help with career please (or not)

[bednobs]

help, i'm having a bit of a dilemma.
I used to be a nurse, but when my mobility got bad i gave it up and got a job as a project manager in the NHS. My nursing registration lapsed. I am now on maternity leave, and am due back in work next April. However, there is a big possibility i'll be made redundant before then.

I am trying to work out the best thing to do. Shall i stay at home and look after my daughter? shall i look for a job in the private sector? (i am nearly 40 and have never worked in the private sector) shall i try to stay in the NHS? Shall i do a return to nursing course? (mobility is now a lot better) Shall i do something completely different? This is a real crossroads in my life and i don't know which way to go. All of the above are possibilities.

[boxtops]

Hi bednobs - personally, I'd do Return to Nursing - locally here it'll cost you about £900. You'll need to find a placement but your local Uni offering the course should advise you. It'll always be a string to your bow and you don't have to stay in clinical practice to keep your PIN, as long as you keep your portfolio up to date. Life in the NHS is very lean and mean these days, but a nurse with a PIN can work anywhere and there is a lot of demand in the private and independent sector.

IMO a nurse with good management skills is a gem, so you might want to think about that too!

[sherrardk]

Do you need (financially) to return to work? If not, I would advise that you spend as much time as possible with your daughter (I had to return to work early on with my three youngest and feel like we all lost out and wish I could have stayed home with them). She won't be little for long. Sorry, not very helpful career wise but just my thoughts.

[bednobs]

thanks to both of you. Boxy, you can't keep your registration unless you are working as a nurse (i think it's 100 hrs a year or it could be 3 years) - that's why mine lapsed. Sher, yes we probably could manage but i would have to have a radical lifestyle change

[boxtops]

Hmm bednobs, not so sure about that (but I'm prepared to be wrong) - I have colleagues working in nursing management who are still registrants, I guess it depends on the nature of the non-hands-on job?

[bednobs]

yes if you can wangle it nursing management counts (even if you don't actually see patients directly) If your job requires you are registered then it counts. The job i'm doing at the moment does not need a nursing qualification

[Psybbo]

Will they not offer redeployment?

[bednobs]

there is nothing to be redeployed to -the organisation is ending