Training to be a nurse with a young family

[Anon1115]

Hi Everyone,

Im looking into going back to university next September ,after my last baby is born in January, to do Nursing.

I just wondered if anyone has done similar, going to train after children whilst they are small. I would have to put my 3 year old and 8 month old into childcare but it is so unclear with what funding if any is available as my husband works full time and we currently get universal credit.

It is also so unclear on what happens with student funding and universal credit, especially with the new NHS training grant. It’s hard to see if it is financially viable.

Also, I’d be grateful to hear any experience of nursing with young children. As a family we think it would work best if I was able to work 3 long nights so I can be around for the children as much as possible as my husband works 8-4. I’m not even sure if this is an option in the NHS to have set shifts that is.

Thanks a lot!

☺️

Thank you all so much for responding.

Im thinking it may be easier on me and the family if I hold off at least a year from what you’ve said before I make any final decisions. I just want to do what’s best for my children and in the long run me.

Everything becomes that much harder when you become a mum especially when you didn’t think about a career change. I know a lot of families must go through it, especially since the pandemic. I just want to be able to support us, obviously alongside by DH, and give our boys the best quality of life I can .

It’s seems though that there are more bad and negative experiences than good. 😞

I wrote a really similar thread a few years ago op. I actually thought mine had been resurrected as it was so similar!

I got really positive responses and I did apply and was invited to interview, but when I worked out how long I'd be working, paying for quite a bit of childcare and then having a(nother) student loan to pay back at some point, it just didn't make sense for me financially.

I've been doing another job working with vulnerable young people. I love it but the salary is so, so poor and I'm missing out on a lot of time with my dcs (which I would accept if pay wasn't so crap). I've decided to slash my hours which means I need to change job role as well. This is so that I can retrain in something more lucrative....hopefully.

I don't know how helpful any of this is, but your post did remind me of myself (also made redundant from a corperate type office job after dc1). So thought I'd post to explain my thought processes for choosing not to do it

I can’t comment on the financial side of things as it sounds like you are in England and I’m in Scotland, but I’m in 2nd year of nursing - I started last year when youngest was 2.5. I actually found first year a breeze for the uni side of things as it was still mostly online. They tend to be understanding about childcare issues, for tutorials etc. My placements have been as accommodating as possible, but I’ve had a tough time with my last 2 because they have been mon- Fri 9-5 type shifts which means I need help with drop offs and pickups all week. At least with wards there’s generally 3 days or nights to sort out but with the 5 days it’s a lot of planning (I have help from 4 separate people at the moment to spread the help out). it’s a case of muddling through. There are some catch up weeks throughout the year to make up days missed.

I knew it was going to be hard but to be honest it’s not as bad as I expected and I just deal with each obstacle at a time. I had nothing to lose by going for it as didn’t have a high earning job/worked part time so wasn’t sacrificing a drop in income. I think it will be worth it in the end, the time is flying by and once qualified there are so many options and areas. I loved my community placement - I’d like to do that 4 days a week and join the bank (or guild) to do a ward shift every month. Not a big fan of wards - agree with a PP who described the chaos well, not all shifts are like that but I’ve seen it often enough as an HCA to feel it’s a thankless job. Some wards will be easier than others though.