My son is thinking of retraining and going into nursing is this a good idea?

[Dowser]

Of course all the planets have to be lined up, the moon in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with mars ie
Dil getting a job ( will be min wage)
They’ll be able to feed , clothe and keep a roof over the heads of their three sons
Childcare arrangements for youngest with special needs will work out

That’s just for staters. He’s 37 . Got an nvq in computers. He wants to better himself. Background as a security technician.
Monitors cameras.

He thinks he’d make a good nurse. I do too...but logistically...it’s a bit of a nightmare

Can it be done?

Oh sorry, cross post!

My brother has been a health care assistant at a hospital for 6 years and did 2 years as a carer in a residential home before that (prior to that he'd done 10 years in the army!)

He's currently doing his nursing degree. He has to do it alongside working full time though, he couldn't afford not to.

I think nursing is very much a career that is "in" you, you don't go into it for the glory or the money, but because you truly want to make a difference. In which case, the hard work and financial restraints are just part and parcel of the end goal.

I say this as the daughter of a soon-to-retire nurse of 35 years who has spent the last 10 years mentoring student nurses.

I also work in a care home and we get a fair few student nurses working for us whilst they do their degree. Shift work tends to be preferable as can fit in around uni.

My friend is currently doing a Nurse associate course and she earns £17,000/year whilst doing it, which as a pp is much the same as a Sen,I do know it's much harder to get in to train as a registered nurse ,far harder than when I did my training in the 90,s!

Btw,my friend was ,not already employed by the trust she is doing her Nurse associate course with so it's defiantly not true of all trusts .

As an HCA myself I would definitely recommend some kind of HCA work to make sure he can cope with pee, poo, vomit, blood etc as well as dying patients asking you to help them (really heartbreaking) & old people crying in pain. Also some patients etc being abusive & then there's all the ward politics...

Actually being an SN is an incredibly stressful job & many of my colleagues have been off with stress related physical & mental health problems. Same with paramedics. Also the pay is good but not great compared to eg social workers, physios, occupational therapists, radiographers etc. Yet SNs are the ones who are there making life or death decisions.

Personally I love being an HCA but couldn't cope with the responsibility of being a Staff Nurse.
Working as an HCA would give your son chance to see what SNs do & to see if he has enough empathy, patience & and a strong enough stomach for bodily fluids.