Healthcare careers/degrees

[Sweetvanilla]

Hi

I am due to start a Midwifery degree in September however I am having second thoughts due to the understaffing and general stress that nurses/midwives suffer. I currently work in a postnatal ward so I suffer with the lack of staffing in my role too, so now im getting cold feet for my future career. I also suffer with anxiety and depression so I am concerned that I may burn out quite quickly. I would rather work clinic/office hours rather than shift work and nights. I feel that nursing has more opportunities to go into practice nursing or different specialties other than ward word however with midwifery all posts I’ve seen are rotational so you have to work on the wards throughout your career.

Are there some other degrees that would be better suited to me, assuming the university will let me swap. I am still interested in hospital work however I would like the choice to work normal hours if I decided to later on. Please give me some ideas 😊.

I'm a midwife and also suffer with anxiety. I agreed that it is TOUGH. I am now a core community midwife so work 8.30 til 5pm plus on calls. I did work rotationally for a few years- most core midwife posts locally asked for two years experience at Band 6. I am not missing the night shifts but do miss the antisocial hours pay! I work in a really supportive team which has made all the difference to my mental health. I also have a really supportive husband.

Other areas which are more 9-5 hours include the Day Assessment Unit and specialist midwifery roles.

So don't rule out midwifery completely!

Occupational therapy

The majority of similar healthcare jobs might offer more 9-5 roles once you have some experience, go into management or move away from the NHS into private. Even nursing and midwifery. Most do require getting the basic experience working shifts and in a hospital though. Some other ideas:

• Physiotherapist. Option for private clinics on a high street or to do home visits
• Osteopath. Mine rents a room at the back of a pharmacy and works whatever hours she likes.
• Diversional therapy
• Sonographer (IVF clinics and other private medical clinics) or radiographer

Are there any other degrees that would lead me to a less stressful job where I wouldn’t be directly responsible for other people’s lives? With the understaffing I am worried about this aspect.

Speech and language therapy
Radiography
Physiotherapy
Occupational therapy

Search for Allied Health care Professionals

@Sweetvanilla

Are there any other degrees that would lead me to a less stressful job where I wouldn’t be directly responsible for other people’s lives? With the understaffing I am worried about this aspect.

In a word NO! Surely almost any healthcare job by its nature has an element of being directly responsible for people!!!

Are you sure its healthcare you want to go into? Is it the caring element you are wanting? Do you have other interests?

Vet nurse, gardening, teaching?

Therapeutic radiography? They never do nights, very very rarely weekends/bank holidays, and mostly 9-5 though some places do 7-7. Always working as a team so you aren't isolated

@Elouera

So are you saying that there are no careers in healthcare where I could be of great value without having to be responsible for crash calls, drug administration and CPR? All of them contain that level of responsibility do they?

Occupational Therapy sounds like it might be more suitable for you.

What about health visitor ??

Speech therapy sounds like it could work for you. Children or adults, you don’t have to decide which client group you’re going to specialise in until you apply for jobs.

OT or Physiotherapy might be worth a look.

Nursing is varied

I work in a call centre on a patient helpline( you have to be a registered nurse to do it ) I do 2 x 12.5 shifts per week but could request 8 hour days if I wanted to. I don't enjoy the job enough to do it over 3 days. I hope to return to a face to face job after my maternity leave which is coming up soon.
Before I did the call centre I worked days only in a day case surgical ward . I was lucky the ward closed at 730pm so again I did 7-1930 3 days a week ( full time) again a few colleagues did shorter days 7-3 for example.

@Peachee

What about health visitor ??

Health visitors are nurses or midwives, usually with experience, that then go on to do a master's level post graduate qualification. @Sweetvanilla most healthcare professionals will have a level of responsibility but have you considered radiography SALT or OT/physio?

@Sweetvanilla- One of your posts said you don't want a job being responsible for other peoples lives! Surely all healthcare jobs are responsible for others peoples lives in some way??? Your next post said you don't want a job in the context of crash calls, drug administration and CPR! I assume you actually mean you don't want a job in A&E, ITU, HDU etc ?

There are jobs within healthcare where you don't have a crash call hourly/daily, but also, the vast majory of healthcare staff DO require a basic first aid and CPR course incase your patient does crash or need your help! You would still be a responsible, professional, looking after patients- regardless of the job.

An allied health care role sounds better for you. OT, Physio, speech, Sonographer, Radiographer etc as already mentioned by myself and many others.