Mental health nurse, what can move onto?

[Coffeeandbooks13]

I was a MH nurse for over 10 years, left to start a family. Fours years on I now have two children and a SAHP and in my 40s. I’m looking to go back to work next year but not sure what to do. I did not keep up my registration as I thought at the time, it felt right to leave the profession too.
I’m looking into what I can do next and maybe some suitable short courses to update my skills. I did consider retraining as a counsellor but I’m not too sure.

Any ideas what I can do next?

Or are there any MH nurses on here who’ve moved onto a different career. I’d love to hear your experiences.

Thank you.

It depends - do you want to stay in the mental healthcare sector?

Back to nursing then health visitor training?

@MirandaWestsNewBFF
I would like to move away from mental health sector, I feel a change would be good, but I’m thinking retraining in my 40s might be difficult, I’m not sure. Remaining in MH I’m guessing I would be looking at maybe a Charity post, or counselling.

@catatecheese
I definitely do not want to return to nursing, I worked as a Senior CMHN for many years in different areas.

I suppose I should look at retraining possibilities.

Have you thought about CBT instead of counselling? A High Intensity Therapist (CBT) in an iapt service is a band 7 post (band 6 whilst training). The training posts are advertised on nhs jobs. Lots of mh nurses move into this area.

[quote Coffeeandbooks13]@MirandaWestsNewBFF
I would like to move away from mental health sector, I feel a change would be good, but I’m thinking retraining in my 40s might be difficult, I’m not sure. Remaining in MH I’m guessing I would be looking at maybe a Charity post, or counselling.

@catatecheese
I definitely do not want to return to nursing, I worked as a Senior CMHN for many years in different areas.

I suppose I should look at retraining possibilities.[/quote]
Don’t rule it out too quickly - I’m working with a few clients (career coach) at the moment who are in the process of switching sector in their 40s. It’s becoming much more common! Is there any other sector that attracts you in particular?

Teaching assistant

@EeeByeGummieBear I did think about CBT training whilst I was still in nursing. Quite a few colleagues did training alongside their jobs, which worked well. I’ve been out of nursing a few years now I’m not sure about doing the training now.

@MirandaWestsNewBFF
That’s really encouraging to hear, I suppose if I did retrain I’d be in my late 40s. I was interested in HR but I’m also wanting to explore something more creative.
I think I need to have a really good think, maybe I should consider a few sessions with a career coach.

@HedgeSparrows I don’t think a teaching assistant is really me but thank you for the suggestion. It got me thinking about the Education sector.

I need to sit down and do research, then start planning to work towards. I’m keen to get things moving.

Good thinking - feel free to message privately if there’s any questions I could answer 😀