Retraining dilemma: I would love to hear from any nurses and dietitians

[thinlizzie278484555]

I am 28 and currently completing a Science (Biology and Chemistry) Access course with the intent of retraining as a Healthcare Professional. I would love to hear from any current dietitian’s and nurses.

I have been considering retraining for about four years now (use to work in fashion as a designer, quit and decides to retrain because there are no jobs in retail and I hated it- industry is full of evil and profits from others misery). I nearly pursued a nursing degree when I was 18 but my family encouraged me to pursue fashion because I was good at art. They were well intentioned at the time but in hindsight something healthcare related would have been better. I kept thinking what if I had pursued the nursing career throughout the whole 4 years my previous career. So I think deep down the motivation to pursue something where I can provide care and improve the lives of others has always been there.

My dilemma is should I retrain in nursing or dietetics. Out of all the healthcare roles these professions appeal to me the most. There are pros and cons to both.

Nursing (Adult)
Pros:
-Lots of jobs in the NHS
-could probably find work very locally and not have a big commute.
-lots of variety and different areas to work in from elderly care to GP surgery to intensive care etc.
-Since I’m interested in dietetics I have heard it’s possible to work as a dietitian nurse.
-I would like to have a family and my mum (who is a nurse) tells me there are more part time roles in nursing than some of the other roles.
Cons:
-Underfunding/Understaffing issues-lots of nurses suffering from burnout as a result.
-I would not describe myself as squeamish I can deal with the sight of wounds, burns, etc. Needles don’t bother me. The only thing that initially I may struggle with is taking blood for x2 reasons. I would be scared of getting it wrong. Then the sight of blood going through the tube does make me a bit light headed. I’ve spoken to nurses before who have said it is definitely possibly to overcome these thoughts. Especially if it is more of a discomfort than fear!

Dietitian
Pros:
-fascinated by nutrition
-would enjoy the academic challenge of the degree (it is quite scientist)
-opportunity to offer care and improve people’s lives.
-possibly more community based working options which may mean more sociable hours if I have a family.
Cons:
-I’m not sure what the job market is like for newly qualified dietitians. I have heard that hospitals don’t require big teams of them therefore I may struggle to find a band 5 post after qualifying.
-if the government make cuts will dietetics be affected more than say nursing?
-less jobs means increased likelihood of a big commute.
-I have heard from a few sources that dietetics is not necessarily respected/taken seriously in the NHS.

It’s worth mentioning I have just bought a house in Leeds with my OH so the practical factors such as job market post qualifying, commute and something that will fit around me possibly having a baby in the next six years are quite important.

It’s worth mentioning I have sadly not been able to obtain any shadowing experience (which would have been ideal) and it’s not looking like it will be possible any time soon.

Appreciate any opinions

Thank you

I’m a NQ nurse. Work in ICU. About to move on to my second job in a bigger icu.

I work (for now) within a commutable distance of Leeds. There’s loads of jobs for nurses in Leeds, Bradford, as well as west and North Yorkshire.

Nursing can end in burn out/ is underfunded but it’s still a rewarding profession. Some areas are worse than others. We have amazing international nurses who’ve been recruited. Also I’m pretty sure Leeds offer a nurse degree apprenticeship which could be good to be paid.

I have heard of nutrition nurse specialists and some areas of nursing overlap more so with dietetics (colorectal, gastro etc)

Not all nurses have to take bloods, not all are good at it. In ICU we take bloods from an arterial line, it’s just second nature nowadays. When I had a placement in community only 1/8 nurses did bloods and that was once in a blue moon.

I don’t know much about being a dietician but work with them in my job. They seem (at my hospital) to cover multiple areas - icu, surgical and ED. Whilst a lot of AHP jobs have less overal jobs than nursing, they can be better for quicker progression to band 6. Band 6 is possible in nursing but might take longer.

Whatever you decided good luck

Oh and the NHS seems pretty good for maternity and part time working. Many, many nurses work part time

Sorry I keep finding bits of your post I didn’t read before (dyslexia 😂)

I wouldn’t say dietetics isn’t respected, I’d say it’s as respected as nursing. There can be a few negative people but they’re also the type who think nursing was ruined by becoming a university course.

Finally, could you get a job as an healthcare assistant (maybe bank) for some experience ? You’d see a large part of nursing but also probably see a small part of the dietetic role.

I’m a nurse practitioner in gastroenterology and a good chunk of my job is to do with nutrition so I have the best of both worlds I suppose! I specialise in the cancer side of gastro and lots of my patients need feeding tubes/PEGs and support to gain/maintain weight and i work closely with dieticians and there are also several nutrition nurses in our trust. My job is quite niche and it took me 10 years to get there post qualification (now qualified for 14 years). That said I have had a few different jobs (wards, ITU and a different CNS job), lots of opportunity to try different things and settle where I really enjoyed all in hospitals close to me. Leeds is a great area to get varied experience several big hospitals with vast specialities. Downsides are it’s hard work doing your training you are doing a degree with the academic work load balanced with placement where you are on the wards etc working shifts but it’s very doable if you are organised. The NHS has benefits in terms of pension, mat leave, job security but this is balanced against hard work, the emotions and organisational/structural challenges. However if you are NHS employed you will come up against these to some extent whatever your role. I have 2 children and have had decent mat leave and pay and work part time in a fairly flexible pattern which works well for me and my family. I really love my job and have had a great varied experience in a few different jobs and you are less likely to get the opportunity to try different things in dietetics just because there are less jobs. I also did overtime as an agency nurse and used that to try out lots of different wards/specialities which is something you could explore as a health care assistant before embarking on training to see how it fits for you.

Thank you everyone for your replies and experiences. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and share a bit about your roles. It has been super helpful xx

Possibly not helpful but have you looked at speech and Language therapist and OT too? Often more usual hours and can have overlaps with feeding.