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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think alot of people dont see being a nursery nurse as a career?!

86 replies

stoppinchingthedummy · 30/01/2011 12:33

Hi all

I only ask as i am a nursery nurse- i love my job , i started when i was 17 unqualified and worked hard to become qualified,gained experience ,had my own children and still love the job!! However lots of people ask me if id like a career when my dc are older... I would love to become a midwife so yes i would BUT isnt being a nursery worker a career?? I would just like some views please :)

OP posts:
bubblewrapped · 30/01/2011 12:35

Its a job, but I wouldnt say it is a career in its' own right unless it is part of a plan to go onto other things.

Bonkerz · 30/01/2011 12:36

I havent found this at all. I qualified in 1997 and have been a nanny, childminder, mummy and nursery nurse and nursery manager. I am now a deputy manager at a large nursery and doing a degree in early years just to keep myself up to date with new approaches. I too love my chosen career despite the low pay and long hours.

I find that people actually admire what i do and what i have done although they are shocked when they realise how little i get paid and that i do the job because i love it!

Original poster
stoppinchingthedummy · 30/01/2011 12:37

Thanks for your reply bubblewrapped - go on to other things? you mean higher up than nursery work? The way i see it is that nursery nurses are there to take care of children,teach them and nurture them when there parents are out at work ....If all nursery nurses went on to bigger better things there would be no one to do this eh?

OP posts:
juneybean · 30/01/2011 12:37

I would like to make a career, move up the ranks, run my own nursery one day, but I cannot stand the way some of the nurseries I've been in have been run, so I'm going back to nannying.

I won't have a ton of nursery experience so I doubt I'll ever manage a nursery unless I buy my own.

I think you can make a career out of it but I think you're right about some people don't see it as a career.

Original poster
stoppinchingthedummy · 30/01/2011 12:38

Bonkerz its great that people admire you for it , the parents of the children i look after do too but its other people outside of this ..and yes your right the pay is awfully low for the responsibility and parents are often shocked!

OP posts:
Original poster
stoppinchingthedummy · 30/01/2011 12:40

Juneybean ...i was a nanny after i qualified and i loved it and i loved the children i looked after ..and still do love them lots but i found it isolated ..im a people person and im super lucky that the nursery i qualified in is one of the best around and i went back to them after i had my children :)

OP posts:
bubblewrapped · 30/01/2011 12:41

....If all nursery nurses went on to bigger better things there would be no one to do this eh?

Of course there would, because there would be new people leaving school and college and coming into the job market all the time to take up those positions.

It is like many jobs, you start off on the low paid end of the scale, and if you want to make a career out of it, you work for promotion, further qualifications.

There is nothing at all wrong in being happy and content with staying in the same role thoughout your working life, but I wouldnt say it is a "career" if you dont progress.

juneybean · 30/01/2011 12:47

stoppinchingthedummy I hope there'll be a nice nursery for me in a few years Grin maybe then I can work my way up!

Bonkerz · 30/01/2011 12:48

see thats the thing bubblewrapped, in childcare there are so mnay avenues....i have worked in lots of areas of childcare and done further training and been a manager at 2 different nurseries.
Im currently doin my degree and the plan is to do the new EYP status and then possibly PGCE BUT what most people dont realise is that with the new EYFS we actually do the same job as reception class primary school teachers especially when working with 3+4 years olds as all children follow the EYFS till they turn 5.

curlymama · 30/01/2011 12:52

I think people find it easy to misjudge because you cab atm, get into it without qualifications. Thankfully, that's changing and everyone who works with children will soon have to be qualified.

I would say the lower ends of it aren't really a career, but it can becaome a career if you take the qualifications fulther and get to degree level.

It's because it's so poorly paid, even at the top end where it's not exactly great, that people don't really see it as a career. That and the fact that alot of people, like me, only do it to fit in with their own children.

TiggyD · 30/01/2011 12:59

Job for nursery nurse in Guildford for £14,000 per year or after taxes about£950 per month. Cheap one bedroom flat in Guildford about £650-700 per month. £250-£300 for heating, phone, electric, car, petrol, insurances, clothes and food.
Nursery Nursing is for people who live at home with their parents or who have a partner. It's a second/hobby job not a career.

PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 30/01/2011 13:00

I'd say it was a career if you wanted it to be. I work in a hospital with specialist play therapists who started life as a nursery nurse, did some more qualifications and are now hugely important to the children who are in hospital having operations etc. They are paid the same as a junior nurse so not to shabby wages either.

coldtits · 30/01/2011 13:03

Well, it's not a career, is it? It's a job. You're paid by the hour and unless you go and get another qualification, you aren't going to be promoted. I'm a support worker. It's a job - it's even a calling - but it's not a career.

ValiumSandwichTime · 30/01/2011 13:03

I'd say it's a job but then I don't want to work with children. There are lots of jobs that I didn't know existed. Somebody mentioned play therapy and in a nursing home recently I saw a girl doing exercises (in a chair!) with the patients. In the afternoon a different person was doing arts and crafts with the ones who wanted to take part... NOt every job can be a career but that doesn't mean that the it's not worth doing or isn't enjoyable. We can't all be doctors and lawyers. I certainly can't be.

GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh · 30/01/2011 13:22

Nursery work is a career, being a nursery nurse is one step during that career. The progression would be assistant, nursery nurse, room leader/supervisor, deputy manager, manager etc.

Being a nursery nurse in itself is not a career. Being a nursery nurse is static, a career implies motion. It would be like saying being a marketing assistant is a career. It's not, but you can have a career in marketing by moving up. Your career is in childcare.

salsmum · 30/01/2011 13:25

Try being an activities leader lol....just play all day and do nothing on your day off....I Wish

Nurserynurseandproud · 30/01/2011 13:36

I am proud of being a nursery nurse and don't think it is just a hobby/job for those that live at home or have a partner.

I do neither of these things and see nursery nurse as a step on the career ladder which can be room leader(which I am), deputy manager, manager, regional manager, etc.

I am also able to use my qualification and experience to become a nursery nurse in a school, or a hospital.

Why is it that people assume that nursery nurses are young, naieve and incompetent teenagers who live at home?

FreudianSlippery · 30/01/2011 13:36

I find that idea really sad :(

I really admire those who run nurseries. They are providing a safe and nurturing environment for children and that is incredibly important, especially for those children whose parents work FT, they are there all week.

A bad nursery can have a massive impact on a child, and while of course some will be using it as a stepping stone in their career (that is true of many jobs, no?) I'd hate to think that all the staff were just killing time before moving on to 'better' things :(

purepurple · 30/01/2011 15:20

sigh
Does every teacher want to be promoted to head?
If they just want to teach, is that just a job then? Is it only a career if you want to be a manager?
Of course being a nursery nurse is a career.
Definition of a career -dictionary.reference.com/browse/career
It's not just playing all day. Some things I have had to do recently in my role as a nursery nurse
dealing with a rectal prolapse
meeting with social services about child with drug dependant parent
chairing a meeting with school, support services for child with SEN going to school
filling in paperwork to secure SSA for child with SEN
caring for a child who was seriously sexually abused and preparing reports for social services
preparing reports for educational pyschologist
All in a day's work.

Nurserynurseandproud · 30/01/2011 15:34

I updated my cv the other day Purepurple and realised that on a day to day basis I -

liaise in a multifaceted team covering healthcare proffessionals, social services, schools, parents.

planning, implementing and assesing activities within the national curriculum - adapating to suit individual needs, g&t, sen, efl.

place emphasis on the local community and forming relationships as well as educating the children to a high level.

keep a written learning journey, updated monthly with anecdotes, photos and evidence which are gathered on a daily basis.

This is on top of all the other paper work, cleaning, and caring for the children.

Not really a career is it - just a hobby job and obviously only a stepping stone into more important careers.

Can you imagine if nursery staff really were teenagers who weren't qualified and lived at home until they got a proper job - AIBU would be full of nursery complaints.

purepurple · 30/01/2011 15:37

Exactly, where do all the inexperienced 17 year olds get all their knowledge? Certainly not from college. It's from us older, more experienced nns who mentor them every day.

Nurserynurseandproud · 30/01/2011 15:39

Can you imagine all the new recruits in charge of a nursery - absolute carnage springs to mind Grin

Yes they are "qualified" but you definitely need experience as well.

BabyDubsEverywhere · 30/01/2011 15:42

Its a job.

Seems to be a great job for girls who want to leave school with no qualifications, still has a lot of structured learning so they have a way to progress etc. From the people i know/knew who have gone into this its been quite good for them. But its still just a job, for a few it was that or macdonalds.

Nurserynurseandproud · 30/01/2011 15:44

Seems to be a great job for girls who want to leave school with no qualifications,

I went into the job after 2 years A levels and 2 years nursery nurse training.

KatyMac · 30/01/2011 15:47

BabyDubsEverywhere maybe 20 years ago

But no Nursery now will take on unqualified staff, at least not round here