Please talk to me about moving from frontline health to non-patient facing roles

[raisedrabbits]

Just as the title says. I feel I need to move away from so much direct patient work into other areas. I still genuinely care and enjoy aspects of the work but I've been on the front line for over 20 years. I feel I've got to face the fact that it does have an impact on me particularly now I'm perimenopausal, don't sleep well a lot of the time and don't seem to have the same tolerance for stress that I had in my 20s and 30s. I was involved in research in the past and I'm taking some initial steps in getting back into this, even in a small way to start with. I'm keen to explore other ideas.

Has anybody else made this kind of move? Any and all ideas and experiences would be great to hear about 😊

As a side note, I do think it would be helpful to think about this even at the early stages of training. The current model is here you go, you are now a doctor/ nurse/ dentist/ physiotherapist in your 20s, enjoy the next 40 years.

Just bumping so those people coming home from working in non clinical roles can share their wisdom about how they got there!

Like you I have done almost 20 years frontline nursing. I have just started a new role, one where I'll use my background but essentially will no longer be a nurse. It was an easy decision when I discovered the job role advertised.

I'm someone who has always struggled to switch off, felt like I had imposter syndrome and spent many nights awake worrying. My rationale head knows I have given my all, tried my best and gave care like I would want to receive. But my anxiety came in waves and i have known for a few years that as I head going into my mid-40s I needed out. I looked into loads of stuff but all meant a pay cut. By chance I ran into an old colleague who told me to apply for something in her team that had come up. She knew my background and was so positive about the transferable skills I had. I hadn't realised until our chat but nursing gives you so many transferable skills (communication with other and in tricky situations, time management, team working, evidence based skills, record keeping...). It's health research based, more pay, home working with some office days and flexible to manage my own diary in a small team.

Interestingly, I read on here, if you see a post and don't tick every single "essential criteria" box but most of them.....still apply! You never know.

Have you had any luck finding anything to apply for?