn while you learn. The extra training will allow you to focus on a more specialised area that you may be particularly interested in, such as trauma, orthopaedics, or neonatal care.

Just like in nursing, HCSW roles represent a world of opportunity in the NHS, with options to work across seven different healthcare settings including: mental health, acute care, midwifery, primary care, children and young people’s services and learning disabilities.

As a general entry point to the NHS, with no A level or degree qualifications needed, there are also a huge range of opportunities to train and develop career prospects in the role. With the right training, HCSWs can go on to become nurses, nursing associates, and also midwives.

As part of the campaign, the NHS has also launched a quiz to raise awareness of the plethora of nursing roles, that people can take to find out which nursing role they’d be best suited to – which is available here.

The NHS is actively recruiting nurses and HCSWs and welcomes talented and passionate individuals to join its ranks, from all walks of life.

Find out where an NHS career could take you. Search ‘ ‘NHS Careers’ for more information.