News

Need a change of scene? Be a nurse on a remote Scottish island

Role on Fair Isle in Shetland provides independent working, financial benefits and breathtaking scenery… along with seabirds, fishing and, of course, Shetland ponies
Photo of Fair Isle in Shetland, illustrating story about a nursing role available on the island

Role on Fair Isle in Shetland provides independent working, financial benefits and breathtaking scenery… along with seabirds, fishing and, of course, Shetland ponies

Photo of Fair Isle in Shetland, illustrating story about a nursing role available on the island
Northern coast of Fair Isle in Shetland. Picture: Alamy

Do you fancy a career move with a change of scenery? Why not work on one of the UK’s most remote islands famed for its knitwear and seabirds?

NHS Shetland is seeking an experienced district nurse or nurse practitioner to provide a range of care services on Fair Isle, the southernmost of the Shetland Islands.

Financial benefits of the role

With a population of around 50 people, the nurse will be responsible for providing planned and emergency care, as well as some personal care in the absence of on-island-based social care provision.

The band 6 role offers between £37,831 and £46,100 per year, plus a distant island allowance of £2,256 per year and relocation assistance of up to £8,000.

Photo of Fair Isle in Shetland, illustrating story about a nursing role available on the island
Picture: Alamy

Chance for independence as well as team-working

The job advert states the nurse will ‘utilise your advanced clinical assessment skills and non-medical prescriber status to “see and treat” individuals with a minor illness/minor ailment independently without regular recourse to a medical practitioner’.

The successful applicant will work with GPs and the wider community nursing team based on mainland Shetland, as well as with the Scottish Ambulance Service in cases of emergency.

The job operates on a five-day working week, which can be worked flexibly over seven days.

The job also comes with the option to rent a two-bedroom traditional stone house on the island.

Photo of Fair Isle in Shetland, illustrating story about a nursing role available on the island
Picture: Alamy

Seabirds, fishing… and ponies

Fair Isle is renowned for its knitwear that carries its name, with the wool trade a big part of the island’s history.

Alongside agriculture the island is an important breeding ground for seabirds, which led to the opening of a bird observatory in 1948 that has become an integral part of the island’s social and economic life.

And if knitwear and seabirds does not take your fancy, there’s always the breathtaking scenery, fishing and the chance to see the Shetland ponies the islands are famed for – some even wear Fair Isle knitwear.

Photo of Shetland ponies, illustrating story about a nursing role available on Fair Isle in Shetland
Picture: Visit Scotland

More information about the role and how to apply

District Nurse/Nurse Practitioner – Fair Isle


In other news

Jobs