To change careers to nursing as a single parent?

[DuckPancake]

I am 31 and a single parent to 4yo DS, he starts school this September. I do not currently work in healthcare. I'm aware that there are various routes into becoming a registered nurse now, but my circumstances are making it difficult for me to identify which route would be best for me;

I already hold a bachelor's degree in an unrelated subject (I graduated in 2021) so I don't think I can get student financing for the tuition fees for a BSc in nursing - does anyone know if this is true? I’ve been invited to write a short personal statement through clearing for January cohort, but unsure whether to bother if I can’t get tuition fee support.

The other option is to start right at the bottom as an apprentice healthcare assistant in the NHS and work my way up with a degree apprenticeship towards registered nurse status.

The next obvious issue I face is getting childcare covered during the unsociable shift hours… I feel like I’m hitting a brick wall. I do have my parents around but I’m unsure to what extent I’ll need to ask them to help out.

Has anyone successfully done this in similar circumstances?

Ah OK @DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou, I understand, you'll be on 31k once trained up and promoted as a band 6, thanks

I’d still suggest odp 😆

During training the hours are 0800 - 1800 4 days a week. No nights or weekends.

That seems to be the same of everyone in my cohort in multiple hospitals across the south!

The papers have been full of how poorly paid nursing is. Why go into a job that pays peanuts? You could get one that pays more instead.

Choosing low paid careers is just... a bad move all round. I've never understood it. Men get paid more because they choose high-paying jobs, not minimum wage stuff.

Men can be nurses as well Panaesthesia.

As I said in an earlier post one of my kids is a nurse, they are still in their 20s and qualified about 6 years ago. They love their job and they are on over £50k a year, not sure exactly but I know they are higher rate tax payer. That is without overtime, no nights but on call some weekends.

Lots of nurses might never earn that but lots of other people don't either.

@WhatisanODP - I'm considering it!! Is it shift hours once qualified though?

I became a single parent to a 3 & 6 yo whilst I was a nurse. Absolute hell. Was given no adjustments at all, even during the week it all happened. I wasn't allowed to request any shifts, and despite reducing to 3 shifts a week, thinking that would help, always got given L Friday, E Saturday, L Sunday - and had zero childcare.

I moved to a 9-5 community post eventually but they then introduced late shifts and weekends too.

I own my own business now.

@copernicium - what do you do as a business owner now? Thank you for the honesty x

Something completely unrelated and it's absolute heaven! Came off the register and everything - will never go back!!

@Katefoster I think you make a good point. I'm a nurse and I absolutely love my job, there are so many positives to the role. I work in a country that pays nurses much better wages than the UK though. I imagine I'd find nursing much less rewarding if I was working so hard for so little. All this vocation talk only serves to keep wages low, nurses are professionals not martyrs.