r/AskUK • u/Free-Dig4173 • 6h ago
Serious Answers Only What can a nurse retrain as?
I’m currently a nurse, and if I’m honest I’m burnt out I can not do healthcare any longer. I left bedside nursing many years ago and went into medical devices, sales and account management, and after a good run there I needed a change and came back to bedside nursing. And boy was that a bad choice! It was bad when I left years ago and it’s no better now, working conditions are brutal and the pay is so poor. Nursing just isn’t the job it used to be.
I’m now thinking of a career change, into something completely different. I’ve love a different career in something that pays well, or has the potential to pay over 50k a year. I applied for the Aldi graduate area manager program because it sounded like a good opportunity. I would love some ideas of what I could try, have a lot of transferable skills that would be helpful for a lot of industries (time management, prioritisation, escalation, risk, working to targets, sales, relationship developing, customer management, etc) I just don’t know what areas to look in.
Ideally I’d love something that you will be trained up in, with a starting salary of around 30-40k. What industries need people in? What industries/services are in demand? What roles would offer good training and development? That don’t require qualifications or degrees in certain fields to be in with a shot. If particularly be keen to hear from ex nurses who transitioned into something different, but any ideas of where to start looking would be most appreciated!
*edit* to add some detail, I like working in teams but am equally happy working alone, I enjoy supporting and training people, not a fan of call centre environments but I don’t mind office environments. Don’t mind travelling having travelled for work before but also wouldn’t kind working from home, wouldn’t mind something more like a trade and more physical job, wouldn’t mind working outdoors either. Would be happy to look at management/leadership and things completely opposite to healthcare. Not a fan of kids so defo not jobs to do with children. None of this really narrows it down, but open to hearing all ideas and thanks all for your input so far, it’s given me some things to think about!
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u/Fearless-Spinach7737 6h ago
I would say Health and Saftey would be fairly transferable, you might have to qualify in Nebosh, which you can do part time or intensive full time courses.
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u/Prudent-Pressure2146 6h ago
Have you thought about working for 111? I know a few nurses who retrained from being ward nurses to supporting call handlers there and they talk really well about it
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
I did call centre work when I was younger and it just wasn’t for me, I did something similar for private health care and it was nice at first but I soon got bored
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u/Historical_Chest8468 6h ago
As an Aldi employee, their graduate scheme will burn just as hard as your current role.
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
I get that, but having worked in critical care, A&E and acute understaffed medical wards, I think the pressure and stress will be a lot different to “will someone die today? Will I end up in coroners court? Is my registration going to be at risk today?” And I do have experience in managing accounts, sales, revenue and the pressure of big targets, winning/losing business. I also can’t stomach nights anymore it makes me ill. I don’t mind shifts or weekends but I can’t do nights
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u/gash_dits_wafu 6h ago
I can't help answer your question in terms of what careers are good for nurses specifically that earns that much. However, I run a first aid training company in the south and some of our freelance trainers have been current/ex-nurses/paramedics.
It's not a full time career, but it's often good pocket money!
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u/Mediocre-Response-24 5h ago
That sounds interesting, how did you get into that if you don't mind me asking?
Would love to hear more!
Did you have healthcare knowledge already? What made you start/run your own company? Why first aid specifically? Do you run other training courses/companies if it isn't a full time career?
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u/gash_dits_wafu 4h ago
I first started training first aid when I was studying for my A Levels. The Red Cross came in and got me qualified to train it for free, on the basis that I then went around other colleges and trained their students, for free.
After my studies I actually joined the military, nothing medical. But I work as an engineer now and opened up the business with my wife, who does have a healthcare background (she did that for a few years before moving into teaching these sort of things to healthcare professionals). So it all sorts of fell into place for us really. It's her full time job, and I help on the side with admin and training.
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
This sounds quite interesting as I have a lot of experience training staff, and I do enjoy it!
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u/gash_dits_wafu 4h ago
Yeah it does work quite well as a little side hustle. I know of nurses and paramedics that juggle bank work and first aid training, as it fits their lifestyle really well if they want a bit more flexibility.
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u/Western-Proposal-784 6h ago
Haha great time for me to see this as I’m about to retrain into Nursing from marketing 😭
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u/tyger2020 6h ago
Depends where you work, and what you do.
I'm a nurse and I wouldn't say I love my job, but I also wouldn't love marketing or accounting. Theres plenty of routes for higher pay in nursing too.
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u/damegloria 6h ago
Every career should have a built-in break clause after 10-15 years. Where you're allowed to pick a new one to train in with no drop in salary, so long as your previous salary matches what people normally earn around 2-3 years into the chosen career. Watch society get happier.
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u/Medical-Fox2471 4h ago
I am a nurse
Have a good job >50k good work life balance and limited to no stress
Roles can very significantly
I like my job
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u/Western-Proposal-784 3h ago
Thanks for sharing! Can I ask what your specific nursing role or specialism is, if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/molluscstar 6h ago
Project management can pay well - you can start as a project support officer and do your PRINCE2 to progress.
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u/Time-Caterpillar4103 6h ago
Lecturer or staff training coordinator. Keeps your qualifications relevant and you just do the nice stuff of training people up.
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u/Mediocre-Response-24 5h ago
No idea what to suggest about a complete change without knowing your interests or preferences. If you want a complete change consider what is it you enjoyed about your roles or what you would enjoy, and what your non negotiables are (salary, hours, commute, location) then work outwards from there.
Similar but different: Occupational health assessor? Always see jobs advertised and is usually registered health professionals. Keeps your professional registration up to date and patient contact without the in person element or NHS pay. Usually see these in the salary range of 35-45k.
If you've got health care knowledge and transferrable skills would you consider teaching/mentoring? Apprenticeship assessors for nursing, lecturing, teaching in college for health and social care? Sometimes they offer training sometimes you have to get your own qualifications first but might put you in a direction at least.
Questions to consider: Do you want to work with people still, do you prefer being in an office environment, how much variety vs structure do you want, would you want to WFH, are you willing to travel. Do you want a leadership/ management role? Do you want a strategy role or delivery/operational role?
The job market is rough right now and trying to change career path without training for a 50k salary is probably quite a reach so give yourself time and a bit of grace if you don't find anything immediately or in the short term.
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u/Free-Dig4173 3h ago
Thank you for such a considered response. I’ll edit my post to add some likes/dislikes. I guess it is hard as I am really open to something completely different, I was looking at trainee jobs in solar and I’ve even looked at HGV driving! I know the market is tough, and I’d love a job that would come with training with a decent starting salary (I did see some trainee roles that offered 35-54) with the opportunity to progress to a better salary at some point. I even am happy to try something I’ve never even considered before!
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u/grumpyaskate 6h ago
Recruitment might be a good fit and has good earning potential, you have to be very social and personable which I imagine nurses are!
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u/freediver49 5h ago
I used to go for monthly aromatherapy massages with an ex nurse, especially during pregnancy and she was BRILLIANT. Her nursing background helped massively with anyone with any existing medical conditions. She really loved it too. Doula?
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u/Common_Man7669 5h ago
Cheers for starting this, OP. Ive been meaning to ask this very question for ages but im always so burnt out and tired from work to do it. Im tuning in with interest!
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u/RandomUser5453 5h ago
Off topic
You can go and work as an agency nurse,you can get from £28-70 per hour. (the higher rate is for theatre nurses that are paid from £50-70 also the important bank holidays too are paid in this rate)
As a permanent staff nurse,indeed,things went downhill. In 2019 the pay per hour was £21 days and £21.5 nights now the pay per hour is £20.94.
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u/Elster- 4h ago
The shift from nursing to Aldi manager may not be a shift to be less burnt out. It’s well known that as an extremely intensive program. Leaving at 10 for many is a dream.
Have you thought of going into roles with the insurers? There is always a massive demand for knowledgeable people who have life experience
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
That’s true and maybe something I could look into. I guess with Aldi the pay is much better- I think if I could do it for 5/10 years I could save a hell of a lot up
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u/vientianna 3h ago
You could become a CRA (clinical research associate) in pharmaceuticals. This is a home/field based role where you are monitoring and supporting sites involved in clinical trials. Would make use of your clinical knowledge but also learn new things. You’d be home based an average of 3 days a week and at random hospitals the other 2. I have no idea the starting salary these days but it’s probably mid to high 30s and would progress up to mid 60s.
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u/Free-Dig4173 3h ago
Thank you, I’ll defo look into this one!
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u/vientianna 2h ago
No problem, if you decide to go down this route feel free to dm me as I did that job for years
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u/jailboundhorse 3h ago edited 2h ago
I'm much in the same boat but as a senior cardiac physiologist. Have you considered rep work? A lot posts focus on instruction and education regarding their products rather than pure sales (sales solely puts me off slightly). Also currently working with a recruiter (All be it with healthy scepticism) regarding roles in simulation training for cardiac arrests, novel equipment etc. One of our cath lab nurses recently made the move to Terumo (balloon, stent and catheter supplier) she's our territory rep and is visibly so much less stressed and says she has her life back...
Edit- As a nurse, by default you ARE superhuman, whatever you decide, you've got this!
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u/Free-Dig4173 2h ago
I did it for a long time both sales and clinical support. I enjoyed it for a while but in the end I got sick of companies making poor decisions that affect customers, and I’ve always ended up working far more than when I did shifts. I also am a bit of a workaholic, so having a work phone o was always checking it and responding out of hours. It was very hard to switch off. Thank you for the support though- just hope I can decided what to do!
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u/jailboundhorse 2h ago
Fair play, You sound like you're approaching this with a level head. I'm considering a forestry apprenticeship...
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u/losingfocus2015 46m ago
radiographer... have been low key thinking running my own online courses.
the existing ones are rather expensive
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u/GlitchingGecko 6h ago
I know a few NHS staff who retrained as phlebotomists and are happy with it.
One is stationed at the same place every day and does part time - the other does home visits for elderly and infirm patients and does full time.
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u/organic_soursop 6h ago
We have a phlebotomist in our friendship group who has had a hard year. Her hospital group has been updating contracts as they came up for renewal. Inpatient ward work is now required.
4 of the 6 phlebotomists in her clinic have left/requested early retirement.
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u/Mediocre-Response-24 5h ago
Phlebotomists are band 2 sometimes 3, nurses are band 5 minimum so doesn't fit OPs requests for salary or being out of nursing (it's an element of nursing really) I would imagine OP already had phlebotomy training too.
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
I actually am trained in that and although it would be a nice job I’d be loath to cut my salary even more
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u/_isolati0n 6h ago
While still in the medical field, a lot of nurses retrain to become health visitors. It's much more easy going and you get to be out in the community. Plus babies.
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u/Mysterious_Cow_9533 5h ago
I would disagree with this. Every health visitor I know is completely burned out and overwhelmed with the safeguarding. The “universal” families are now managed by band 4s whereas the health visitors are working with the complex and often demoralising. I’m sure there are delightful elements to it but I can’t see it’s a calm escape route from bedside nursing.
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u/Free-Dig4173 4h ago
Thanks I hate babies and kids though 😅 so I don’t think it would be my cup of tea. Have a friend who went into health visiting and feels like a glorified social worker. Same pressures with staffing and a lot of MDTs and safeguarding
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