When I started working as a nurse in the United Kingdom, one of the things that caught my attention was the nursing structure. If you also want to find out more about this, keep reading!
In an English ward, you can find the different nursing roles:
- Staff nurse (Band 5) – they are junior nurses. They have a lot of contact with patients and work closely with Band 2-4.
- Sisters or Charge Nurse (Band 6) – The famous Sisters! They are expert nurses that will generally manage the day-to-day aspects of a ward. They manage the team working on a particular shift. When I started I asked where the Brothers were, but I soon discovered that we call them Charge Nurses (LOL!)
- Senior Sisters or Senior Charge Nurse (Band 7) – They are similar to the Spanish supervisors. They manage the whole team and unit with the help from the Ward Sisters, and have many more responsibilities. These may differ from one Trust to another.
- Matron (Band 8) – They are nurses that manage and lead a group of wards or departments.
- Above the Matron, I have discovered that the structure might be different depending on the Trust. In my Trust, we have Deputy Divisional Chief Nurses, Divisional Chief Nurses and finally the Chief Nurse of the Hospital.
One of the most common questions in interviews are the scenarios where there is a complaint from a patient/relative. Working as a Staff Nurse, you need to solve the problem, but if you cannot, it is expected that you will escalate it to the Sister, Senior Sisters, etc.
And you? Do you know a different structure?
NOTE: We do not have celadores in the United Kingdom. The most similar role is the porter, but they do not interact with patients.
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