I'm a Mental Health nurse who wants to get out of nursing....

Croatoan

fredandwilma wrote: »

My suggestion was largely tongue in cheek, with a touch of irony, mixed with ten percent seriousness. However, it was a suggestion.

Shows you what I know. I mistook Atos for AQA (examination marking)

mon37

Bikerbob wrote: »

Here's the thing, for me, it was never about money, more about doing something worthwhile. It isn't like a normal job where you can clock-out and go home and pretend the day never happened. Some days are ok, others are truly horrible.

I've lost count of how many times (even in my relatively short experience) that I've been literally squeezing bags of blood/fluids into people with it running out of them more quickly than I can get it in just to keep them alive, worked on patients that have gone in to arrest, broken the worst news to both patients and family, the list goes on, and then had a roasting from management because some paperwork had not been finished off or other such nonsense while we had been struggling. It's all about paperwork and budgets not people, neither patients or staff. Add to that mix professional accountability in a court of law and this is where the problems start. Anxiety, stress, insomnia, chest pain - I've had them all.

There are also two types of nurses. One that would bypass an ill patient to get another job done, and one that would not. I know which camp i'm in.

In the past I have worked for NMW and bloody hard too, but minus the resposibility.

I would love to work with people with learning disabilities, young adults, maybe in a support/mentoring/teaching role? Or addiction maybe?

Croatoan, yeah I know loads that would love to do another job but are caught in the 'I can't afford to reduce my wage' scenario.

Social work?

silverwhistle

Croatoan wrote: »

SNIP Another nearing retirement age female nurse was on the floor with a patient on top of her punching her in the face and she scratched him on the cheek. She was immediately suspended for assault. She never came back to work. Private again.

The stories from you and Tygermoth are just appalling and show that I would not have lasted long! My second career is as a TEFL teacher, and a very patient one I am too. I've never hurt anybody in my life, never even been booked playing football (few mistimed tackles, ahem), but as a very solid, tall and reasonably fit lady would have probably caused more damage than a scratch...

Seriously, is there no union/association to assist in legal representation against the employers (or even some patients)? My original career in a big company environment also taught me to cover my back - in writing - if there were potential issues but to fight for my staff where necessary. I was also a member of a union.

It seems the medical field is worse than others in this respect.

silverwhistle

Incidentally, back to the OP: TEFL can be rather poorly paid, particularly in the UK, but it does open up other possibilities. Avoid TESOL work if you want to avoid too much bureaucracy.. http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/8-2008/htm/simpson.htm

After leaving my first career in my mid 40s I did a bit of everything: part-time teaching at more than one place including privates, some call-centre work, relief work in a hostel. A bit of juggling, but I always had the perfect excuse for not going to useless meetings, or covering a shift. If I could help I would, but colleagues admired me for the ability to say 'No'..

I appreciate being single and having no debts (saw the writing on the wall years ago) made this possible for me..

DKLS

Perhaps look into where your clinical knowledge and skills are beneficial to other sectors, I know a couple of ex- nurses, one is now a lecturer at a Nursing College and the other is a Project Manager for an IT company that makes clinical software, she now earns 80k a year.

Croatoan

silverwhistle wrote: »

The stories from you and Tygermoth are just appalling (snip)..........

The problem in the case above was that the nature of the patient's illness meant meant he could not really be blamed for his actions. In other cases patients know exactly what they have chosen to do and it is possible to get them charged with a crime. Though punishment that matches the crime is rarely handed out. In the end they've been diagnosed with a mental illness, and that is often enough for them to get away with it with no more than a telling off.
There is without doubt an "it's all part of the job" mentality. You'll see "Zero Tolerance" posters all over hospitals, yet we've been told they don't apply to Mental Health patients. Minor incidents usually go unnoticed even if reported, so staff tend to think there's no point even reporting it being that it usually involves reams of paperwork with next to no real chance of a result.
Generally, not always, the NHS will look after you; if you have to take time off work you'll be paid and will be offered support. This happens more rarely in the private sector - make too much fuss and you're likely to be out of a job, or at best your life can be made very uncomfortable (certainly as an agency worker it's unlikely they'll take you back on a unit if you cause trouble for them). Patients are worth a lot of money to the private sector, carers and nurses are ten a penny.
I'm in a union, I'm also someone not in the least bit bothered about promotion. I personally would take things all the way if needed, but if I was a young nurse wanting to get on in my career, I don't think I'd make too much of a fuss.

Croatoan

silverwhistle wrote: »

Incidentally, back to the OP: TEFL can be rather poorly paid, particularly in the UK, but it does open up other possibilities. Avoid TESOL work if you want to avoid too much bureaucracy.. http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/8-2008/htm/simpson.htm

After leaving my first career in my mid 40s I did a bit of everything: part-time teaching at more than one place including privates, some call-centre work, relief work in a hostel. A bit of juggling, but I always had the perfect excuse for not going to useless meetings, or covering a shift. If I could help I would, but colleagues admired me for the ability to say 'No'..

I appreciate being single and having no debts (saw the writing on the wall years ago) made this possible for me..

Even though I'm married with kids, TEFL (Celta/Delta) has always appealed to me, though sadly I don't think I could earn enough to survive overseas and send money back home to support my family. From what I can gather the places that pay well overseas (Dubai, Saudi mainly) normally require higher qualifications, anyway. I kind of have this idea that when the kids are gone me and the wife can go off to some low-wage country like Cambodia or Thailand and I could survive (survive is enough, I'm not after luxury) on a small UK pension plus a bit of TEFL work, though I know finding teaching jobs as an old man might be difficult. They can chuck me in the Mekong when I die
It'll likely never happen, but it's about my only ambition, so I may yet do the course and see what happens. If it opens other doors, then that's great.

Croatoan

DKLS wrote: »

Perhaps look into where your clinical knowledge and skills are beneficial to other sectors, I know a couple of ex- nurses, one is now a lecturer at a Nursing College and the other is a Project Manager for an IT company that makes clinical software, she now earns 80k a year.

This is the kind of thing I want - not so much lecturing as it'd take me too long to get the added qualifications. But a job that utilises some of my skills, but isn't nursing. Though again, I'm in my fifties which remains a barrier to many jobs. I'd imagine there are plenty of very skilled out of work IT people who'd get the jobs before me. But yes, I need to widen my net (no pun intended).

top_drawer_2

Hello

I just wanted to send my sympathies re the job, stress and the appealing state of the system. I really hoped to make this a careeras I honestly thought I could make a difference but I don't think I would last another 12 months. I'm a Support Worker in residential mental health home and things are not much better in the private sector.

Have you considered looking at becoming a Psychological Well being Practitioner? You would be dealing with low level mental health issues in GP's surgeries/community places/SureStart etc. The NHS jobsite is recruiting now for the upcoming September start. Its possible to train alongside doing the job (part-time learning) or go back to uni for a year (technically about 9 months). You would be able to continue to do Bank work, in fact you can use it in completing the course.

Or Employment Support specializing in Mental Health, I've also come across Mental Health workers (Nurses/Social Workers) working at my uni and as Counsellors or working for training organisations offering MVA/C&R courses/Autism/Mental Health awareness and Getting into .... Mental Health employment or Nursing type courses in colleges/uni's or out in the workforce.

TD

DKLS

Croatoan wrote: »

This is the kind of thing I want - not so much lecturing as it'd take me too long to get the added qualifications. But a job that utilises some of my skills, but isn't nursing. Though again, I'm in my fifties which remains a barrier to many jobs. I'd imagine there are plenty of very skilled out of work IT people who'd get the jobs before me. But yes, I need to widen my net (no pun intended).

Dont put your self down, your clinical skills are valuable to a number or organisations, and are a lot of your skills are transferable.

The last project I set up needed a manager with direct clinical experience, I had to pay £300 per day to get the skill set I needed to make the project a success.

Register for the jobs newsletter from eHealth Insider, register with some of the specific job agencies that advertise there.

Also look direct on websites that are related to Mental Health, look at device manufacturers, pharma co's, Health software developers etc.