AIBU to retrain as a vet nurse mid 40’s with caring responsibilities?

[Slugtamer]

AIBU to retrain as a vet nurse in my mid 40’s with an 11 year old daughter with SEN. I have been volunteering with animal charities for 6 months and love it, I am just not sure if I can get a work life balance with a very demanding home life due to my daughter’s care needs and peri -menopause. Will it just be too much? Is it worth it for the money and are there the jobs?

What do you do currently? It's not a well paid career. There are job satisfaction benefits but also a lot of responsibility and stress to weigh against that. I'm a vet with children with SEN and don't find it easy to balance work/life (or lucrative, despite what the press/social media might suggest!)

It's not well paid so not worth it for the money IMO

@Shirleysurely thanks so much for getting back to me, i haven’t worked for a couple of years as my daughter was waiting for a suitable school
placement, I have worked in social work and art education- so quite a varied career already but they aren’t options I can or want to return to now. I’m aware it’s not well paid- that’s what I meant by is it worth if for the money. Are there part time roles available is it a welcoming profession to be a part of ?

@IDontHateRainbows yes that’s what I meant, is it your career? Do you not enjoy it? Can I ask why?

It's not my career but I have worked with this industry a while back ( my job can be done in any industry)

I can’t edit my original post- to make it clear I am aware it’s not well paid, that’s what I meant by is it worth it for the money- clearly phrased it in a confusing way- I need a steady income but also some flexibility/ ability to work part time.

I think only you can decide if it's worth it for the money, I dont think it is but you may ne willing to sacrifice salary for job satisfaction.

I voted that you are not unreasonable, because it will be a job that you love and that's worth a lot.
But I don't know a lot about how flexible the job is. I hope someone else can answer that!

I hope it will all work out for you!
And if you can't retrain as a vet nurse, I hope you can still continue to volunteer with animal charities.

Have you considered dog grooming OP? YANBU to retrain and do something else in your 40's at all.

I only posted today on another post about my cousin. A SAHM for many years with no qualifications. Her eldest is severely disabled and his special school is almost a 1hr round trip from their home. My cousin did a grooming course and initially worked in a groomers. Now she has her own mobile unit and fits availability around her kids. Just another idea OP.

@SkaneTos and @7238SM thanks so much for your well wishes and dog grooming idea so nice to have encouragement 😊

I had to leave my job in the veterinary industry due to my child’s SEN needs. It’s not flexible really

As a vet nurse, qualified 14 years ago and also involved in training student vet nurses. I do find many aspects of my job rewarding and I currently work with a fabulous team. I love nursing! I would say that doing the training on part time hours may be challenging. You have to build up a level of hours in practice before you can qualify which will take longer. Some study out of work hours would be needed. There are multiple exams, written and practical as well as a digital portfolio to assess and record competency in different skills. Financially the salary is poor, particularly for the level of knowledge, skill and professional accountability involved. Career progression opportunities are there but can be a bit limited - particularly if you have other commitments such as children which can limit the distance you can work ( speaking from experience). Once qualified I would say that lots of practices are open to part time and flexible working, I work with several part time vets and nurses (I’m also part time) and several of us also have reduced hours in school holidays to help with childcare.

edited to add I dont want to completely discourage you but I would look into it carefully before committing to see if the amount of time in and out of work for training would work for you.

@Twodogsisbetterthanone sorry to hear that, I hope you have managed to find a balance that works for you and family.

@Afternoonteaandicecream thanks for your detailed response, I have a place to study on the diploma at the moment, which is the unpaid route and includes 2 6month full time placements. I am also considering a animal nursing assistant course level 2 with a 1 day a week placement minimum in a veterinary clinic (unpaid) as a step into a practice to then try and secure a paid apprenticeship. Any advice you have on routes in would be appreciated- good to know part time is possible post qualification at least. Glad you enjoy your job too.

I think the unpaid route can be hard if you have to work additionally to supplement your income while doing it. I have worked with a student who did this - she is now qualified, but she had days where she was clearly reaching a limit of exhaustion when on placement. So that would be a factor for me. Getting a foot in the door of a practice can be a way of securing a paid training course. There are practices which offer paid Patient care assistant jobs and this can then lead to a paid student place if one becomes available. I’ve worked with now qualified nurses who started as PCA’s and receptionists before starting their paid training. The wait can be long though and it is no guarantee. Having experience working as a PCA in practice would give you an edge applying at other practices for paid student nurse positions which do get advertised from time to time. Getting a job in practice would also help give you a feel for the environment and what vet nurses do. I’m not sure which animal charity environments you’ve worked in but if not an actual vet practice it might be worth asking if you could do a weeks work experience in a practice to see what the job is like.
Edit to add the quickest way of gainnng the qualification would obviously be taking up vet nurse course the with unpaid placements. So pros and cons to both.

Thanks @Afternoonteaandicecream i have got a two week work experience placement lined up, at the beginning of may, I wrote to all the vets in commutable distant to me, it was hard to find in my area. I think I’ll have a much better idea after that if the work and environment is for me. I haven’t seen any paid internships advertised where I live whilst I have been researching which has probably been a couple of years. Thanks for the advice.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5467476-to-retrain-as-a-vet-nurse-in-my-40s?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Have a look at this thread OP. I wouldn't after 20 years as an RVN for reasons I wrote on here.