To Want To Be A Nurse?

[Debini]

I’m in my late 30s, always worked but no real career. I have young children not yet at school and a great husband.
While on maternity I’ve realised I don’t really want to go back to my old job and would actually love to get back into education and become a nurse.
Is it a ridiculous idea? I don’t even know how we would manage financially but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Has anyone else done something similar at my age?

Soooo…

AIBU - Go back to secure but boring work

or

AINBU - Go back to college and try to make it work

I did my nurse training at 40, best decision I ever made, I love my job.

How did you manage financially? Was it a struggle or is there enough help available?

Have been working for the NHS for 33years. First a nurse for a few years, midwife for 20, Health Visitor for 6…. You need to be well supported by your partner & extended family. This is because you’ll be working weekends, nights, Christmas & bank holidays. You will rarely finish your shift on time & the stories/hardships you’ll be exposed to are often harrowing. You will never, ever be paid what you are worth. You will experience exhaustion beyond description. HOWEVER, I am so grateful for all the people I’ve encountered along the way. I’ve been in awe of how spectacular my colleagues are, and I never became ‘used to’ delivering babies. It was special to the very last one. One of the best midwives I ever worked with qualified at age 50. When I did my nurse training there were plenty of mature students in my class. You can definitely make it work with the right support. I qualified as a health visitor at age 47… Have a good think about your reasons for training, speak to few nurses if you can. Find out about bursaries/student support etc. work out (realistically) what childcare you have etc… Working conditions are very difficult at the moment, but I’d still recommend it. Good luck!