If you have ever wondered what a lead practice nurse does and what a lead nurse’s job is, you’ve come to the right place. Here on Velju, you can read everything you need to know about being a lead nurse. You’ll learn how to become a lead nurse, what would be your skills and responsibilities, and how much lead practice nurses earn in the EU.

What Does A Lead Practice Nurse Do?

The lead nurse’s job is to ensure that every patient receives the proper care they need. The lead nurse coordinates the care for every patient, including the ill and injured and also healthy people hoping to stay that way.

Many nurses specialise and work only with particular types of patients, such as newborn babies, or patients with specific medical illnesses, such as cancer.

Duties And Responsibilities

As a lead practice nurse, you will be the individual most patients deal with daily. It’s your job to aid medical care, answer patients’ questions, and share any concerns with your nurse supervisor. Specific obligations associated with your role can vary, depending on your speciality and work environment, but lead nurse’s duties might include the following:

• collecting patient health histories
• observing patients behaviour
• educating patients about treatments they need
• performing diagnostic tests
• performing physical exams
• counselling patients’ families
• administering medication
• making decisions about necessary actions
• interpreting patient’s information
• supervising the care of other healthcare people, including licenced vocational nurses and certified nurse assistants
• researching to improve patient’s outcome

As a lead nurse, you constantly evaluate and have meetings with the team, patients and their families. Your focus is on supervising employees, acting as a link between hospital management and nursing staff, and responding to patient or family members’ questions and/or complaints.

If something goes wrong, a legal nurse consultant takes care of the potential problems.

Skills And Qualifications

A clinical lead nurse role consists of a combination of skills to provide the best care to patients. Here are some of the lead nurse duties:

• Organisation skills – You are responsible for the well-being of several various patients, all with different health conditions. Your organisational skills should help you prioritise which patients need the most urgent attention.
• Physical endurance – Lead nurses spend most of their shifts on their feet and on the go, so a good level of physical fitness is required.
• Compassion – A lead practice nurse must be sympathetic to the needs of their patients to help them deal with various states of trauma and the often worried family members of these patients.
• Communication skills – Lead nurses must communicate directly with patients who might be scared and answer potential questions calmly.
• Critical thinking – Registered nurses must note any changes in the patient’s condition. Their critical thinking skills help them diagnose problems.
• Patience – Some patients might be nervous about medical procedures, so your job is to give the best care under those circumstances.
• Ability to work under pressure and cope with stress -Registered nurses often work in fast-paced conditions. Often their patients face medical crises, where the wrong decision could mean the difference between life and death. All registered nurses must be able to fight the stress they face.

How To Become A Lead Nurse?

A lead nurse must hold one of the following qualifications:

• Associate Degree in Nursing
• Nursing diploma from an accredited and approved nursing program
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing

A solid education is essential, but experience as a lead nurse shouldn’t be underestimated. Many elements of nursing are taught on the job, and most lead nurses feel their skillfulness enhanced with more time in the industry.

How Much Does A Lead Nurse Earn In The EU?

Here are the salaries of a lead nurse in a few European countries:

1. Luxembourg- 74.702 € per year or 35.91 € per hour.
2. Germany- 66.543 € per year or 31,99 € per hour.
3. UK- 65.110 € per year or 31.30 € per hour.
4. Netherlands- 61.881 € per year or 29.75 € per hour.
5. Austria- 61.360 € per year or 29.50 € per hour.

Essentially, registered nurses are critical to healthcare operations. Becoming a registered nurse requires duration, more formal education, clinical internship, and other certifications. In exchange, nurses earn higher salaries and, most importantly, save lives.

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How Much Does a Nurse With a Master’s Degree Make?

For example, nurses in Germany with a master’s degree get a salary of 3,400 € per month, 93% more than someone having a bachelor’s degree. So is with other countries.