Would I be mental to re-train in teaching after being a nurse?

[queenofwandss]

That really. I have been a nurse for 14 years and have done a few roles all in the community. I am a band 6.
Financially, I would have to wait before I can afford to retrain as a teacher, which is no bad thing because I need to think it through properly. When I have suggested this to colleagues and family most people say I am mad! Out of the frying pan into the fire and all that. Ideally I would like to teach English literature but maybe child development (nursing field) or textiles (my hobby).
Any words of wisdom?

If you do a salaried route, you can be paid to retrain. Apprentices on the course I'm doing earn around 27k.

I have been teaching unqualified for a few years and am doing my training now in my mid 40s. I adore my job and it's right for me. My degrees are in English though so it's simple for me to qualify in the subject.

Our child development courses are taught by another teacher as it's v part time due to only being GCSE and a small number of students.

I love my job but am in a fantastic school with a brilliant SLT and HOD. I'm aware that it's not a career consider lightly however. I'd volunteer in a school to see the real workload and the truth of behaviour management.

Not in community - you end up doing notes and referrals etc at home after your shift!

You’d never work Christmas Day as a teacher though

Yes it is.

I absolutely wouldn't recommend it at all. I was a very happy teacher, but things have changed massively over the last 10 years and not for the better. I never thought my lovely school would end up being the kind of place needing metal detectors.

Yep Community nurse for 27 years and lol at the notion I clock off on time and have no worries. As if!!!!

Why not be a nurse lecturer?

If MN is anything to go by Teachers really do think they have the most stressful job ever quite how there are any teachers at all is shocking.

Well there certainly aren't enough. They are leaving in their thousands.

True but equally there’s also no shift swopping.

You get break up in the Friday closest to Christmas regardless of whether you’ve not got your Christmas shopping and go back after News Years even if you want to spend with family miles away. It’s set in stone.

Also end of terms always have additional work from reports to target setting to extra curricular school stuff and classroom moves. .No gentle wind down.

Christmas is so overrated.

We can rarely shift swap - small team and very little wiggle room.

No annual leave allowed from 2nd week in December til 2nd week in January so Christmas and new year is working

I am a teacher, though primary not secondary and whilst it is stressful and finding a work life balance feels near impossible at times, I absolutely love the job (in my 9th year). If you find the right school; a leadership team who value staff well being and parents who respect teachers, it can be an incredibly rewarding job.

I know I am very lucky to have found this school and having worked at another which was the complete opposite, I will never take this for granted. I couldn't have worked in that first school for a day longer, it almost broke me. If you do seriously want to retrain, I'd recommend doing some volunteer placements in a few schools and get a feel for them before commiting to anything.

I’m a secondary English teacher in my 19th year. Yes it is stressful but it is also creative, rewarding, energising and so many other positives. I’ve been in a great school for many years now which undoubtedly helps but so does my genuine passion and commitment. There are plenty of days when I leave at 4pm and bring no work home. Don’t be put off by others’ disillusionment. For every teacher that’s ready to quit, there is one like me that works bloody hard but mostly enjoys it and recognises all the benefits this career has to me and my family. Kids love Eng Lit!

You can't just teach English Lit OP.

What is your degree in?
Why do you now want to teach? And why English?

Nursing has changed. There are plenty of non direct patient care roles. Research nursing, lecturer, clinical educator, resuscitation officer, clinical specialist - they all involve heavy amounts of teaching rather than just care delivery.

I personally agree that you're jumping out of one overworked underpaid job into another overworked underpaid job. They're allied professions really. I'd work on specialising in your existing profession. The time you'd spend retraining to be a teacher for equivalent money,you may as well spend working your way up to a better pay grade in nursing

Is still a thing in boarding schools. And quite likely includes free housing as a perk (on top of salary not salary sacrifice).

Don’t.

@queenofwandss Cranleigh are advertising for a school nurse. As Easter approaches, there's bound to be a few more boarding schools looking for school nurses.

I’m a nurse. I’m married to a teacher.
There’s pros and cons of both.
both work long hours in very challenging environments.

Nurse pros
✅ varied shift patterns. Meaning you can have more time off
✅some roles you finish work and can switch off when you’re home as you hand over to someone else
✅ lots of opportunities to move around specialities and progress
✅a lot of satisfaction when you know you’ve made a difference

nurse cons
❌working hours also a negative. Nights (vile). Bank holidays. Christmas. Weekends.
❌emotionally draining. Take the mental load home with you. Can’t unsee the tragedy you see.
❌some areas are very understaffed and over worked.

teachers pros
✅school hours so weekends off. No Christmas. All the summer free.
✅make a difference with young people. Helping support them

teacher cons
❌always work over your hours. Either at night or on the weekend marking and planning
❌ up against the odds from students and parents. Unable to discipline and constant red tape.
❌ridiculous amount of work put on you with no extra time to do it
❌expectations you will do extra all the time

honestly though? …. Except for working Christmas (tricky to find a role that doesn’t work this in some capacity) I would encourage my kids to be nurses. I wouldn’t encourage them to be teachers. Especially if you have children. The hours sound great for teachers but they’re not. You miss out on nativities, special mentions, parents evenings for your own kids. id advise find another role in nursing. Clinical educator? PNA lead? So many routes to go down. good luck op

As a teacher whose family are all nursing, I agree with this. My children are horrified if their friends mention being a teacher.
Thank you to those who agreed with my comment about teaching and no work life balance. I’m amazed that they’re are any people who still think it’s a 9-3 job with school holidays just off!!

TA if you can live on that salary will be less responsibility than teacher

I think you might be bonkers to vonsider this but if you do you should choose textiles. Teaching English is a very high workload. Textiles would be much much better.

But substantially fewer jobs!

Textikes had a high workload too!!! Loads of visual aids to make every year, As well as massive marking pile. Keeping on top of all the tiny bits of equipment is a massive job.