Advice please - training for the NHS

MoreRosey

Hi,

I want work in Health Care.

I dont have a levels and in science I gained a D.

I am in my thirties and have three children 5 and under.

What route is there for me to perhaps study or study and work and what help can I get for childcare whilst studying?

My husband is working full time earning £24000.

We have a mortgage and dont receive benefits accept child tax and child benefit.

Is there any help or support that I am missing out on.

Are there any one who has worked in Health Care who has been in a similar situation as me?

I will be very grateful if anyone knows of any NHS courses and advice which would be helpful to me.

Thank you

MoreRosey

shortcrust

One route might be to do a one year access course at a local further education college and then do a health professional uni course (e.g. speech therapy, OT, physio). The uni courses are funded by the NHS and you might be able to get a bursary. I'm not sure what support there might be whilst on the access course. I worked part time when I did mine. You could also go down the nursing or midwifery route. An access course is probably a key thing to have for anything that requires uni level study.

The NHS careers site is a good place to get more info:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk

DomRavioli

Health care is very vague - what do you actually want to do OP? That will affect what qualifications you need and how you attain them if you don't already have them.

GothicStirling

Working for the NHS can range from domestic/catering to nurses to doctors to consultants and surgeons. If you have an idea of what type of role you would like, then take a look at NHS Jobs website, which I would imagine give you an idea of the qualifications they are looking for.

Bollotom

My daughter is 40, did the access course and Maths and English. Year at college and going to Uni this coming term. If she can do it most people can, but it's head down time and work hard. She gets a bursary as it's NHS funded. Good luck. :cool:

nonnatus

I was 35 when I re-trained.

I was already educated to degree level so I didn't have to do the one year access course, but with your history OP, you'll need the local College to put you through something similar. It covers english and maths as well as basic healthcare training.

Then the College will help you apply through UCAS to a University to study Nursing or Midwifery. VERY hard, both courses! Hard to get onto in the first place (massive competition for places) and hard for 3 years with essays, coursework and hours and hours of practical placement work. BUT great fun! Student Loans and NHS Bursaries help with money but there's nothing left over for luxuries!!

My kids were 9 & 10 when I started and I got divorced half way through but we all coped fine.

Have a long, hard think about what you actually want to be doing in 5 years time. READ everything you can find about your chosen path, get some experience, talk to people already doing it. Only then will you know whether you're up to it, I guess?

and Good Luck :T

kiss_me_now9

What do you want to do OP? Are you looking for hands on patient care (giving drugs, washing patients, basic care needs, performing exams and procedures) like a nurse/paramedic would do, patient facing but not so hands on (assessments, patient contact but not basic care necessarily) like a speech and language therapist/occupational therapist/physiotherapist would do or hands off patient facing (ward clerk, receptionist,) or completely hands off, admin work (recruitment, HR, clinical coder)? There's a huge variety of opportunity in healthcare work in the NHS. If you have an idea of where you want to go with it, then there's lots of options for you.

I currently work in a non-clinical role, completely non-patient based in the NHS; but everything my office does impacts on my Trust and our ability to run. I'm returning to university to do my Masters in Occupational Therapy this coming January. For this I've done lots of work experience and spoken to people I work with. Being in the NHS has helped my application substantially as it really is an odd beast to work in and people can under-estimate it greatly...

Anyway, for someone to come in, for sake of a argument as a healthcare assistant/nursing assistant, with no experience at all at ANY age I would be looking for would be the following:

- An understanding that we do run a 24/7 service (despite what the Government is trying to tell you, 90% of our patient departments are 24/7 - the only ones that aren't are outpatients or elective procedures like surgery, radiology, birth clinics etc., therapies (at the moment! Therapies are heavily involved in discharge planning so this is changing) and minor injuries units). This means that you will be asked to work late nights, earlies, midday shifts, and you'll be expected to fit them in. This can be tricky if you have a young family which is why I've put it as the first point. Some wards will say that they can help you out with flexible working but be cautious with this as the service needs come first.

- A compassionate and caring outlook, someone who truly wants to help others and does not see a patient as a burden, but can empathise with them and relate to them.

- Someone who wants to progress in a positive manner. Now, if you're not experienced at all and you don't have any healthcare qualifications I would be wary if you told me at interview that you want to do your nurse training after 6 months of being in post - purely because it would make me think that you've not really considered the role properly. Healthcare, whatever area you end up in, is a vocation and I don't know if you can really find that in a short amount of time. But a desire to train, do NVQs, foundation degrees and eventually get your nursing PIN/HCPC registration would be a bonus.

- Someone who understands what they're getting into. "I want to help deliver babies" is not a good thing to say at a Maternity Care Assistant interview

You will need to study - if you can get into a Trust as a healthcare assistant most now will put you forward for NVQs and foundation nursing degrees (on the job learning, so you can get your nursing PIN without having to leave work - it just takes a fair bit longer) but check with the Trust first that you're applying for. All will have a maths and English assessment to get a role with them even at an entry level. It is easier for a Trust to put you on a secondment and train you themselves than take a chance on a newly qualified who may not even apply.

As for outside courses, you could of course go back to college and do an Access course or NVQs as has been suggested above but without work experience you will find it very difficult to get onto *any* healthcare degree, especially nursing or something very competitive like midwifery. I would suggest looking at your local Trusts vacancies and going in that way.

If you have a more concrete idea of what area you want to go to, I can give you more specific advice