getting back into nursing as a career change

[ipanemagirl]

I have a friend who trained and worked as a Registered nurse in the 80s but has had another career since and let her registration (if that's what it's called) lapse.
As a single mother she wants to get back into nursing to help her find more local employment so she can be near her daughter to share care with her ex.
She's finding it very hard to get the required sponsorship to do the retraining and is losing heart at the moment. She's happy to do whatever work would get her back in.
I want to give her as much encouragement as I can. She's very able, bright, experienced and I'd love to tell her it's worth persisting and not to give up.
Has anyone else overcome these difficulties who could encourage her via me?

ipane....if she had decided to return into nursing a few years ago she would have gotten funding automatically. However, now you have to pay for that course yourself...it is about £500 , which is a pita...but I don't think you can get any funding for it now....

As far as I know doing the return to practice course is the only way to get back into nursing.

thanks xmas fairly, she's happy to do the course but just needs to find somewhere to sponsor her work 'experience' and pay for her police check. She had a good call today from one of the hospitals near her so I think she's feeling a little encouraged!

I am not sure if different trusts do it differently, but the way I understood it, when looking into this myself, was that the Uni will find you a "Placement" which will give you the practical skills. And the CRB should be running over the Uni, I would think....!
But like I said, I don't know if it is different from trust to trust...
I assume she has gotten n contact wiht the University that she would do her course over?

Hopefully someone who actually really knows more about this will come along and reply...meanwhile iI suppose I am at least bumping it up for you!

here a link to the Uni that I am at and the info on the return to professional practice for nurses they do

I am not doing return to nursing, btw...decided against it and decided to do somehting else...

Hi, I am going to do the course in may.
I qualified in 1986!!!! and last worked as a nurse in 1993 so have been out a hell of a long time and like your friend had a different career for all those yrs as well as time off for babies.

I have a job now as a healthcare assistant and would recommend your friend get one as well to get her foot in the door with an NHS trust.
I am in the process of trying to get the funding for the course and am quite hopeful as apparently there is funds set aside for this type of thing but it is very much done on an individula basis.
I have a friend currently doing the course and she says that everyone on the course has been sponsored to do it so does happen.

thnx for this advice xmasfairy and ggirls - that's just what she's trying to do now since speaking to a new contact yesterday. I think things are under way now and she's feeling more optimistic. Good luck ggirls!