Working with kids

[QuirkyTealKoala]

Hey all!

I posted already regarding starting a health visiting course with two little ones 8&3 one with ADHD. I have just come back to work after a very lovely slow year of not working. I guess the main reason for returning and having that extra money to go on holidays, have my OWN savings, not having to ask for money and also buy a house possibly.

I have enrolled onto a Scphn course full time which entails working and going to uni. I get paid a full wage which upon completing I can drop to part time and also I will be a band 6- higher wage. the first month looks rough but it does seem to calm down (2/3 days of work and maybe 1 day on uni online). This week I have worked Monday, Tuesday and I have uni Wednesday/Thursday which is 2 hours away meaning I have to stay overnight in a hotel. It is generally 'Monday - Friday 9-5' however that being said ALOT of weeks I have 1 day 'study leave' or uni online. I get paid for general mon-fri even on study days. In the long run I feel like it is super beneficial I can work part time and from home but I genuinely just enjoy being at home and being a mum but I feel almost guilty for doing so and we do have to watch our money more. I'm really struggling on what to do. There is a total job freeze on NHS and I genuinely don't know what else I'd do. I am enjoying the course but my little ones are constantly in my mind- I love being there to drop them off/pick them up. This job is so flexible and they will let me leave early when needed, work from home upon qualified and extremely supportive- I'm very lucky to be apart of such a lovely understanding team. I have everything I could possibly want and I'm still not 100%! Do I just quit/defer now and say it's not for me and try again next year or shall I stick it out another month and see how I feel?

thanks for reading!xxx

How does a Health Visitor work from home? Surely a lot of the role is out seeing families in their own home and engaging with other services?

Keep going!! Short term pain for long term gain. It will be worth it in the end.

An amazing woman I know did her nursing degree with a chronically unwell child and disabled husband, plus another child. She is an absolute hero. I have no idea how she did it but she completed her degree and now absolutely loves her job and is a fantastic role model for her kids and can provide for her family.

Hi OP, I’m just wondered how you are getting on? I’m considering applying for this course in the next year and am trying to do a bit of research around it and speak to people that have done it recently/are currently on the course. I need to be able to not work weekends etc and have plenty of community experience as a midwife. I’m worried about a pay drop though - does everyone get bottom band 5 whilst training, or does it depend on your banding before starting?

Hey,

Hanging on for dear life tbh🤣
truthfully, the training is as hard as everyone says but you can 100% get through it. Although I work 9-5 I feel like never see the children particularly my youngest... however I know when I qualify it will be so much better. My house is a bomb site 24/7 but I think dropping to 3 days when qualified will help so so much.

for my trust you go in whatever band you are at currently, for example, if you're a band 6 now you'll go as top band 5. Or if your mid band 5 you'll be mid band 5 does that make sense?

I swapped too school nursing which is a lot more relaxed, health visiting you have set visits to do a day and seems much more intense.

Thank you so much for getting back to me, that’s all really helpful! It’s hard that you don’t feel you have much time with your children, definitely focus on the long term gain, that’s what I’ll have to do for sure! Hang on in there!

Super helpful about the banding too, I thought that’s how it usually worked, which I could manage, but I couldn’t do it if it was bottom band 5 (single parent with no financial support or shared care and currently top band 6 🫠).

I was thinking about school nursing, but I’ve been a community midwife for a long time so heath visiting would make more sense as it would align more with my experience. Something to think more about!

Do you have any tips for applications/the course in general?

You're more than welcome. No definitely! We can do a lot of working from home as a school nurse and generally is a lot more autonomous as HVs are required to do so many visits. We have an infant feeding team too in our department which helps support new mums with BF or just feeding in general I always think it sounds so interesting!

for our trust applications come out in April but just give your local HV team a call and they'll signpost you.

I talked a lot about healthy child programme, MECC, working together to safeguard children 2018, working with MDTs, managing caseloads, thinking autonomously and framework that surrounds health visiting including local policies, importance of early intervention, aware and knowledge of safeguarding, but also what can help is looking at the job description and tailoring your personal statement to that giving example's of when you've achieved that. Definitely come back and let me know if you do apply and how you get on!x

The roles definitely seem quite different. I need to think about it more.

Thank you for all the info, it’s really helpful and I feel really motivated to look at it more and very likely apply 😊 I’ll come back and let you know 😀