Self employed/ wfh ideas for ex MH nurse

[Blackraven17]

12 years NHS service , specialism was dementia and dementia assessment.
left earlier this year due to stress and changes at work affecting my mental health.
decided on a career break from nursing and have been working within an ISVA service.
I ideally would like to work from home or do something self employed to have control with child care and being around more for my children.
any ideas?

counsellor
respite care for carers of dementia patients
private coach for people navigating care system
virtual assistant specialising in supporting therapists or doctors

ps with the respite care i was thinking that it would be booked in advance, a high rate and that you might only be away for a couple of days at a time but earn a good fee for that work.

PIP assessor? Something in occupational health?

I am a little dubious of doing at home care as from my experience working with patients and their relatives home carers often get a bad rep ( rightly or wrongly) and are first to be accused of things .

This has crossed my mind but read lots of horror stories ( some on mumsnet) of the pressures and target driven aspect of the job

This has been a ambition of mine but unfortunately don’t have the finances to do so currently

That’s fair, I wonder what you think the gap is in support for patients and families that some could pay for privately, something that charities or nhs can’t. I was thinking of mental health support for people diagnosed and their families when i said counsellor, as it would build on your specialist knowledge vs a general counsellor.

I know from my experience as a dementia assessor that there is a massive shortage in my area for post diagnostic support. Just not sure about what people would pay for the service ..the nhs service I worked for run a post diagnostic session as a one off, and there is the Alzheimer’s society but they are stretched thin as it is.

Could you be a patient and carer coach, rather than a counsellor? There is no qualification required, you could get accredited based on your prior experience and some initial training that isn’t unaffordable and upskill with cpd as you go

its a interesting concept, I just wonder if people would be receptive to paying for that service

A declutterer? So many people hoard, and the reason is often MH related.
You could set up as a holistic hoarding service, only work school hours?

Perhaps you could try the idea on someone for free to figure out how it would work?

Or ask a few people if they think they would be interested in something like this. Be wary of asking ‘how much would you pay’, from experience people will say ‘nothing’ but if you offer the service at a price that’s the real test.

Another angle: maybe you could do something for corporate organisations around being a carer, how to support carers or offer something to their staff who are carers. So it’s not the individual funding it.

Charity helpline. A friend of mine does this (she had no previous training in this area, no caring/medical background whatsoever) and now gives advice/information to people with a particular condition. It's hard - she's on the phone all day or doing emails too. But very doable from home.

Have you considered an advisory role for neurological conditions or job with dementia Uk or the such like.

2 of my old colleagues are admiral nurses for dementia uk now but the jobs very rarely come up but I would be interested if it does

I would like this, my current role is telephone based so used to that aspect but office based