Change
career at any age or background with Northumbria University
Many people mistakenly think the Clearing system, used by
universities to offer available places on unfilled courses starting each
September and October, is only for students that failed to get their hoped-for
grades. And while Clearing can provide a lifeline for those disappointed with
their A Levels, it’s also a popular route for potential students of varied
backgrounds – including mature students and those that have already had a
career.
Nursing is one degree area that has seen a rise in popularity in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly
among career changers looking to give back to society. And as a competitive
course of study, one route to consider whether you’re 18 or 48, is Clearing.
First-year student nurse Caroline Engelen-Gardner is a mother of two that chose to
study at Northumbria University after a 17-year banking career, as it offered a
degree in mental health nursing, with an excellent reputation as one of the
largest nurse education centres in the north of England.
Caroline explained: “I originally gained
a BA (Hons) Marketing and Management after finishing my A-Levels and after this
joined HSBC’s graduate management trainee programme in 2005.
“Over 17 years, I had a variety of
leadership roles, becoming Senior Branch Manager in Sunderland The Bridges,
Stockton, South Shields and Peterlee branches, followed by a six-month
secondment into Global Risk.”
Before redundancy helped facilitate a
career change, Caroline found her interest in mental health and care grow over
many years.
She went on: “I had a very successful
but stressful career in which I supported friends and colleagues with their mental
health and had responsibility for many teams while also juggling home life,
raising Finley, who is nine, and Ayla, who’s seven.
“This pace culminated in a period of
burnout in 2019. I ended up taking six months off to rest, regain my strength
and rediscover ways to prioritise myself and get well again. It was an awful and
emotional period in which I started to realise my life had mainly been centred
around achievement, with limited social interactions unless it was through work.”
Returning to work having gained some
benefit from rest combined with some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions,
little did Caroline know that in just a week, the UK would be put into lockdown
following the outbreak of Covid-19.
She said: “Having the time off beforehand
definitely enabled me to successfully navigate my return to work, and help me support
my teams through the pandemic. But later that year, I was among more than 200
people put at risk of redundancy after HSBC decided to scale back leadership
roles throughout the branch network.”
With a growing interest in, and
understanding of mental health, Caroline decided to try something different.
She said: “I was always good at helping
others, very proactive at fixing things for others and providing solutions, but
in my earlier career I didn’t truly appreciate the need for self-care or put
myself in the same bracket as I would others.
“My own lived experience combined with
the likelihood of redundancy gave me pause to reflect, and I wanted to return
to university to retrain. At 39 now, I aim to have at least another 25 years or
so to make a difference in healthcare and I’m lucky to have the opportunity at
Northumbria.”
Senior Lecturer in Northumbria’s Department
of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Louise Lingwood added: “Caroline is an
inspirational student whose lived experience is a valuable asset to her
learning and her understanding of the mental health landscape.
“Nursing attracts a wide range of people
from a huge array of backgrounds, all of which contributes towards making the
profession one of the most diverse in the UK. I’d encourage anyone thinking of
making a change to consider it as their next career.”
Like Caroline, the impact of Covid-19 has
sparked many people to reflect on their life and work, and there’s never been a
greater need for people in our NHS and the healthcare professions, many of whom
can benefit from the fact there’s no age limit to using the Clearing system to apply to study.
Northumbria University is
ranked eighth in the UK for its research power in the allied health
professions, including nursing, with its research environment given the highest
possible 100 per cent 4* rating in the Research Excellence Framework 2021.
Visit northumbria.ac.uk to
find out more about becoming a registered mental health nurse through
research-led learning at Northumbria University, where you’ll also benefit from
brand new training facilities.
