Nurses who have left.. what did you do instead?

[babyblueblush]

Hi, thought I'd start a thread on here to gather information and thoughts from nurses who have left the profession and went on to do something else.

There seems to be so many of us on here feeling the same and I think people would just feel a tiny bit better about knowing there may be other options?

Share below 🙂

Commenting because I’d also like to know. I know a colleague of mine left to be a TA in a school.

NC for this. Haven't left yet OP, but I'm desperate to -though it's not like I'm frontline now so feel guilty saying that.

I'm mental health, have a trauma coaching cert, an ancient cbt certificate, and training to be a cbt therapist currently while in a managerial post rife with politics and turf war.

There must be more to life and more that people can be offered.

If there was demand for a private mental health support 'coach' type person, until I complete my therapy training this would be my dream, I'm sick of the way nhs mh services are set up and treat people with mh needs / PD.

(I don't mean one of those 'life' coaches but a genuine mental health support type role that coaches mh using cbt approaches and mh nursing skill, and without the wait list, inclusion criteria and other hoops people have to contort their way through). But I've never heard of mh nurses going private in the way psychologists or psychiatrists do.

Good luck OP x

Watching with interest as I've had about enough!

I'm a swimming teacher now best thing I ever did.

@careerpondering

Have you considered being a mental health mentor in higher education? You are qualified and there is a big demand.

Insurance companies have nurses work for them to help rehabilitate people back to work and be advocates for them with their employer. It's a really rewarding job and good pay/benefits.

My mum left a few years ago and is now a nurse analyst for a solicitor. She's never looked back. She's still using her training and knowledge, without any of the stress.

Ooh these are good ideas and worth looking into. Didn't realise that re insurance / solicitors- wonder if they take mh nurses..will explore.
How do you become a mental health mentor @ihaveoflate?
(Sorry for hijack OP!)

@careerpondering

Ooh these are good ideas and worth looking into. Didn't realise that re insurance / solicitors- wonder if they take mh nurses..will explore. How do you become a mental health mentor *@ihaveoflate*? (Sorry for hijack OP!)

It's ok spread the ideas!! Very useful for some! X

I run teaching programs, mostly clinical skills in the private sector. I also do some university work. That's vaguely what it covers, don't want to be more specific! I do maintain my registration through agency work.

@lunar1

I run teaching programs, mostly clinical skills in the private sector. I also do some university work. That's vaguely what it covers, don't want to be more specific! I do maintain my registration through agency work.

Thank you.

How many hours a week or month do you do roughly to keep registration? Not sure how many this works out as.

I'm in the same position and constantly re thinking my options - problem is as a band 6 I can't see anything would pay as well with the specific nursing qualifications I have which makes me feel a bit trapped. I've considered looking into lecturing at a university (I also think it would also be great to work in further education but I imagine the pay is nowhere near as good!). Also have looked into the nhs grad scheme - it's a big commitment but seems like there are lots of opportunities and perhaps routes out of nhs further down the line with the experience and qualifications, particularly in something like finance. Plus it would mean not losing accrued benefits for the time being which is appealing.

Careerpondering, I totally agree that it would be great if there were more options for private mental health nurse work in the way you describe. We have so many diverse skills that could be used in a really recovery focused way. Shame there doesn't seem to be then option to do this easily without a specific therapy qualification (a gap in the market perhaps?).

Someone I know went into a mental health nurse role at a uni - I believe the pay is better than b6 for what sounds like much less stressful work! She actually found it a bit boring in comparison but I'd take boring over high stress....

I think a minimum is 150 hours per year. I mostly do a couple of nights a month and this is more than enough to maintain my registration.

It's not worth letting it go unless you are 100% certain you aren't going to do anything in a related field again.

I went into medical sales (and hated it - corporate life is not for me!). I now work in an education type role in health and social care

I left a decade+ ago to work in a Contract Research Organisation. Total change of scene and a big shock to the system but definitely the right move for me

@careerpondering

You're already qualified, so you could just apply for jobs directly. The best place to look for jobs in Higher Education is www.jobs.ac.uk. Search for 'specialist mentor' or 'mental health mentor' and there are similar roles like Wellbeing Adviser/Support Officer

You could also look at the UMHAN website (University Mental Health Advisers network) for info about types of role in HE.

Good luck! I was a teacher and managed to escape the profession by moving into HE, and I absolutely love it.

My partner was a staff nurse and he went into medical sales. He loves it, and the money is a lot better

Thank you @Ihaveoflate will look into this.
Lol @Chatteroos , so true I would also take boring over stressful too!

So much to think about here, great to see all these ideas and peoples' experiences - hope it's helping you too OP, and others.

Whatever you do I would say try not to let your PIN lapse. I let mine lapse about three years ago and it does severely reduce options now I am looking to get back into health care. I have a job lined up as a health care assistant to start soon and they did offer to help me get my PIN back but confidence is really low at the moment.