to resign myself to the fact that there's no way I can do this degree due to lack of childcare?

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

I'm desperately trying to think of ways to make this work.

I want to do a nursing degree in a couple of years time but I might well be a single parent by then.

DC will be 3 and 5 and in nursery (9-12) and school (9-3) respectively.

The degree has pretty random blocks of uni (mostly 9-3) and placements (whatever shifts the mentor works I believe is the norm).

So I'd need somebody to take over the school run in the mornings on the days that I can't do it and somebody to pick up from school and nursery. During uni blocks I should be home by 4 the latest. The placements are a big unknown. And of course I won't need the same childcare hours on the same days each week (well, during uni blocks I will but not during placements) which makes it all a rather shitty job for a childminder.

Plus I won't have the financial resources to pay for something like a nanny as I'll just have the NHS bursary and ctc.

I'm getting really down about it but there's no way forward with this, is there?

[IamtheDevilsAvocado]

Also there are many different types of accountants, I'm sure there are people in here who could talk about this more fully than me. A couple of people I know trained 'on the job.' ... It's more regular hours, still loads of.work tho!

Another thought - what about legal executive (ILEX). I think that qualification can be done while working?

Have you looked at any of the online in-depth career questionnaires? It may throw up some ideas you hadn't thought of, or confirm what you do want to do!

[poocatcherchampion]

Local government. Sorted.

[lalalonglegs]

Or a bookkeeper? You could take the relevant courses and get work in less than a year and work your wsy up to accountancy as your children get a bit bigger.

[reynoldsnumber]

Have you considered training as an accountant? This is a job with good work life balance and you can often work and study at the same time. A lot of the qualities you have would be well suited to audit or working in practice.

[Idefix]

Op I would go for the nursing!
I completed my nursing degree 4yrs ago and managed this with a fantastic Au Pair - I would highly recommend this option. Ap made it possible for me to do the different shifts, despite being in an area with 3 unis and 4 large hospitals I couldn't find a cm who would be flexible about the differing hours I needed and the cost was unaffordable.
I found that my mentors were fairly flexible regarding which shifts you did - you only have to work so many with mentor. When I finshed my degree I had done the minimum number of night shifts required. I had also completed three placements of 10 weeks with district nurses and practice nurses, making it much easier for my family. I only worked a few long shifts as my uni and trust disproved of them - only done in ICU, ccu and a&e.
Ap stayed with us for three and half years and gave my children and myself an amazing opportunity to learn another culture and become friends with an amazingly kind and creative individual.
I would recommend waiting for youngest child to be in ft ed, perhaps getting a job pt as a hca/pca to ensure nursing is what you really want to do. My course at a huge drop out rate and for any it was because they found nursing wasn't what they thought it would be.
Obviously you are no stranger to completing course work and managing childcare, running the house.
Strangely I also have an unfinished teaching degree under my belt - wasn't for me either.
My top tip for the ap is to really do your research and use an agency - where you talk to real people - can recommend one if you pm me. Our house often became a halfway house for ap whose families expected far too much from them and took advantage of them.
Sorry for such a long post I hope it helps...

[Lweji]

To be honest, and I realise you need a plan(!), it's for in a couple of years.

Figure this out then, depending on how things are. You may not even want to do nursing then. Things can change a lot in two years and it seems too much angst to go through right now.

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

Accountant?
Computer programmer?
Optometrist?
Radiographer?
Research scientist?
Lab technician?

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

I'm German, husband British as are the children. Located in Scotland. No visa required. Funding and benefits apply to me as they would to a British person.

Oh, another characteristic that might be useful for finding a fitting career is that people describe me as unflappable and good in a crisis.

[TheWhoOfWhoville]

I work in a uni with nursing students and lots of them have children, single mums aren't rare on the course either. If you are near to a large hospital you'll probably find that local childminders are used to looking after the children of healthcare professionals and are willing to be flexible with care. Email a few explaining your situation and see what responce you get, they'll be able to tell you how they manage it for other parents who need flexibility. In our uni you only need to spend 40% of your placement time on shift with your mentor. Outside of this shifts are negotiable, and if there is a good reason why you can't follow all of your mentors shifts they are generally sympathetic to this. Also I think you'd be entitled to childcare grant which would cover most of your childcare costs. Check on the student finance website to confirm and contact your uni to ask about shifts. If you really want to do it you can.

[PerspicaciaTick]

Have a look here to see if you get any inspiration for healthcare careers which aren't nursing and may suit your cirumstances better.

[Inkanta]

Not understanding your location and status. Where are you from. Are you and your husband British citizens, and located in Scotland. Or will you need a work visa.

[landrover]

Whats wrong with dental hygienist?

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

Oh, and when I said that I wouldn't want my children with 70% of the local childminders I didn't mean that what they were doing wrong was that they don't treat their charges as their own kids. I said that as an example of what the great childminders here were doing. There's a middle ground. But the ones I wouldn't use, well, let's just say at least one of them should be reported for what's happening. I don't know what's wrong about expressing that opinion when I and others have seen stuff that shouldn't happen. There are many bad childcare settings out there, just as there are many great ones and many inbetween. But if we have non verbal children we sadly don't always know what happens at their nursery/childminder or with their nanny. That's all.

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

Right, there are a few posts that are unnecessarily nasty. Not because they are realistic but just nasty. No idea why I'm even responding.

I don't expect my "mum" friends to help out. At all. The reason I've been picking their brains is because well, they're my friends. They're the people I spend most of my time with, that I have the rare night out with, that I talk to about life and its problems. Like I said I have no family here, I don't know how the country works so they are my support system. Vital in my position. So why the heck should I not speak to them about it???

And when I said I never should have married my husband, then I'm saying this on an anonymous online forum to people who don't know me and not to him. I believe posters reflect on all sorts of stuff here that they don't say in real life.

Just to clarify, I do not have a complete German teaching degree because the placements gave me such panic attacks there was just no point finishing it in the end when I moved over here. It really is no something I want to ever go back to. It is not a job for me.

The science degree I'm doing at the moment because I enjoy it. It's something I do for myself. Some people enjoy gardening or baking or whatever. I enjoy learning. Doesn't mean I don't spend time with my children. They have my full attention Monday to Friday.

I'm open to other career suggestions but I don't want to be a hairdresser or dental hygienist.

I'm systematic. I like rules and lists. I have common sense ad I can come up with solutions. I can organise. I enjoy stuff that other people find boring. I don't want a job that comes home with me (like teaching with lots of prep work). I want to work my shift, be as efficient as I can (and I am that very much) and I want to go home after and be done. I don't want it to be a dead end job, I want room for progression and responsibility. I'm also not moving. Yes my husband is applying for a job in England but he doesn't want to move either and we're in a perfect location for him too as he can commute to pretty much any uni in Scotland within an hour.

So if anyone got any career ideas I'll consider them.

[LividofLondinium]

It's well worth thinking about other careers apart from nursing because nursing courses are hugely oversubscribed so most people that apply don't get a place. All my classmates are doing their option B courses because they got turned down by every uni offering nursing and midwifery

Did you particularly want to be a nurse or go into health care in general? Choosing another option may be a lot easier to work childcare around, and might change the benefits you could get.

[3littlefrogs]

Sorry - I missed the fact that you already have a science degree.
That could be a real advantage if you get some practical training as a HCA.

You might be able to do a shortened course later on.

[3littlefrogs]

Op - have you thought about looking at HCA work in general practice?
I have HCAs on my team and they do a varied and interesting job, but with school friendly hours.

I am close to retiring, and had several years at home when my DC were young. I worked for 15 years before I had my DC; I had to retrain in my 40s to keep my registration, but I have had further productive and enjoyable 15 years during which I have worked my way up to a senior clinical role. I will still have worked for over 30 years in my profession.

You could get some good experience, do some practical training, then do your degree as a mature student when your DC are older.

You could do an OU course related to health care which might gain you some credits towards your nursing degree later on.

[OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat]

I also thought the advice was, sadly, realistic rather than unnecessarily negative.

Remember that Jack Monroe famously quit her job in the Fire Service because she was unable to successfully combine working shifts with childcare as a single parent, despite requests for flexibility or fixed hours.

[frikadela01]

And why the hell are people being so nasty?

I don't think anyone is being nasty. Just realistic.

[Inkanta]

Yes if it's a profession you want - why not stick to teaching if you have that qualification already, and teach something like science that's your special interest area.

Why start from scratch on the nurse training - that seems way too hard to me when juggling children under 5.

[DinosaursRoar]

drspouse - no, if she's got a teaching qualification from Germany already, she can do the train to teach, which means you are in school, working 4 days a week and one day a week at uni, yes you'll only be paid as 4 days a week, but it's better than being on a bursery and the hours you'll need childcare for are standard ones, not early start/late finish shifts. (this also has the advantage of being at one school only).

after that, there are lots of further education colleges which means you just deal with 16+ year olds, not little DCs if that doesn't suit you.

[CowboyJoeFromMexico]

As a cm I have minded for parents with ever changing shifts and different hours every week, I just require them to pay me for a minimum number of hours per week.

[drspouse]

Why not stick with teaching and use your science degree to teach it.

She'd still need long hours of childcare, probably unpredictable since a PGCE is also part coursework/lectures with shorter hours and part long hours on placements that can be a distance away.