Would you do this job...?

[howdypartnerrr]

I already have a thread going asking if I should be a SAHM.. but the responses went a bit off track so a poster advised me to start another thread with a different angle.

Basically I'm a dental nurse. Tell me - would you do this job, or think it's fair?

I'm in my 30s, I've been qualified over 15 years. I had to do coursework and pass a quite stressful exam to pass.

I have to pay £125 a year out of my own pocket to be registered with the GDC and to be legally allowed to work.

I have to do 50 hours CPD every 5 years, I have to pay £40 a year for a subscription to an online CPD site, I then have to prove I have done this CPD, write down on a record what I learnt from it etc. I have to do a personal development plan every year. This is all in my own time.

I have to start early to get all jobs done that I'm asked.. usually 15-30 minutes I come in early, unpaid.

I have to do the odd on call weekend, of which is I'm called out I get £15 per patient.. if I'm not called, I don't get paid. Meaning a weekend is restricted for no pay.

It's quite a stressful job, everything has to be ready for the dentist, cleaned, notes taken. Spots checks done to make sure your surgery is clean. Lots of tick boxes.

Other nurses are quite hostile to one another.

Some nurses have done extra courses and have extra duties for no more pay.

All this ... for £10.50ph.

Tell me, would you do it? and anyone who is a dental nurse on here, how do you feel at the moment? Do you feel valued? Or have you left the industry and found it's the best thing you've ever done?

Ask for a pay rise, quoting your qualifications & experience

Or look for a job at another surgery on higher pay ?

No I wouldn’t. That sounds like terrible pay. For a start I would not be on call without an on call payment.

Not a chance for that money. I get £11.50 an hour for a stress free job, working in a holiday park.
We get paid for all the training we have have to do, we do it at home and they pay us according to how long we were logged in for. We get paid for every minute we work, so if we stay late or have to come in early it's paid. People are mainly nice as well.
I have have earnt much more in the past doing a stressful office based job and once my kids were grown l decided l would find a stress free job as l needed less money.

I'd take your 2 days for my 5-6 day Civil Service job, for min wage 😂

Dentists charge a lot so I think it’s shit that your pay is so low! It doesn’t make sense. I would be looking around for a better paid position.

Would you have more earning power in a private cosmetic practice? In dental products sales?

Nursing is paid very low and dental nursing appears to have worse t&c's. I would consider where can you move sideways that recognises your experience.

I will add though that it is shit for that pay. I read your other thread, just leave. You clearly want to and have the means to do so

No sorry. It's not acceptable especially factoring in all the extras on top of your actual work. It's like carers having to pay to do courses as well as for their own PPE.
You could earn the same p/h in McDonald's and forget about your work when you leave each shift.

£10.50 an hour is what my 18 year old unskilled DS got paid for putting the fruit and veg out at Tesco. So I agree that it's ridiculous for your job. Are there benefits you've not mentioned?

I was a dental nurse 15 years ago. I would never go back to it!!! I went on to dental nurse tutoring and then onto dental compliance. Feel free to pm me for any more information.

@Preeeettyprettygood really I always thought civil service would've been a good wage! I often wonder how people get into it and what it involves x

@shepherdsangeldelight we get a subscription to a private health insurance so can claim back for a couple of eye tests, get pay out if we have a hospital stay etc. that's the only benefit x

@Complexcass it's horrible isn't it, I've never been so stressed for the sake of 2 days a week!! I'm on the app so can't see my inbox but I'll go onto my laptop and PM you if that's ok! x

@ToHellBackAndBeyond exactly

@Marblessolveeverything there isn't many cosmetic dentists local to me, but dental sales is an angle I haven't thought about and is worth looking into! x

No definitely not for that.

Just leave. You don’t enjoy it. You can’t currently progress in it. You could quit tomorrow with no consequences and retrain to be anything you like. You don’t need Mumsnet’s approval.

(I’m studying a degree on top of a full time demanding job that needs me to be away from home for half the week. I genuinely don’t understand why you are spending so much time posting on here about it when it is completely in your gift to make a change. It’s infuriating.)

For comparison, Ambulance crew earn the same as McDonald’s workers (but without the free meals) . It’s not just dental nurses that are horrendously underpaid.

🤦🏻‍♀️

I wouldn't.
I'm sorry pay is so shit.
For all the training,professional qualifications and CPD you should get paid a lot more.
I think dental nursing is very badly paid.
Is your dental practice particularly bad though?
No pay for being on call out is particularly bad as it restricts your weekend.
Having g to pay your own professional fees snd do CPD in uourbuwn time is slso outrageous. In fact its all crap.
Would you consider retraining as a nurse?
You'd have a lot of relevant skills although appreciate retraining with young family is hard

Nope. Put it this way - my 16years and 3 mths old school child has a part time job at the local pizza takeaway. She gets £7.50 per hour. Not in a city. You are seriously underpaid for the level of crap you are dealing with.

Crap isn't ? Especially when you see how some are treated.

I definitely am not knocking the staff by the way, the amount of work that goes into these jobs is just not fairly or proportionally paid and many are underappreciated because they "chose this job".

Completely agree.

I presume you are working in a NHS practice as surely a private one can afford to pay you more. Have you thought of working in a dental hospital . I think there is better pay and more opportunity for career progression .Plus it’s very interesting and you meet lots of people. Or you could train as a hygienist? Also would you like to train new dental nurses?
I used to work as a dental nurse when I first left school. In my mid twenties I swapped for nursery nursing equally poorly paid but I found it more rewarding . In my next life I will go for something better paid though !

That's shocking, I thought paramedics would get more than that.