Find nursing shifts across Devon
From the Exe estuary to the edge of Dartmoor and both coasts, pick up shifts that fit your life. Hospitals, care homes, mental health, secure settings and the community, all booked through the Novello app with your pay confirmed before you accept.
Quick enquiry
Looking for work in Devon?
Leave your details and we’ll come back to you with the nursing, care and support shifts we have near you in Devon — and what they pay. It takes about twenty seconds.
Nursing in Devon
Why nurses choose Novello in Devon
One app to find local shifts, see your pay and stay compliant, backed by a team that knows Devon, from Derriford in Plymouth to North Devon District in Barnstaple.
Shifts that fit around you
Book work near home, whether that is the wards at Derriford in Plymouth, a community hospital in the South Hams or a care home in Exeter or Torbay. You choose the settings and the travel that suit you, from the North Devon coast around Barnstaple to the Exe estuary towns.
Pay you can see up front
No guessing and no waiting to find out what a shift pays. The rate is confirmed in the app before you accept, so you know exactly what you are earning before you travel to Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay or anywhere in between. Weekly pay, sorted.
Compliance made simple
Our team walks you through DBS, references and mandatory training so you are ready to work across Devon’s three acute trusts, Royal Devon University Healthcare, University Hospitals Plymouth and Torbay and South Devon, alongside its care homes and independent hospitals such as the Nuffield sites and Mount Stuart. Get compliant quickly and keep all your documents in one place.
The county we cover
Devon’s healthcare landscape
A large, spread-out county with three acute NHS trusts and the South West’s major trauma centre.
Acute care in Devon runs across three NHS trusts. The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, formed in 2022 from the old Royal Devon and Exeter and Northern Devon trusts, runs the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital at Wonford in Exeter and North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple. University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust runs Derriford Hospital, the designated major trauma centre for the whole South West Peninsula and a tertiary centre for cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery and renal transplant. Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust runs Torbay Hospital in Torquay. Under the Peninsula trauma network, Derriford is the major trauma centre while Exeter, Barnstaple, Torbay and Truro over the Cornwall border act as trauma units.
Mental health and community services split by area. Devon Partnership NHS Trust covers most of the county, including forensic and low secure care at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, while Livewell Southwest, a social enterprise, provides mental health and community services in and around Plymouth. Torbay and South Devon was the first trust in England to bring hospital, community and adult social care together, running five community hospitals from Dawlish to Brixham alongside district nursing in people’s homes. On the independent side, Nuffield Health has hospitals in Exeter and Plymouth and Ramsay’s Mount Stuart Hospital sits in Torquay, all doing planned surgical work. Devon also holds three prisons: HMP Exeter, HMP Channings Wood near Newton Abbot and HMP Dartmoor at Princetown, though Dartmoor has stood empty since 2024 after high radon readings forced its prisoners out.
Where we work
Where you can work in Devon
From the big acute sites in Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay to community hospitals and care homes across a wide, rural county.
Hospitals and theatres
Ward, theatre and department shifts at the major sites, including the Royal Devon and Exeter, Derriford in Plymouth, North Devon District in Barnstaple and Torbay Hospital, plus the independent Nuffield hospitals in Exeter and Plymouth and Mount Stuart in Torquay for planned lists.
Care homes and community
Nursing and residential homes across Exeter, Torbay, the South Hams and North Devon, plus community hospital and district nursing work in a county with one of the older populations in England.
Mental health and secure
Inpatient and community mental health with Devon Partnership across most of the county and Livewell Southwest around Plymouth, including forensic and secure settings such as Langdon Hospital in Dawlish.
We cover Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Barnstaple, Exmouth, Newton Abbot, Tiverton, Bideford, Tavistock and the towns in between.
Working across the border? We also cover the wider South West region and neighbouring Cornwall.
On the map
Nursing shifts across Devon
Explore where Novello works in Devon and find shifts near you.
Specialisms in Devon
Specialisms we cover in Devon
Wherever your skills fit, there is work across Devon, from Derriford’s trauma unit in Plymouth to the community hospitals running between Dawlish and Brixham.
- Nursing & care homes
- Mental health
- Prison nursing
- Critical care
- Theatres
Nursing & care homes
Devon has one of the oldest populations in England, with older people making up around 27 per cent of residents, and the number of over-65s is projected to rise from around 225,000 to 301,000 by 2043 (Devon Annual Public Health Report, 2023 to 2024). That keeps demand steady for nursing and care-home shifts across Exeter, Torbay, the South Hams and the North Devon coast, where the ratio of working-age adults to people aged 65 and over is projected to fall from just over two to one to about 1.7 to one by 2043 (same report).
Mental health
Mental health cover is split by area. Devon Partnership NHS Trust runs services for most of the county, including forensic and low secure wards at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish and the FIND service for people with intellectual and neurodevelopmental needs based there. Around Plymouth, the social enterprise Livewell Southwest provides community and inpatient mental health. Shifts range from acute inpatient wards to community teams.
Prison nursing
Devon holds three prisons: HMP Exeter, a Victorian local prison in the city, HMP Channings Wood, a category C training prison near Newton Abbot, and HMP Dartmoor at Princetown. Dartmoor has stood empty since 2024 after radon gas readings well above the safe limit forced its prisoners to be moved, and its future is uncertain, so prison healthcare work in the county centres on Exeter and Channings Wood.
Critical care
Critical care in Devon has one clear hub. Derriford Hospital in Plymouth is the major trauma centre for the whole South West Peninsula and a tertiary centre for neurosurgery, cardiothoracic and renal transplant work, so it carries the county’s most complex ITU and HDU cases. The Royal Devon and Exeter, North Devon District in Barnstaple and Torbay Hospital run their own intensive care and act as trauma units in the Peninsula network.
Theatres
Theatre work spans NHS and independent sites. The Royal Devon and Exeter, Derriford, North Devon District and Torbay all run busy operating lists, while the Nuffield Health hospitals in Exeter and Plymouth and Ramsay’s Mount Stuart in Torquay focus on planned orthopaedic and general surgery. Scrub, anaesthetic and recovery nurses are in regular demand across all of them.
Care & support work in Devon
Care and support work in Devon
Most care in Devon is delivered by care assistants and support workers rather than registered nurses. Adult social care is commissioned across three authorities — Devon County Council plus the Plymouth and Torbay unitary councils — in a county with one of the oldest populations in England. The work spans elderly care homes, supported living and specialist neuro-rehabilitation. Whatever your background, there is regular work near you.
- Care assistant
- Support worker
- Dementia care
- Brain injury
Care assistant
Devon has one of the oldest populations in England, with older people making up around 27% of residents. Demand is heaviest in East Devon, one of the oldest districts in the country, where the over-65 population grew by 21% in the decade to 2021 and retirement towns such as Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton line the coast. Care assistants are the backbone of the county’s care homes, supporting residents with everyday living, personal care and companionship.
Support worker
Devon County Council funds care and support for more than 2,300 people with a learning disability, and around 580 of them now live in supported living rather than a care home — with support commissioned into over 300 shared properties across the county. The council is actively shifting support towards independence, so there is steady demand for support workers who help the people they support live as independently as possible, in their own homes and out in the community.
Dementia care
An estimated 20,000 people are living with dementia across the NHS Devon area, but only around 58% have a formal diagnosis — one of the lowest diagnosis rates in the South West and well below the national average of about 64%. That gap means growing demand for skilled dementia care as more older people come forward for support. Dementia care is some of the most valued work in the sector, supporting residents to live well day to day.
Brain injury
Devon has a genuine specialist neuro cluster — the 12-bed Mardon Neuro-Rehabilitation Centre near the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in Exeter, the Plym Neuro-Rehabilitation Unit run by Livewell Southwest in Plymouth, and Waters Park House, a residential rehabilitation service for around two dozen adults with acquired brain injuries and progressive neurological conditions in Stoke. Headway Devon also supports people rebuilding their lives after brain injury across Devon and Torbay. Rehabilitation support workers here help the people they support rebuild skills and independence after a brain injury, work closely related to the complex-care roles that involve tracheostomy and other clinical support.
Not sure which fits? See all care & support roles →
The Novello app
Your work life, in one app
Find Devon shifts, see your confirmed pay and keep your compliance in one place. No more chasing paperwork. Everything you need, on iOS and Android.
For Devon employers
Hiring nurses in Devon?
Fill your shifts with compliant local nurses, fast.
From care homes and community hospitals in the South Hams and North Devon to wards and theatres in Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay, we supply checked, compliant nurses and carers who know the patch. Tell us what you need and we will help you cover it.
Reviews
Don't just take our word for it.
Novello are highly professional, making the onboarding process easier. What I like most is the fact I can book shifts on the app at my own convenience!
Sarah Theatre
Very competent staff and a welcoming, supportive team. What I like most is the variety of shifts in the Novello app!
Khadra RGN
Everything is really simple. The whole process of joining, and then finding and booking shifts. It's so simple!
Dan SFA
Frameworks & accreditations
Good to know
Devon nursing agency FAQs
Where in Devon does Novello cover?
Right across the county, from Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay to Barnstaple, the South Hams, the Exe estuary towns and the rural areas around Dartmoor. You choose shifts that suit your location and how far you want to travel.
Which hospitals and trusts are in Devon?
The main acute sites are the Royal Devon and Exeter and North Devon District (Royal Devon University Healthcare), Derriford in Plymouth (University Hospitals Plymouth) and Torbay Hospital (Torbay and South Devon). We name these as the local landscape only; Novello is an independent agency and not part of any NHS trust.
What kind of nursing shifts can I pick up in Devon?
Hospital wards and theatres, care and nursing homes, community and district nursing, mental health and secure settings. Devon's older population means steady demand in care and community roles as well as acute work.
How quickly can I start?
Once your DBS, references and mandatory training are in order, many nurses are ready to work within days. Our team helps you get compliant and keeps all your documents in one place.
Do I know my pay before I accept a shift?
Yes. The rate is confirmed in the Novello app before you accept, so there are no surprises, and you are paid weekly.
Ready to pick up shifts in Devon?
Join Novello, register in minutes and start booking local shifts with your pay confirmed up front. Work where you want across Devon, from Exeter and Plymouth to the coast and the moor.
Call 0333 307 8897 · hello@novellohealthcare.com
