Single mums working for NHS

[cupcakegirl22]

Hi all,

Was just wondering what single mums working for NHS do to fit around school times? I have 3 kids (on mat leave with 3rd) and I’m a single mum with absolutely no support. I was working 37.5 hours before mat leave, but won’t be able to do that if I go back to my previous position.

I was planning on going back, but only doing 2 early’s a week. However, the nursery on hospital site which I applied for say they won’t be able to take my baby for when I want to go back.

I feel screwed on all fronts to be honest and feel like my mat leave is getting shorter and shorter. My money is also dwindling down, how do single mums working for NHS do it on their own?

any help/tips would be absolutely amazing, thank you

Sorry I don’t have any advice but I do feel for you. Sounds to me like the NHS is very inflexible and doesn’t support mums even though women make up much of their workforce.

My friend works for the NHS and works part time. She offered to increase her hours once her DC was in school, but they said it was either a full day or nothing. More patients could have been seen during those extra few hours but no.

Try a different nursery to the one on site, maybe try a local one on the way to work. I’d perhaps look at a childminder so much better and more flexible. You could use the flexible working request policy to request set days for child minder.

I'd a few single parents in my team when I worked for the NHS. Most used flexi. Those with school age kids would do their appointments between 9am and 3pm, then do their admin from home after school pickup. Sometimes they'd bring older kids into work after school and they'd do their homework in one of the rooms if there was one free or a quiet corner of our office while the parent did their notes and reports. It was CAMHS though, so probably more kid friendly than some other NHS settings. Admittedly no shift work either. Primary school age seemed harder to navigate than daycare age when you're on a 9-5 though. Shift work is a tough gig for a single parent of little ones.

I'd second the idea of a childminder if you can't find a place somewhere that caters to atypical work patterns. And asking for fixed days. You could also ask the childminder when you find one that you are comfortable with if they have capacity to support if you volunteer to do overtime shifts.

Thank you all. I have thought about putting her in a closer nursery, but some start 7am, or 7:30 and I would have to be in work for 7:15. I live about 40 minutes from where I work, so wouldn’t be an option unless I found work in my town.

honestly such a nightmare. Many childcare facilities don’t start that early in the morning. I was thinking of doing a 9-5 job, but have no idea if they even exist if you have a nursing pin.

One of my former colleagues did extra I. Tesco when the nhs wouldn’t increase her hours.

My A&E nurse friend retrained as a HV when her eldest was born. She's actually doing her PhD and lecturing in nursing now.

Only hospital nurseries can account for NHS ward shifts from my experience as they need to be open from 7am

Could you look for a 9-5 nursing job? Outpatients, community, continuing healthcare, training etc. Jobs are thin on the ground but they do exist.
What area do you work in? Are you RGN?

I changed jobs. I moved from rapid response doing 12 hours nights and days to doing research nursing.

I had 3 childminders (2 were emergency only) and when she started school breakfast club/after school club and child minders. Seriously stressful still and I only had 1.

the thing that made it unnecessarily hard was that by changing my job I lost my work parking so was reliant on getting the bus back to my car 2 miles away,

do your children stay with their father at all?