To wish I'd gone into nursing instead of teaching

[Cantbebothered31]

I did a languages degree then a PGCE. Full-time teaching is absolutely not for me, the ridiculous workload, horrendous behaviour and constant fear of Ofsted to name a few. I'd be happy to do it otherwise but not prepared to work 7 days per week.
I am doing language tutoring part-time, which pays about £15 an hour. I do enjoy it but it's only part-time and not paid during holidays so it's not stable. I also do some supply teaching, but again it's not stable.
The rest of the time I do care work, for £10 an hour. I do enjoy it, but of course it's very poorly paid for hard work.
People don't really understand why I do this when I have qualifications, and I do see what they mean. However it's incredibly rewarding, I love caring for people and helping them, it's a very important role and it's a shame society doesn't value it.
I'm completing an NVQ to become a Senior carer so that's a start, however I keep wishing I'd gone into nursing instead. I'd be on a much better salary, I know nurses have been striking but I'm only on 22-23k. I'm in my early 30s and feel like I need to progress in life.
Would you recommend going into nursing? Or even becoming a nursing associate?
I can't afford to take on any more student debt nor to go without a full time income so I feel a bit limited.
Not sure if there are fast track schemes, what would you do in my situation?

Btw sorry didn't know where to post this

Well you rightly pointed out that given the current climate the grass isn't necessity greener.

But you are right to consider alternative career paths. I worked in Gov policy and some of my colleagues were ex teachers. There are certainly a number of generalist roles you can consider that won't involve dealing with unruly kids

Nursing is difficult.

It really is not the easy option.

I'd be looking into something different.

I wouldn't be advising anyone to start working for the NHS in the current climate.

Its shite.

Consider going into research with pharmaceutical company. You would be an ideal candidate.

Nursing is tough, you swap Ofsted for CQC and internal monitoring and it’s constant targets and paperwork. Much like teaching I think!

The role of a HCA is what people imagine nursing to be like but it really isn’t. It’s a tough job with not enough time for direct patient care.

I understand what you're saying and I agree that these are valuable roles that are undervalued. Reality currently is that they are undervalued tough roles.

How many hours do you currently work in care? The balance from rewarding to soul-destroying might rapidly tip the wrong way if it was your full time occupation rather than the meaningful thing you do to escape your dull day job.

But - what kind of nursing? Where would you want to end up eventually? A specialist nurse role in outpatients is very different to working on a ward or a&e.

I was also a bit curious why nursing if you find Ofsted stressful. You would have lives in your hands and all the responsibility and oversight that goes with that in nursing.

You would be insane to do that particularly if you can’t cope with the stress of teaching. Nursing is far from stressless!

Lol I’m a (childrens) nurse of 15 years and I wish I’d been an early years teacher but I know it’s probably just as stressful and has it’s own problems. The grass isn’t always greener

Being an HCA is very different to being a nurse. I work with a lot of HCAs who say they would never want to be nurses because they've seen what it's like and it's too stressful with too much responsibility for the money.

Agree with others, nursing would be Frying pan to fire. Being a teacher gives you lots of transferable skills. What about adult education for an LA or rather than do care work you could do a course and become a trainer or assessor in the care sector. There's so much that you could do with your skills and experience. Write a list of all the things you enjoy doing, are good at an ideal salary and post it here. I'm sure MN contributors could I offer you some advice and direction.

Adult ed pays peanuts. Actual peanuts so not really viable.

Have you looked at OT? I wish I'd done that - all the benefits of nursing but more regular hours and less life and death...

I think that's totally mad. Nursing is harder and more pressured than working as a carer. Try getting into Civil Service or teach abroad if you can.

You want to swap one over monitored public service job for another? I'm both. Qualified nurse but am also a qualified teacher. Believe you me the grass is not greener.

Definitely don't do it. It's really tough. And shite. On our ward the nurses never go on time, they are really stressed and rarely take their breaks doing 12.5 hour shifts. The workload is immense, with too many patients to nurses.

If the night staff don't turn up for whatever reason, they have to stay, even if they have childcare to get home for, or other reasons.

Many of the nurses I work with say if they could go back they would not have gone into nursing.

How about speech and language therapy? Or occupational therapy as a PP suggested.

I left languages teaching after a couple of horrendous years. I realised I could earn more money and not spend my days trying to teach rude, badly behaved kids Spanish or German they had no interest in learning. I went into finance though. I don't blame you for wanting to get out but nursing is brutal. You might not face the same behaviour problems but you will face difficult patients, difficult relatives of patients, high workload and constant fear of litigation if you put a foot wrong.

Having been a nurse and carer, I think you would find nursing a different ball game from caring. It's a high pressured job and you still have lots and lots of paper work and targets, with various agencies breathing down your neck. When you are a carer it's very hard work granted, but ultimately the responsibilities of running the ward etc, fall onto the nurses shoulders, and they have a pin to protect too. I've seen several nurses dragged through the courts by the NMC for various misdemeanors, often unintended, and that must be incredibly stressful. It's not exactly well paid and it's long/unsociable hours. Hence I'm no longer a nurse and never will be again. I wouldn't jump from the fat into the fire personally.

Name change for this. I trained as a nurse before quitting after a year and doing a PGCE. I found it gruelling. I worked in London- all 12 hour shifts but often 13 by the time you've handed over and left. It drained me emotionally, burned me out physically and left me a little bit broken. Pay was poor, hours long, patients often rude and sometimes consultants too. The responsibility was too much too. I would never switch off when my shift finished because I would be thinking about drug charts and doses and double checking myself all the time. It is an incredible vocation but one I couldn't do and I certainly wouldn't go into it thinking it is less pressured. I feel much less pressured as a teacher (and that is saying something!).

P.s. if you do decide to re-train then there is the PGDip in nursing. Post grad and only 2 years.

If you already have a degree you can apply to do a fast track degree in nursing which only takes 2 years. However, not sure it will be the less stressful career you are hoping for.

I trained as a nurse many years ago- stayed until a band f in old money so only a few years. I then retrained as a social worker and have been in child protection ever since. Nursing and teaching are very different things, both are stressful, however academically- whilst nurses are professionals, teaching is demanding in very different ways. I totally expect lots of nurses to jump on this post but the intellectual demands as a social worker and the autonomy as a professional is very different, the same with teaching. I worked as an CP social worker in a hospital for a while and it was like being back in the 1970s- the accepted hierarchy is bloody astounding. There is also a huge difference in personal accountability- and autonomy. Grass is always greener etc......

I know someone who made a similar change and did the two year course. She’s been qualified less than five years and now just got a band 7 research post. Quite a specialised field.

Another is starting out on a post grad mental health nursing course. Loves it. But I don’t know if avoiding debt is possible. Can you get translation work? Might be flexible around your other work.

I disagree with most of the comments. If nursing is what you want to do then go ahead & train to be a nurse. I wouldn’t bother doing senior caring- just apply to nurse degree course instead. For goodness sake though don’t do it for the money !! For the job the money is poor. Quite literally peoples lives are in your hands. Not everyone can cope with the stress & responsibility that comes with that. If you can then it can be a truly be a worthwhile & rewarding career. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Have you considered teaching in an SEN school? I work with physically and neurologically impaired children. Although we have carers in class, there is still a fair bit of care I do as a teacher. Certainly not much of the behavioural issues you get in mainstream.

I’ve never thought about becoming a nurse and would imagine it’s highly stressful. As said above, you still have the paperwork and the alternative to Ofsted. Having said that, as a pp said, I do think people should follow their dreams as far as possible. If you feel nursing is what you want to do, then go for it.