When you had children, did you put your nursing career on hold? Did you tell yourself you would come back to it later on when the children were older and no longer needed you quite so much? If so, you’re not alone. Many women do the same thing, and they are extremely happy with their decision.
Nursing is a hard job to do if you are going to also need to take care of very young children, so in many cases, it makes sense to take a break. However, this can be problematic when it’s time to go back again – you may not be sure whether it’s the right thing to do, and you may be lacking in confidence to even try.
If you are thinking of going back to nursing, here are some reasons why it could make sense for you to do so.
Money
Money will play an important part of any decision revolving around work, and if you feel it is time to bring more money into the household, it could be a good sign that you are ready to go back to your nursing career.
Nursing has the stigma of paying poorly, but when you really look into it, you can see that the salaries are not that low after all. The more you can work up in your career, the more you will be paid, so it is a good idea to go back into nursing sooner rather than later if you can, as this will give you more time to progress.
Take the time to have a look at the income that you could be making if you went back to work in the position that you left, and compare that to the income you could be making if you took some extra qualifications such as an executive DNP. The gap could be extremely wide, so if you are going back to work in order to have an income, it could certainly pay to do some additional training first.
Your Benefits
It’s not just your salary, however, that you receive from your job. Depending on what you did and at what level you worked, you may find that you had a number of other benefits too, such as a 401(k) and health insurance. You may have received bonuses throughout the year which paid for a good vacation, and plenty more.
Going back to nursing will give you back these benefits, and the higher the level of nursing you attain, the more you will receive. This is another reason why it could pay – literally – to gain your new qualifications before you start to apply for jobs.
If you’re worried about needing the benefits but not wanting to walk full time, you could talk to your employer about flexible working hours which would allow you to retain some of the perks and still be there for your children when they need you.
Your Social Life
Going to work isn’t just about making money; it offers you the chance to have a social life too. If all of your friends are currently met through your work when you no longer go who will you have to talk to on a daily basis? For some, this is a difficulty that they never expected to deal with – it simply didn’t occur to them that they might get lonely. However, moms can be lonely, especially if they don’t have a partner to help care for their baby, so it’s important to have a support network of people you can call on when you need it.
It could be that you want to go back to your nursing career so that you can be around lots of new people, and find your old friends again. It is important to have friends and to be able to have a life outside of the home as this enables women to find their own personalities, which can sometimes be lost. It’s wonderful to be a mom and have children, but there is nothing quite like having some time to be someone other than ‘mom,’ and nursing is exactly the kind of career where this can happen.
Not only will you be able to make friends in the hospital ward with your colleagues, but you will meet many different people from lots of different backgrounds as patients and family members. When you get back home, you can enjoy time with your family once again, and really have the best of both worlds.
You’ve Planned For It
If you are leaving a career to care for your children, will you be able to go back for it when they are older and no longer need you quite so much? It’s important to plan ahead for this time, even if it seems like an age away. Time tends to go much more quickly than anyone imagines, and if you reach a point where you find you are looking for work and you have no plans, it can be a long, possibly fruitless search.
During your planning, you may feel that you want to go back to your nursing career because it is something that you simply loved and know that you’re good at. This makes a lot of sense, and although much will have changed in the time you have had away from work, you can catch up through reading books, attending classes, and speaking to ex-colleagues. There are even special programs you can take that will bring you back up to speed.
If going back to nursing is something you have spent time, effort, and money on, then it makes sense this is what you should do when you finally do feel ready to work again. Of course, if you want to change your mind you shouldn’t stick with something you don’t want to do, but having planned ahead it seems right that you should go for it.
You Can Be Local
Often is it less about the working hours that can cause problems and more about the commute. This can add another hour, or even two, three, perhaps four hours, onto the day, meaning that you leave the house before the kids wake up and get back after they go to bed. This can be the reason why some women choose not to go back to their original place of work – they didn’t mind a long commute when it was just them, or when they knew their partner would be there when they got home. However, when children arrive, and it is important and precious to spend time with them, the commute can be truly problematic.
If this is the case, don’t worry. With a nursing degree and experience behind you, and with proof that you have been keeping up to date with all the new technology and techniques that have come out in your absence, you can apply for a position much closer to home. Or why not look into private nursing, or try a nursing home rather than a hospital? If you can find a place of work that is near to your house, you can cut the commute and be at home more.
Your Expectations – No One Else’s
Having a baby and caring for him or her is hard work. There is a lot to do, and a lot to think about. You might find that what you expected it to be like and what the reality is are two different things, and no matter how much you love your child, you really want to go back to work.
In this case, as long as you can find good childcare and you have worked out the logistics, it would be a shame not to work. Nursing, in particular, can become a vocation rather than a job, and it is the kind of career that becomes part of you. If you miss it, then it is your choice, and no one else’s to go back.
Your Goals
It’s important for everyone to have goals and dreams in life. What are yours? It might be that all you’ve ever wanted is to have children and care for them, and now you can live that dream to the fullest. That’s a wonderful thing, and so very exciting.
This might not be your ultimate goal, however, but rather you know it’s a stepping stone to reaching where you want to be. If this is the case, it is something to bear in mind so that you don’t forget that you have goals and dreams and you don’t give up on them. Remember that it is possible to have everything you want in life, but you may not be able to have it all at the same time – therefore, plan and be ready but don’t rush.
Speak To Your Partner
It is important to include your partner in your ideas. It might be that he or she will need to change their working patterns to accommodate the new routine, or they might feel that they want to look for a better paying job to bring in some more money.
The truth is the choice should always be yours, but if there are other people that the outcome of that choice is going to affect, they will need to be included and consulted too.
