38 too old to become Electrician? Career change (NHS Nurse)

[nitram100]

Hey guys,

As per title, wondering if it's too old to become and electrician?

I'm fairly well connected with sparkies, my best friend is one and also my nephew.

I've been a Nurse in the NHS for 10 years now and I'm burnt out, no passion for it anymore. It's been on my mind for a good 6 months and think I'm finally ready to make a change.

Always loved technical things, building pc's, fixing phones/laptops etc

Cheers for any advice!

 

[nitram100]

No, and now is the best time to do it. I've hired three in the last week and still need one more. The industry is absolutely screaming for them since Brexit and Covid and salaries are beginning to reflect this. I know a lead shift electrician in a datacentre who's on £50k. He's a bit of an outlier but it'll give you an idea of what's possible.


Do it, it'll change your life - literally. Hit me up if you need any advice

Wow, didn't know they were that much in demand. Thanks very much for the offer buddy, going to have a good read today and hit ya up if I need any advice, much appreciated!

It's a good time to retrain for me as I am single, have no kids and no debt so focusing on it wouldn't be an issue.

The anxiety and dread I feel before each nursing shift, butterflies in my stomach and sometimes nausea is starting to wear me down, so it's definitely time to make a change.

Thanks guys

 

[nitram100]

No, do it. Shame we have to lose Nurses but your head knows time to move on!

Thanks buddy

 

[nitram100]

Hi guys just an update, thanks for all the messages. I did spend a lot of time speaking with best friend and nephew about electricain and what it entailed, it was definitely something I could have done and if I could go back 10 years I would have absolutely done it and no doubt been happier in my life now but realised after a lot of thinking and speaking with other nursing friends that it's not Nursing that I am burnt out from it's the NHS.

So I handed my notice in and I'll be heading over to Australia in 6 weeks to try Nursing over there, just the benefits alone like company car, in house physio that I can self refer to and far less stressful patient visits. I've got a place to stay at my cousins in Brisbane and my nurse registration and permanent residence visa has been sorted for a while now.

In my current job in the NHS that I am about to leave I do everything in patients homes from catheters, IV's, syringe drivers, blood tests, the most ****** up wounds you've ever seen with about 20-22 patients per day in a short shift and now they're talking about blood transfusions at home, **** that. I see patients in London and I don't even have a parking permit, they are so cheap they gave me a photocopied one so I have the added stress when I'm seeing patients if I will get a ticket.

My colleague was so busy the other day she had to put up an IV to run for 30 mins, she then had to leave the patient alone in her house, go fix some guys catheter that was blocked and in pain then return to the IV etc . A few weeks back I made my first drug error in 10 years because they would not stop calling me to see more patients while I was drawing up the controlled drug. I will lose my PIN number if I stay with the NHS, honestly they just don't care.

Sorry for the moan and thanks for all the info guys!

 

[nitram100]

As per title

I’m curious to know how @nitram100 is getting on?

Hey mate, sorry never updated this thread. I moved over to Aus back in May to Brisbane and have been working there ever since. Luckily I had a friend over there from Birmingham who set me up with a job and I can't even describe how much easier the job is. Because a lot of the visits are paid for by the patient either privately or time slotted with NDIS patients (like a disability scheme) I get my full hour to see my patient and do my job correctly. In London I was seeing 4 patients in different locations in 1 hour, absolutely ridiculous and unsafe. I've got my permanent residence here and just got my NZ Nurse registration and ability to work there so may head over there for a few months. (aus perm residents can live and work in nz)

I'm back over for xmas at mums in London atm, heading back over in a few weeks when hopefully the weather calms down in Queensland! If you're young enough to do it and have the skills, I would definitely recommend Australia! No country is perfect and aus is having a bit of a housing crisis at the moment mainly in the cities, but even still the prices are lower than UK. I'm in Ipswich just west of Brisbane so house prices are still quite good and it's close to lots of national parks. I'm staying with my cousin at the moment to get savings up then get a place of my own.

All the best Mart