RE: Changing profession advise....

Tania L — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 08:05:44 GMT

I left and became an Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) 10 years + ago. It is a university qualification and is basically a theatre nurse in "human" medicine. The role has 3 parts, anaesthetic, scrub and recovery, I am not a nurse and do not work on wards.

Looking at your list of reasons to leave, I will address each one individually.

poor management - probably no difference, good and bad Managers everywhere. The NHS is huge and has very rigid protocols and policies

poor pay - Yes NHS pays more but vet nursing pay has improved a lot.

lack of career progression - NHS does have good career progression but it can be a slow process unless you are exceptional or your area of work has a high turnover rate. Probably good opportunity for progression atm as so many NHS staff are leaving the profession.

lack of being utilised - you are definitely well utilised within the NHS or maybe that just means doing the job of two/three people. The thing that I have struggled with the most is the lack of autonomy. As a vet nurse you are able to do so many things yourself, as with schedule 3 tasks. Now my role is more "assistant" based. In the anaesthetic and scrub roles you prepare everything and then assist the anaesthetist or surgeon. Within recovery you look after the patient and call the doctors if you have any concerns- so slightly more nurse based. Whilst my job is fascinating and I have learnt so much, I really miss the doing actual procedures, xrays, lab work etc.

bullying - that simply exists everywhere

not feeling valued - I do feel valued generally but I always felt extremely valued as a veterinary nurse too. I think this is down to individual places of work not the job itself.

It was exciting and tough changing careers. Initially it was fascinating but I found that qualified staff were "intimidated" by my knowledge. I have made many wonderful friends and learnt a different way of working and learning. I work on the anaesthetic side and my knowledge in many things has grown enormously. I care for very sick patients in theatres and ITU, which is very rewarding but also stressful.

I think it is about where you work not the job.

You have to follow your heart as only you know what makes you happy in a job. For me, although I like my job, vet nursing was my "first love". Whenever a doctor asks me which job I prefer, I always answer immediately "vet nurse" and I am now looking to go back to veterinary nursing.

I don't know you and for you a new career may be the best thing that you do.

Nursing and mental health nursing are very different to my job. Nursing would enable you to work in hospitals or the community and you can progress and specialise in many areas. I have a friend who is a mental health nurse and I believe she has a lot of autonomy, with her own caseload. She loves her job but we are all different.

I would suggest that you ask yourself if you what to keep your VN registration valid. If you do then it comes down to time management as studying at university for health care professions is very intense. If you need to work part-time do you work as a health care assistant to improve your experience in your new chosen field or keep you vet nursing up to date.

I wish you happiness and success in whatever you choose to do.

RE: Changing profession advise....

Selena Carnell — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 21:36:54 GMT

i would love to human theatre nursing , but the fact i ould have to go back to college puts me off totally. Im lucky i still enjoy veterinary nursing and am in a great small supportive team. I did look at changing profession but everything seemed to be non a lover wage than i was already on. Good luck!