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Community Nurse

Healthcare

Care for ill, injured, or convalescing patients or persons with disabilities in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, private homes, group homes, and similar institutions. May work under the supervision of a registered nurse. Licensing required.

You can enter this career straight after SPM. A degree is optional, not required.

Nursing

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Observe patients, charting and reporting changes in patients' conditions, such as adverse reactions to medication or treatment, and taking any necessary action.
  2. 2Measure and record patients' vital signs, such as height, weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse, or respiration.
  3. 3Administer prescribed medications or start intravenous fluids, noting times and amounts on patients' charts.
  4. 4Provide basic patient care or treatments, such as taking temperatures or blood pressures, dressing wounds, treating bedsores, giving enemas or douches, rubbing with alcohol, massaging, or performing catheterizations.
  5. 5Answer patients' calls and determine how to assist them.
  6. 6Provide medical treatment or personal care to patients in private home settings, such as cooking, keeping rooms orderly, seeing that patients are comfortable and in good spirits, or instructing family members in simple nursing tasks.
  7. 7Supervise nurses' aides or assistants.
  8. 8Sterilize equipment and supplies, using germicides, sterilizer, or autoclave.
  9. 9Evaluate nursing intervention outcomes, conferring with other healthcare team members as necessary.
  10. 10Work as part of a healthcare team to assess patient needs, plan and modify care, and implement interventions.
  11. 11Record food and fluid intake and output.
  12. 12Assemble and use equipment, such as catheters, tracheotomy tubes, or oxygen suppliers.
  13. 13Make appointments, keep records, or perform other clerical duties in doctors' offices or clinics.
  14. 14Collect samples, such as blood, urine, or sputum from patients, and perform routine laboratory tests on samples.
  15. 15Prepare or examine food trays for conformance to prescribed diet.
  16. 16Help patients with bathing, dressing, maintaining personal hygiene, moving in bed, or standing and walking.
  17. 17Prepare patients for examinations, tests, or treatments and explain procedures.
  18. 18Set up equipment and prepare medical treatment rooms.
  19. 19Apply compresses, ice bags, or hot water bottles.
  20. 20Wash and dress bodies of deceased persons.
  21. 21Clean rooms and make beds.
  22. 22Inventory and requisition supplies and instruments.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • LCC
  • LPN
  • LVN
  • Clinic LPN
  • Triage LPN
  • Medical LPN
  • Charge Nurse
  • Clinic Nurse
  • Office Nurse
  • Pediatric LPN

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. Typical entry

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. 4

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. 5

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationSome college

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

EnglishDraws directly on English Language — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
BiologyDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
ChemistryDraws directly on Medicine and Dentistry — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
BusinessDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EconomicsDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Customer and Personal Service80%
  • English Language78%

    English

  • Psychology74%
  • Medicine and Dentistry74%

    BiologyChemistry

  • Administration and Management66%

    BusinessEconomics

  • Education and Training64%

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleConstant contact
  • Dealing with customers or the publicHigh
  • Leading or coordinating othersVery high
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentEvery day
  • Time spent sittingA little

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points — not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

5%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023 — already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

Pay in Malaysia

We don't have a sourced Malaysian salary range for this job yet, and we'd rather show nothing than a number we can't stand behind.

Where to check:

  • JobStreet and Hiredly job ads for this title
  • DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey
  • SSPA scheme tables, if you're aiming for a government post
See pay for a related career: Medical Laboratory Technologist

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Asasi / Foundation

One-year runway into a specific university: public via UPU or private direct entry.

12 months

Diploma

Skill-first qualification. Work after, or enter degree Year 2. Polytechnics keep it affordable.

2.5–3 years

Related careers

If this interests you, these are worth a look too.

About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Public universities (UPU)

Private institutions (MQA-accredited)

Search the programme catalogue