Careers
Ready for a truly rewarding career?
Starting off or moving up the career ladder, the health and social care sector offers exciting opportunities for our graduates.
If you're considering a career in health or social care, you probably already know deep down that it's the right way forward for you. You can imagine the wonderful feeling that accompanies the day-to-day, knowing that you’ll be making a difference to patients, service users and their families. It’s what makes health and social care unique as a truly fulfilling career.
The rewards come in other ways too. Health and social care offers job opportunities and security that can’t be found in other sectors. Nurses and allied health professionals are in demand in the UK and across the world.
When you receive your nursing, midwifery or paramedic qualification from Liverpool John Moores University you can expect to earn an annual salary of between £21,909 and £28,462 within the NHS (source: NHS Careers website). Social workers enjoy a starting salary of £26,302.
Graduates will be eligible to register with professional bodies such as the Health and Care Professions Council (HPCP) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
The School offers qualified health and social care professionals the opportunity to enhance career progression prospects and develop professionally by undertaking one of our courses for qualified professionals.
Take a look at our course factfiles to discover more about your career prospects.
Lifelong learning for healthcare professionals
Healthcare practitioners are key to the success of the government’s vision for an effective seven-day NHS in England. The development of new roles and responsibilities combined with technological innovations mean that practitioners need to acquire new skills and competencies. LJMU offers a wide range of Continuous Professional Development courses to enable healthcare professionals to continue education and maintain post registration education and practice requirements as required by professional bodies.
Read the inspirational story of how Elaine Lyons went from a cleaner here at LJMU to a Royal Liverpool Hospital sister.
Career prospects by subject
Take a look at the specific subject areas that interest you below to find out about your career prospects.
Midwifery
Once you've completed your midwifery course at Liverpool John Moores University you'll be able to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and start your career as a midwife, supporting women and their families through pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period. Your qualification and experience from LJMU will open a wide range of options to develop your career in the directions that interest you most. As you gain further knowledge and expertise you could move into senior practitioner roles as a team or unit manager. You may want to specialise in a particular area of perinatal care and study for further qualifications, enabling you to carry out research that helps move the profession forward.
Top marks for our midwifery students:
- 100% of our midwifery graduates achieve at least a 2:1
- 100% of our student midwives are in employment or further study within six months of graduating
- 100% of our student midwives are satisfied with the course (according to the National Student Survey 2016)
Nursing
Once you have completed your nursing course at LJMU and have gained registration on the Nursing and Midwifery Register, you will be able to apply for your first nursing post within your chosen field of practice. 98% of our nursing students go on to secure employment within six months of graduating. Registered nurses can work in a variety of settings; public, private, voluntary and overseas, though most of our graduates choose to begin their career within the NHS. There are also a growing number of nurse specialist posts in different clinical areas and some graduates also pursue careers in teaching, research or management, or continue their studies with a masters programme.
Paramedic practice
Developed with the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, our Paramedic Practice course is designed to help you gain the skills, experience and confidence to work effectively at the frontline of patient care. Working alongside other health professionals and emergency services you will need to develop strong leadership skills and interpersonal skills to care for people in distressing circumstances – your education at LJMU will help you gain these skills. Upon successful completion of your course you will be able to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council, enabling you to practice in both the NHS and private healthcare sectors. All of our recent graduates successfully secured employment with the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust within 6 months of graduating from their course.
Social work
In addition to providing you with an approved qualification required to practise as a social worker, your degree from Liverpool John Moores University will enable you to develop a range of transferable skills. You will develop specific social work skills such as the ability to deal with people in a caring and professional manner and assess situations for change. Most job opportunities are with local authorities, although as a qualified social worker you can also work for NHS trusts, GP practices, hospices and voluntary organisations.
Health and social care
Health and Social Care for Individual, Families and Communities is an excellent foundation for a range of careers to enable you to work in the health and social care sector. Previous graduates have found employment in the public sector, for example, in support work or advisory roles, working in housing associations or for service providers for children and young people. Further study is a popular option such as teacher training, social work and nursing. In addition, you’ll develop transferable skills that will open doors to a further range of careers unrelated to your degree.
Counselling and psychotherapy practice
Our counselling and psychotherapy graduates are very employable, with many expected to go on to work in the NHS, private and voluntary sectors. Postgraduates may move to higher management levels or developmental initiatives within their existing role, demonstrating an increased level of autonomy and responsibility. Therapists are much sought after in various areas of business and many will work as qualified counsellors and psychotherapists, practitioner researchers, IAPT wellbeing practitioners, support workers and mental health workers.
Continuing professional development (CPD)
Whether you're a midwife, paramedic, mental health nurse or youth worker, lifelong learning is key to success for all roles in the health and social care sectors. Our CPD programmes will equip you with the skills, confidence and competence demanded by these sectors. You'll develop specialist expertise and boost your long-term job prospects. Our programmes have been developed in consultation with a wide range of healthcare organisations and we continually review courses to ensure they meet workforce needs and fill knowledge gaps in the sector.
Find out more about our CPD courses.
We can help you start your own business
The Centre for Entrepreneurship has been helping students and alumni get their business ideas off the ground since 2003. The Centre can help you with funding, networking, as well as business, legal and financial advice. Find out more about the type of support on offer at the Centre for Entrepreneurship.
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"Although I had many transferable skills from a previous career in the military, I have further gained confidence and enhanced my communication skills with patients and work peers. The course has allowed me to enhance my critical thinking - to utilise an evidence-based approach to the tasks I carry out, allowing me to be effective and competent in these aspects."
How we'll help you achieve your dream career
Here are just a few ways we can help you reach your goals:
We will ensure our courses are professionally relevant
You will benefit from educational opportunities that are designed specifically to meet the sector’s needs. You can be confident that you will be gaining many of the prerequisite skills needed for a variety of careers in the health and social care sectors.
We will help you find career-enhancing placements
We work closely with NHS trusts, GP practices, hospices, local authorities, hospitals, service providers for children, housing associations, and both the public and private sector. These close ties provide you with relevant placements to help you get the real-world education you need in your field.
Some of our health and social care contacts include:
- Merseycare NHS Trust
- St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust
- Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
- North West Ambulance Service
We also work with charities and community and voluntary groups.
Practical learning is a key part of your course
Work-related learning is an essential aspect of our health-related programmes. Not only will you have access to our on-campus clinical practice suites in our "Health Village" – designed to emulate a patient’s journey from the home environment through to rehabilitation – you’ll also have opportunities to carry out supervised clinical practice in our affiliated NHS Trusts (where applicable to your course). As a nursing student, for example, you will be exposed to a diverse range of practice placements within the community, NHS and voluntary sectors, giving you the opportunity to network and learn from other healthcare professionals. Paramedic students can take part in placements in A&E departments, ambulances, health centres, operating theatres and critical care facilities.
You will be studying on courses accredited by professional bodies
Many of our degree programmes are accredited by professional bodies. Accreditations include: the Nursing and Midwifery Council (for nursing and midwifery programmes) and the Health and Care Professions Council (for paramedic practice and social work programmes).
Successful completion of nursing or midwifery programmes allows you to apply for registration on the Nursing and Midwifery Register. The midwifery course is also accredited as a UNICEF Stage 1 Baby Friendly Initiative.
The DipHE Paramedic Practice is endorsed by the College of Paramedics. Successful completion of the course allows you to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council. This then allows you to practice as a paramedic in both the NHS and private healthcare sectors.
You will have access to careers support
Our careers service offers a wide range of resources to help you plan your next step, both while you are at university and after you graduate.
We offer in-depth careers advice and guidance, a My Jobs & Placements website for placements and graduate jobs, opportunities to meet and engage with employers and an extensive programme of careers and employability workshops, all designed to help you get the job you want.
Find out more about how our careers service can help you.
We can help you start your own business
The Centre for Entrepreneurship has been helping students and alumni get their business ideas off the ground since 2003. The Centre can help you with funding, networking, as well as business, legal and financial advice. Find out more about the type of support on offer at the Centre for Entrepreneurship.