To consider leaving health visitor job to work inEmergency department?

[Blueskytoday]

I've been a health visitor for 6 years, parts of the job are extremely repetitive and I'm getting really frustrated and fed up.
I've got really good colleagues which is a huge bonus.
the hours are perfect, mon to Friday, 9 til 5 , no nights , etc. Ideal when my kids were younger.
There is no career progression at all, I'm not learning anything .

I really miss proper nursing, I worked on paediatrics for a long time and loved it.
I've always thought I'd go back to paediatrics , I've been thinking about applying for a post as paediatric nurse in emergency dept.
They have excellent career progression, possible to train as nurse practitioner etc, increase skills and pay band.
The downside to it is the going back to shifts, nights etc
Also I know how busy emergency departments get and how overwhelmed the staff often are.
Any thoughts or advice would be great 👍

Have you worked in ED before? I like working 12 hour shifts as I get more days off technically. No weekend shopping is bliss, and it's easier for childcare. I don't think I could do a 9-5 role.
Saying that I would love to be a nurse specialist!

Are you a band 6 as a HV? Could you go in at that level?

Go for it!!! Could you return to being a HV if you wanted to later on?

Do it. I worked in paeds ED and it was the best job I ever had. I have done school nursing since but I didn't feel it was proper nursing.
It might be worth asking for a few weeks supernumery while you get into the swing of things. It's a very demanding but very rewarding role. Good luck

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, I'm currently on band 6 at present.
I'm sure I couldn't go in at band 6 as I've not done clinical nursing for so long.
I've been a nurse over 20 years, am a mentor, have a degree, nurse prescriber , lots of safeguarding experience.
I've seen a post advertised on band 5, which is what I think I'd need to do to get up to speed with all the clinical aspects.
What I'd hope to do long term would be work up to doing ANP training, has anyone any experience of this?

Do it!! Plenty of nurses in our ED do it, we have 3 training as ANPs and about 4 doing ENP. The adult ED nurses tend to do it rather than the paeds ones, not sure why!

A fair few paeds wards are also training NPs. Our NP trainees are fab!

Not an ANP but know a few. The training is gruelling and there is a lot of competition to get in. In my Trust you would end up working registrar type hours once qualified. You need time and a huge amount of motivation to do it. It can be difficult to fit into family life but if you have already done HV training and a prescribing course then you will have experience of hard training.

Most don't seem to regret it and end up with amazing enhanced clinical skills at the end.

It wouldn't be for me, have seen too many people disappear for 4 years of study . However I have youngish children so my priorities are probably different.

Paeds ED itself can be a lovely place to work.

Also depends how much avoiding shift work matters to you of course.

Be prepared for the reality which can include regular abuse directed at you. Albeit less likely if your ED only has paeds patients & not mixed adults and paeds, unsure which yours is.
Although parents can be the worst offenders.

The pressures of the department often mean that you are unable to give the kind of care that you would like, ie you are rushing from patient to patient which can become disheartening. Often you do not get breaks and rarely get to sit down.

You will have to deal with sudden & traumatic paediatric deaths and it can often be hard to leave the job at the door and it can impact your family life as well.

If you are able, I would try and speak to nurses who already work there to see if infact there is excellent career progression, as managers often promise this but the reality is very different. Find out how their rota works as well, ie do they self roster, or are they allowed a request book or is it just you get given the shifts and thats it.

There are lots of negative reasons to never work in a&e and not all nurses are cut out for it or can cope with it, however you will never know until you try, no two days are the same and it can be an amazing life changing experience.

You will gain so many valuable skills and you will see not only the lows of life but also some of the most amazing highs when you save a life or make a difference.

YY, I should clarify that while it can be a lovely place to work the issues that stray points out are very real.

I haven't got much to add but the paed EDs who helped when my daughter was sick were god like to me!

When was the last time you did a clinical shift as most clinical areas want applicants to have recent (as in the last 12 months) experience

Funnily enough I if the jump the other way (Paeds ED to HV).
There is much more stress/agro from clients in ED (obv as there's more planning/co-ordination in HV contacts) and have to be very up to speed with recognition of sick child/up to speed with evidence-based practice re: antibiotic use (paeds ED nurses often advice/double check what Dr's are prescribing - esp GP's are far too quick to dish out AB's for viral infections 😣).
Albeit we have targets to achieve with regard to NBV's/health reviews, this is nothing compared to the 4hr target/bed pressures - having no beds & 4 admissions; co-ordinating calls to emergency bed service/checking with other hospitals/continuing to oversee the dept & respond to any emergencies/staff needs/safeguarding issues take it up & beyond (even writing this leaves me feeling tension rise in my chest 😳)

Saying this, if my old dept offered me a liaison HV role with safeguarding liaison/chance to give advice to families attending/bit of follow up, I'd jump at it!

If you haven't been clinical for 20 years then it might be difficult to get back into acute care. Some Trusts and some universities offer clinical skills courses which are similar to 'return to nursing' courses. They are aimed at nurses who are in your position and want to go from hv/sn etc back into acute care.