Nursing help please

[jop67]

Hi

I have been qualified for 4 years now ( adult )

I started off on a surgical ward. Not long after qualifying I moved into a rather niche area of nursing ( telephone advisory) think 111 but as-well as clinical triage we do coaching calls for patient medication support programmes .

I now want to return to face to face practice . My current job pays the equivalent of a junior band 6 (once weekend enhancements are on ) i can work comfortably part time .

I have an interview for a community post within school nursing ( they have assured me it's a developmental role and you would be put through the specialist practitioner training around a year after working there) so to start with it is a band 5. I am worried that If I was to be successful at interview I would be on less money( I don't work for nhs so not sure if they would match my current salary) plus it's 4 days so 4 full days of childcare costs ( currently we only pay for childcare 2 mornings as I work a weekend day in which partner is here )

I have been applying also for some band 6 jobs I was successful in gaining a Clinical nurse specialist interview but unfortunately this job was only a 1 year temporary so I didn't attend the interview as I need more security.

My current job is quite soul destroying at times we are work from home we work 12.5 shifts and have to tell everyone when we are going to the toilet and the timer is on. It is very much a call centre role . I don't feel like a healthcare professional at all as I am mostly doing non nursing related phone calls like scheduling and other issues answering the phone apologising for nurses being late and passing messages on to the nursing teams.

Does anyone have any advice on alternative nursing roles or whether it would be worth taking a pay cut for progression?

I should say my daughter is nearly 2 so currently the hours suit me ( 2 long days ). I was offered a job on an nhs Ward they matched my salary but could not accommodate set days for childcare. So I do feel a little stuck.

Any advice would be welcomed .

Due to your lack of acute hospital experience i think you'd be best going for band 5 jobs. Id imagine you would go in at the top end of the band. Then after 6months/1 year you could go for a band 6.

Sounds like it would definitely be worth taking a pay cut for progression.

Weekends and nights will help enhance the basic pay.

Can you offer any flexibility with childcare? On my ward we don't offer two set shifts but could accommodate one. I was fortunate that my nursery accepted one set day and one Flexible, as long as I let them know in advance.

Thank you for your response @Torvean32 . Yes unfortunately I think I jumped too soon. I moved house and the office role was tempting due to the location and pay increase. Unfortunately I now feel incredibly stuck and slightly embarrassed that if I return to ward I will be seen as a newly qualified perhaps as I don't have much experience. Although I can cannulate , take blood and other clinical skills I do feel my time was short face to face.

Can you do a bit of bank in your trust and sniff out which are the good wards with decent managers?
If you're just wanting 2 long days could you have a set day in the week and any weekend shift maybe?

@30under unfortunately the nursery will only do set days ( which surprised me as it is based at a hospital). At the moment I work set day Friday ( DD goes to nursery) and then a Saturday or Sunday ( partner has DD). One week in the month I have a change up and do Friday then an evening and a random late shift ( my partner takes annual leave ) for this one day.

I feel so stuck where I am. It's frustrating and I have very much fell into a call centre role by accident ( the job has changed a lot since I started when I was first employed their was different services and no outbound and still included home visits) it's purely calls now and we do outbounds so you feel like you are a cold caller.

I think I will interview then for this band 5 position as the manager did say to is a development role. It will mean 4 days in childcare though but I don't know what else I can do.

My current manager keeps telling me to enjoy these years ( with respect she doesn't have children herself) and I can't enjoy these years if I'm miserable in a job I hate and feel devalued in. I feel I am always dreading the days I work and have anxiety over it and I do feel it could affect my mood and DD pick up on it .

I work in the Healthy Child Programme (not a nurse). You'll start at the bottom of band 5 but most of our band 5's have usually enrolled onto the SCPHN course within a year and once that's completed you'll be a band 6. In our team there's scope to become a band 7 either by being a team lead or a practice educator (is these roles become available). It's a 9-5 job there's no overtime paid and usually no TOIL. You could go on the bank alongside it if you wanted to though. Happy to answer any questions about what our band 5's do if you want to know any more.

Hi @Darkestseasonofall yes I think I need to join the bank. I am currently working for private company.

I just worry that they will have to train me from scratch as I did my uni training at another trust so feel I am learning everything again. I know at this trust they do the drug round electronically whereas we had a trolley and drug charts. I just have anxiety about them thinking I'm shit for someone who has been qualified 4 years

I'm surprised that you were shortlisted for a CNS past with such little experience. I agree that it is probably worth looking for B5 posts but worth a view to a reasonably quick progression to B6. What would be your area of specialism?

Hiya @WreckTangled thank you. The job is community staff nurse ( school nursing) 5-19 school health nursing team. Yes I would love to know more about what the band 5s do please ? Yes the manager said it is very much a development role which sounds great and would be looking to do the course one year after commencing employment .

@choosername1234 hi it was safeguarding which I have completed further training on and do as part of my role now

In our trust (I'm sure it varies) the staff nurses deliver anaphylaxis and asthma training to all of the schools in the area, this is usually annual but is moving over to virtual at the moment. They will do initial health assessments on children when a new referral is received. They will work with children and their families regarding emotional health, weight, food issues, sleep, continence. A lot of it is emotional health actually. There's lots of meetings with schools, families, family support workers... once competent they have safeguarding caseloads too and attended child protection conferences. One thing I will say is that it's very supportive, no one is ever left on their own to work things out and no one is ever out on their own until they feel confident. Some of our school nurses (band 6) will do dual training and move over to health visiting or vice versa.

@WreckTangled that is very informative thank you. Do you have many that Adult nursing qualification or is mostly child ? I saw on the job description there is lots of driving involved although the manager says during covid mostly working from home. Where you work is the driving usually to patient homes or to schools?

@WreckTangled would you say it is family friendly ?

We have a mixture of adult and children's nursing backgrounds. Some never went to wards and came straight in from qualifying.

There's a lot of driving (under usual circumstances) for us but we cover a large area. Mileage is paid at 45ppm but there's also pool cars. You need business cover on your insurance. It's a mixture of schools and home visits I think.

I would say it's family friendly, we have band 5 and 6's on term time only contracts and people can swap days if need be and take calls from schools etc. I've never had any issues if I've had to leave to get poorly dc from school etc.

@WreckTangled thank you very helpful!