Nurse training, is it worth it?

jobbingmusician

Why not make nursing a medium term goal? If you want to go for it, do a proper plan. Set yourself a start date, and use the time before your course starts (a year?) to get over to the DFW board, clear your debt, and reduce your outgoings.

If you're in debt now, it is clearly not a good idea to decrease your incomings without reducing your outgoings.......

milliemonster

SmallL wrote: »

Actually I remember when I had a good months pay (due to unsocial hours etc) as a support worker I was only earning about £200 less a month than a nurse that I compared with. You can easily pick and choose shifts (even working full time bank) as support workers/HCA's are in such demand due to high turnover.

By the time you qualify, £21k will not be the starting salary as you won't be a band 5, the government are looking at reducing the starting salary to band 4 for newly qualified nurses for 2 years and it is highly likely that unsocial hours premium will be a distant memory in the next few years.

I have been a nurse for 20 years now and still do not earn £600 a week, I was downgraded from a band 7 to now a band 5 there are few opportunities for progression, lunch breaks don't exist full stop, IF you get a break, it will not be at lunchtime as that's when you are needed for patient meals anyway so get used to eating at strange times of the day if you get a break anyway.

Would I do it again?, it can be the best job in the world, for a patient whose life you have saved to grab your hand and say a heartfelt thank you, no amount of money can beat that feeling you get, but aside from that, no I wouldn't the responsibility you have now as a nurse for the money you earn is horrendously mismatched, in a couple of years when the living wage reaches £9+ per hour, there will be negligible difference between that and what a newly qualified nurse will earn.

I don't know a single nurse who would stay in the job if they could find another one which would replace their current income. My daughter is 16, thankfully she doesn't want to be a nurse, but if she did, I would do everything in my power to change her mind.

clairec79

I'm a midwife and if any of my children wanted to go into nursing or midwifery I'd be telling them to think very hard and would advise against it.

Do I love my job? I love the job itself I hate the politics around it, I dislike the way it takes me from my family, the responsibility for the money is not good, the emotional draining aspects of it are horrendous but there is that part of me that still loves it, the fact that you have doubts makes me want to say run in the opposite direction

PlymouthMaid

It seems that the advice from those in the profession echoes that of experienced teachers advising would be trainee teachers. These careers are so stressful and bureaucracy laden these days that the fulfilling aspects become harder to balance and the salaries are poor compared to many other professions. However you will rarely find an unemployed nurse I suspect so if you have the stamina for the training and the toughness required to survive you could do well.

Sncjw

It's an intense course. Your expected to do ir full time Monday to Friday 9-5pm at uni with timetable changing each week. Your expected to do assignments, additional study and homework for lectures.

During placement your doing assignments, handing it in, gathering evidence of profiencies, doing the same shifts as nurses bar night shift in first year. The late then morning shift the next day are killers. Your expected to have a good work life balance and good organisation as well.

They treat you like an adult that if you don't attend classes they won't shout at you unless your missing a heck of a lot and this can stop your bursary.

The bursary is not a lot as you top it up with student loans. Given your financial status now it may be difficult to manage ESP if your thinking of getting a house on top. They will pay expenses if you have a greater distance to placement than uni.

When you qualify you never stop your learning as you can do extra courses and also now you need to keep your skills up to date for revalidation and that. When you qualify you have a lot of responsibility for example checking that drugs don't contradict each other despite dr prescribing and a lot of legal issues. You may not go home on time due to an emergency nor have the break for food despite having this during your student nursing days

It is a really stressful course and career but if it is for you you can make it work.

It will change you and your family as well. Your family will need support as your training will change their lives as well.

In hindsight I'm kinda glad I didn't qualify as its so stressful

Angry-Confused

Two other points here:

One: Have you considered other healthcare professions? For example, radiography, physiotherapy etc? If there is an area of healthcare that specifically interests you, consider going directly down that route.

Two: A nursing qualification is a good 'generic' qualification. There are lots of professional-level jobs which ask for any relevant professional qualification; commonly either a nursing, teaching or social work qualification. So a nursing qualification can be seen as a 'gateway' qualification to a variety of professional jobs should you decide not to pursue nursing for the reasons given here...

BlueEyedGirl

Sncjw wrote: »

In hindsight I'm kinda glad I didn't qualify as its so stressful

Same here, I did my first year and decided that was enough!

tomtontom

I'd do the training and move to a country that treats healthcare workers with the respect they deserve.

nicter

Another nurse here of longstanding who cant wait to leave.:(
As others have said the bureaucracy and politics has tainted this once caring profession. Delivering care comes a very poor second to "ticking the boxes" these days.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do op

Polarbeary

Nursing....hard work, little respect, be prepared for bullying by managers and abuse from patients. The pay is relatively poor even with shift pay. The course is a long hard slog, you won't get the holidays the other uni students get and you will be in uni pretty much every day. Placements are full time and you will be working unsocial hours for no pay and used as an unpaid HCA.

The good thing is you will be able to find a job and you can emigrate abroad. You can also work in the private sector or develop your career into research, nurse specialist posts, lecturing etc.

I probably wouldn't do it again...what about one of the other healthcare professions if you wanted to work in healthcare?