(soon to be) Newly qualified nurse needs advice!

[asblackasyoursoul]

Hi all, I'm going to be qualifying come August/September.
I'm thinking about jobs and feel a bit confused.

I think I want to work in the NHS, but am seeing posts for care homes which pay quite a bit more.
But I know that they don't come with the security of the NHS.
I also do want to work my way up to a band 6 etc in the NHS, how would that work if I was to work in a private care home for a few years? Would I start on the first level of band 5 even though I'd have a few years experience?

Would you advise starting in NHS or just going to a care home? Sorry for so many questions, my uni is not very helpful with this and I'm not sure what to do!

I’m not a nurse but I am senior management in a hospital, so I hope you don’t mind me commenting.

If I were you, I would 100% go for the NHS first. There are great opportunities for development included structured teaching, mentorship and shadowing opportunities. You’ll be exposed to more interesting conditions, able to observe procedures etc. I’ve never been to a care home with a development programme that even comes close to what the nhs offers new nurses (I’m not saying there aren’t any at all but it’s just not been my experience). The other benefit is that your skills will be more varied, which will open other doors for you in the future.

It will be hard work and less money but in my view it is well worth it in the long run.

@ChelseaCat

I’m not a nurse but I am senior management in a hospital, so I hope you don’t mind me commenting.

If I were you, I would 100% go for the NHS first. There are great opportunities for development included structured teaching, mentorship and shadowing opportunities. You’ll be exposed to more interesting conditions, able to observe procedures etc. I’ve never been to a care home with a development programme that even comes close to what the nhs offers new nurses (I’m not saying there aren’t any at all but it’s just not been my experience). The other benefit is that your skills will be more varied, which will open other doors for you in the future.

It will be hard work and less money but in my view it is well worth it in the long run.

Of course I don't mind, thank you for taking the time to respond!

The NHS really does sound much more up my alley. I really do want to continue my learning and development. I think it's after 3 years of earning nothing, the care home salary is looking much more attractive than an NHS one! But you're right, it sounds much more worth it to start at the 'bottom' so to speak and work my way up. I think these care homes pay more because they seem to have a high turnover of staff, looking at the amount of job adverts posted daily

Could you look at doing some bank work at a care home for some extra money but have the NHS job as your main job? Best of both worlds?!

I’m sure a nurse will be along shortly to give you their view

If I was you I would go for the NHS. I'm a ward sister , I think nursing home jobs will provide less opportunity to grow your skills. Think about what area of your training you enjoyed , I think you should look for a job in that area. Nothing wrong with working in a home but I wouldn't expect progression back into an acute job, you'd probably have to come back as a b5

I hope they don't tell me I've made a big mistake doing nursing and should career change

Hey. I'm a nurse, albeit a paeds nurse so would never have chosen a care home. Honestly I would go for a hospital job, preferably in an acute area. Learning now straight out of uni is the easiest way as you are used to adapting. Working in a care home for a few years and then trying to transition back into a hospital would be hard. I honestly think everyone should give icu a shot at some point as there is so so much to learn! I managed to progress quite quickly and got a band 7 at 6.5yrs Post qualification in a very specialised area so there is opportunity in the NHS

@Oldandcold

If I was you I would go for the NHS. I'm a ward sister , I think nursing home jobs will provide less opportunity to grow your skills. Think about what area of your training you enjoyed , I think you should look for a job in that area. Nothing wrong with working in a home but I wouldn't expect progression back into an acute job, you'd probably have to come back as a b5

Thank you for your response. Yes, I really don't ever want to feel 'stuck' and not progressing, as I love learning. I also have enjoyed acute much more than non acute so maybe this was a silly question for me to ask!!

@Mseddy

Hey. I'm a nurse, albeit a paeds nurse so would never have chosen a care home. Honestly I would go for a hospital job, preferably in an acute area. Learning now straight out of uni is the easiest way as you are used to adapting. Working in a care home for a few years and then trying to transition back into a hospital would be hard. I honestly think everyone should give icu a shot at some point as there is so so much to learn! I managed to progress quite quickly and got a band 7 at 6.5yrs Post qualification in a very specialised area so there is opportunity in the NHS

Thank you for your response! I'm doing Mental health nursing so slightly different as I certainly would not be capable of working in ICU however one placement I really loved was the mental health team within the general hospital, they were band 7's but they had so much knowledge and saw so many interesting things daily. Would love to get there one day!

No silly questions but personally I love acute wards, I like to be busy and every day different. I dont imagine a nursing home is like that. Now you can look at being a specialist nurse in a few years, there are many opportunities within the NHS

I haven't worked in care homes but had two different roles where my job was visiting residential /nursing homes one thing that was often said was that their was a lack of support /development opportunities in these homes particularly for newly qualified staff.
They may get payed more initially however the pension, sick pay, annual leave entitlement, continued professional development, progression etc are not as generous.
If I was starting out I'd look at getting as much different experiences in the first few years within a forward thinking nhs trust. In some trusts they will do internal rotations for newly qualified staff. Or look at spending a year doing acute inpatient care then a year doing community care. Basically spend the next 2-3 years getting lots of different experiences while at band 5 it'll stand you in good stead for a band 6 and may also open doors you didn't know were available.
I'm general nurse trained and did a bit of time in the community where I got asked to do a project which overlapped with continuing health care, I actually ended up getting my band 6 in chc which is an area I had not previously considered.

I’m a Nurse practitioner now but iv had quite a varied career to get to this level. Honestly I wouldn’t start in care homes, I have never worked in care homes as my main role always NHS but I have done agency work in res care. You will get a much better grounding in the NHS and stretch your skills quicker and there is generally less room for progression in nursing homes-any specialist needs are generally met by staff going in rather than by the home staff themselves who are providing the day to day care. The salary looks more in the surface but you don’t have the same extras as you would in the NHS such as a better pension scheme, more holidays, access to further education etc so factor that in. Use the first couple of years of your career to try a few different things (my trust does a newly qualified rotational post which is great for finding out what you like). Take advantage of any courses and qualifications no matter how small and keep a good record of them all for your CPD.

I'd start on an acute inpatient ward and get a really good preceptorship. You don't develop your skills as an RMN until you qualify, the first year is like 4th year nurse training really.
Don't forger that the advertised band 5 salary is before any shift allowances and enhancements, that can add 5k to your annual pay.