How to get out of nursing?

[CheeryGreyTraybake]

I’ve been a registered nurse for five years, working on a ward, and I’m currently off sick due to burnout and bullying from management. I honestly can’t face going back. Nursing has had a huge impact on my mental health, and looking back, I feel absolutely miserable. I don’t know what possessed me to choose this career at 18!

Even though I’m only in my twenties, I feel completely stuck. I don’t know what else I can do with a nursing degree that isn’t nursing — but at the same time, I can’t afford a big pay cut as I have a mortgage to think about.

It’s frustrating, because I loved school and sixth form. I have A-Levels in History, Government & Politics, and English (all A grades) — but I’m not sure they count for much now?

Is it possible to move into something like project management? Or am I stuck, because my degree is in adult nursing? Would I need to do another degree or retrain completely?

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s been through something similar — especially nurses who’ve managed to change careers. Any ideas, advice, or just reassurance would really help, thank you.

Come and work as a custody nurse! You get paid £40k (but no shift allowance), you assess people in police custody and provide them medications. No heavy lifting, no intimate care. PM me and let me know where you live and I’ll let you know the local contracts if I can. 🙂

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I'm going to keep an eye out for these but there doesn't seem to be many jobs advertising alately, I only see ward work - staff nurse and sister roles

Fellow nurse 20years in... please explore other nursing roles other than ward work before giving up your registration or throwing in the towel. Ward work is not all there is to nursing.... explore community nursing, practice nursing, outpatients. No more long days, more autonomy. Ofcourse it's not all rosy but the pressures are different.

Health visiting or do further training in speech and language therapy.

In my area the qualification is degree public health nurse. I did the degree in a year and went straight into a Band six. I then did a post grad in teaching and got a Band seven.

OP those are excellent A levels. Nursing isn’t v well paid? I’m sure you could segway to admin for not much less then work up to project management. Try civil service? NHS admin roles. Maybe even a role that wants health experience? Local authority - something in public health? Best of luck

I see disability assessors advertised a lot, some even let you work from home, being a RGN/RMN is a requirement.

Community nursing, health visitor, midwife. There are lots of nursing areas outside of hospitals in which you are responsible for your own caseload and organising it. Tend to work 8-4, 9-5 type of hours.

Yea dsu or theatres on scrub side is a good call, our scrub gang are happy souls generally and the pressure is far less in theatres

Search for project support officer / project officer / programme support officer roles on NHS Jobs. They're the level you'd start project roles at - they will be band 4 - 6, but you could filter the results by band.

I've worked in DSU and theatres - DSU definitely less intense than main theatres, and more relaxed atmosphere in my experience.

I really enjoyed DSU. Where I worked we rotated through pre op assessment, theatres, recovery and the ward. Every day was different. It was satisfying to nurse a patient and send them home all in one day.

Adults social care? You can get paid to retrain as a social worker

Thank you. I've done a bit of research. My trust isn't recruiting now but I found an old job advertisement from the start of this year for "assistant project manager" at band 5 - so in theory would I be able to apply for this if it came up in the future and work my way up that way?

Similarly I found a "project manager" old advertisement and that was band 7 but it said it was essential to have a degree in business/project management and PRINCE/agile qualification? Or alternatively could I work my way up?

Other types of nursing eg health visitor, sexual health, community, etc?

Nanny to wealthy or disabled kids you could charge a fortune?

Nct teacher

School science teacher

Civil service or nhs management grad scheme?

Teaching roles? University or in house?
try out the community or a doctors surgery.
occupational health.
hospital at home roles
any specialisms you would want to get into rather than general nursing?

I think it would be unusual to get a band 7 PM role with no experience or relevant qualifications, so yes, band 5 and then work your way up.

@Miley23 spoke about PIP assessor role. She is right. Don't touch it with a bargepole.

I do think that moving into corporate work could be a good shout. Management/pharmaceutical/research.

Someone said about training so you are dual qualified. I'm guessing you're an RGN (of course, might be wrong) but can't really see how the stressor you describe would not be present in LD/Mh/RSCN/midwifery.

Either way, best of luck!

Private healthcare is an option.
Less stressful than NHS and patients just having routine ops like joint replacements either same day or one night stays. Benefits and staffing levels are good.

I did school nursing and I'm an adult nurse. You're predominantly non-clinical, except for giving vaccines. I really liked it. You create care plans for students with med conditions, provide education and health promotion. Lots of safeguarding! There are ocassionally jobs out there at band 5, keep an eye out.