To ask for your advice, making a big life change and struggling with the uncertainty!

[uncertaintyyy]

I'm really struggling with how uncertain and in flux my life feels at the moment. Could I please just write out my current situation and ask for your advice or thoughts? I'm really stressed and lost on what to do! I mention salaries on here just to give context. I've tried to keep it as brief as possible but please let me know if it's too much and I'll try and make a tl;dr version!

I'm 27, single, childless and have a science degree and master's. I've worked in a corporate job for the last 3 years but hated it and hated the way my life was heading (working from home was awful for my mental health). After wanting to work in medicine since I was 16 I decided to pursue a career in that direction. I quit my job, had another corporate job lined up and couldn't bring myself to start it as I hate it so much. My salary was £35,000 which allowed me to the live fairly comfortably, go on nice holidays, etc.

I am making some late applications to study nursing this September as I can receive full funding and student loans for this as it's an NHS degree, and something I have always wanted to do. I'm conscious though that spending 3 years as a student with not a lot of money will be a big lifestyle change, and when I graduate I will earn less than I do now (I think I will start on around £27,000). Another alternative is Physician's Associate, however there is no NHS funding for this so I will need to somehow come up with £20,000 (I've already had a master's loan for my master's) as well as a living costs for 2 years. I could live with parents, but that would mean only 2 universities would be suitable in terms of location - one is currently accepting applications for this September, and the other I can't apply to until next year. My earning potential will be a lot higher early on doing this (PAs earn £40,000ish and I'll have a higher chance of working in general practice which is where I want to work), but most likely means I won't start until next September so I have a year and a half of waiting.

I have had a company reach out to me and want me to interview next week, it will be working from home as the same role I recently left, and will be £35,000 but I will hate it (but conscious it could be a good opportunity to build some savings).

If I did nursing it would be with the intention of hopefully working my way up to work in general practice as a general practitioner.

Another thing adding to my stress is a lot of the associate practitioner courses require you to have studied in the last 5 years, and I graduated 5 years ago this summer so feel like time is running out.

Do you mean a practice nurse? You can't become a GP via nursing- that's a doctor.

I'm a mental health nurse on about £40k (or would be if full time). I work in the community in quite a niche corner of healthcare and really love it, there's a lot of scope for doing different stuff in the NHS.

You can't work your way up to GP, you need a medicine degree to be a doctor.

Could you take the job offer, save for a year or two and then reapply? It would give you a good financial cushion for when you are studying.

I understand why you want to do something else though, I hate corporate stuff, and am looking to retrain in the next few years knowing that I probably won't earn the same kind of money I had before. Although the reason some of these corporate jobs pay so well is they know that's the only reason some people stay.

Have you looked into Allied Health Professions; Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist, Dietician, Speech and Language Therapist. They are all healthcare, but not on the front line, as it were. You could do a two year masters, but it would probably have to be self funded.

But you could potentially earn well after a few years, and the hours would be better than nursing.

@NerrSnerr @Coffeeandcrocs Sorry for the confusion, I didn't mean to become a GP but to be a nurse working in a general practice surgery

I have considered the AHP roles but they don't interest me as much. I think I will say yes to the interview to see what comes of it as it would be helpful to having some savings

You can now do a nurse prescribing course once you are qualified and earn more as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

you can also sign up to your local NHS trust as a bank HA and earn money at weekends while you are training, and this will also allow you to try different areas and see where you want to o end up working. Nursing is a very flexible career

I changed career at 36 to become a solicitor and with no qualifications at all on leaving school succeeded in doing so. I managed by diversifying, took lodgers, liveries at my yard, and worked self employed during my degree. It's a slog but very satisfying.

I would say look at doing what you really want to do. Use that time to get some money in the bank, by working, during that time try to tag along as work experience with someone already doing those roles so you have this to put on your uni application and so you are sure that's the right decision for you.

Even if its not, the time you've spent will not be wasted if you end up with a clearer picture of what you want to be, or not be. It's all good life experience.

Can I progress to be an Advanced Nurse Practitioner if I do children's nursing?

The idea of spending another year working from home in a role similar to my last one is making me feel really down. It's like I've seen the light and way out but need to spend another year doing something I hate as I doubt I could find anything different that would pay me the same amount.

I'm hoping to get some work experience this summer (I've sent forms off to my local NHS trust).

Hi OP, I think if you can afford to it would be really beneficial to try and experience different healthcare environments as a healthcare assistant as you are interested in very different areas. I think that to be a physicians associate you need to have a degree that is healthcare related and experience working in healthcare first.

I have been a healthcare assistant band 2 with adults on a therapy ward and it has definitely helped me to see I am more interested in therapy rather than the medical/nursing side of things.

on the ward we also have trainee nurse associates. It’s something that you can apply for once you have a job as a healthcare assistant and then you do training on the job with your time split between uni one day a week and various placements. The placements cover both children and adults as well as mental health and a more general medical placement so you get a good variety of experiences. When you finish, you are a band 4 nurse associate working under the supervision of a nurse and then you can top it up somehow I think.

childrens nursing would offer you many opportunities and be very rewarding but hard. If it’s what you want go for it!!

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/nursing-associate

Paediatric nursing is the best job ever. You probably wouldn't be able to be a practice nurse as a paediatric nurse. But there are many many other roles you can do. A&E have nurse practitioners, lots of specialist nurse roles etc. but you may just find, as I did. That I like working on a ward. You can do agency as a top up if you want.

Join NHSP as a support worker if you can. Each trust will have an NHSP office that you can speak too.