If you find yourself at a career crossroads due to a change in your health, you are not alone. The RCN Careers Service speaks to many members who successfully redesign their career around ill health, disability or neurodiversity.

This page talks about different options, what to consider when rethinking your career, and some ideas of alternative roles.

Your insight into life as a patient or being disabled can add a new dimension to your understanding as a care giver, including increased resilience, resourcefulness and empathy. It's important to allow time to think positively about the valuable skills and experience you can offer.

Practical Advice

Make sure you're aware of any legal rights you may have under UK Equality law or legislation. See the RCN's online advice on Disability Discrimination and the Equality Act. 

Prospective employers are generally not allowed to ask questions about your health or disability before offering you a job. This includes questions about previous sickness absence. (There are a small number of exceptions and the government provides detailed information on this area.)

If you need reasonable adjustments at interview, you will need to request these in advance. You may want to see Asking for adjustments at interview by disability charity Scope UK for examples of reasonable adjustments and how to frame conversations with employers around this.

The RCN Peer Support Service also has lots of resources,including a peer to peer Facebook group where you can discuss reasonable adjustments with other RCN members with disabilities or neurodiversities. 

For practical advice on reasonable adjustments, and how to the RCN can offer support with this, please see the RCN’s advice page on Sickness absence and being fit for work

If you need reasonable adjustments to help you at work, the RCN Peer Support Service has guidance on creating a Health Ability Passport. A Health Ability Passport is a document that details adjustments that  individuals with health or disability issues need at work, and includes advice on how to have open, honest discussions about disability related needs with your employer.

Always make sure you have taken advice from your local RCN representative or RCN officer. They will check your employer is acting fairly, and try and ensure the best possible outcome for you.

If you need an RCN rep or a referral to your local RCN office, please contact the Advice Team.

Changing direction

You might find yourself in a position where you need to rethink your career and look at moving to a different type of role, setting or industry.

It might help to ask yourself the following questions: 

• Which roles and environments might be suitable for you and your health? 
• What are your top priorities or values in a job?
• What workplace adjustments might you need to consider, if any?
• What roles, settings, and/or clinical areas interest you? 
• Is there demand for that job near you / where you're willing to work? 
• What skills / experience / qualifications do you already have to do that job?  
• What transferable skills or transferable experience do you have?  
• Are there any gaps you need to bridge?

Researching different healthcare roles

If you need to explore alternative roles, the RCN Career Crossroads page can be a good place to start, which talks about the four pillars of nursing.

In addition, the RCN Career Pathways Resource has lots of information about different nursing roles, including videos, case studies, resources, and more.

You may want to see our page on roles with a work-life balance which has some ideas on roles that generally tend to have greater flexibility, part-time hours, or core working patterns, as well as office based roles, remote working roles, admin type roles, and roles that are less physically demanding.

What is suitable for you?

What might be suitable for you as an individual will depend on personal factors such as

• the nature or severity of your condition or disability 
• your limitations
• your resources
• your career objectives
• your career values
• your personal preferences
• the current job market in your area
• any work related adjustments you might need

Because everyone is unique and has different needs, it's impossible to give blanket advice on which roles might be suitable for those redesigning their career due to health, disability or neurodiversity. For this reason, the RCN Careers Service will not be able to advise you which jobs might be suitable for you, or which employers might be more likely to hire you.

To get you started however, here are some ideas around roles that can sometimes be more suitable for those affected by ill health or disability.

Please also see our page on roles with a work-life balance which lists some ideas about the type of roles that are more likely to offer core hours, part time hours, remote working, or office working.

Activities coordinator	Administrative or clerical roles
Agency, bank or locum worker	Call handler / Emergency dispatch assistant
Chiropody	Clinic based nurse / HCA
Clinical informatics	Clinical Nurse Specialist
Commissioning	Complimentary therapies
Counselling or social work	Digital health / e-health / Digital Innovation
Disability assessor or CHC assessor	Education roles
Expert witness	Family planning / Sexual health
Governance	Health promotion
Health advisory services (face to face or telephone)	Journalism / Writing
Management / leadership	Medical / Pharmaceutical sales
Nutrition / Dietitian	Occupational health
Outpatients Nurse / HCA	Phlebotomy
Policy adviser	Practice nurse / Practice HCA/AP
Practice educator / Practice facilitator	Project management
Research roles	Quality assurance or risk management
Teacher / Lecturer	School nursing
Travel nursing	Training
Triage (face to face or via telephone)	Self-employed work

Please also see our page on prioritising a work-life balance which lists some ideas about the type of roles that are more likely to offer core hours, part time hours, remote working, or office working.

Stay professionally active

If you are having to change your career because of your health, you may be feeling 

The longer that you are away from work, the easier it is to feel isolated and out the loop, contributing to a decrease in confidence in your professional knowledge and capabilities. Take a proactive approach to staying as professionally active as possible.

For further inspiration and information, you can join RCN professional forums. Forums are groups of RCN members who work or have an interest in a particular area of professional nursing practice.

Each forum has its own private Facebook group where you can connect, share and chat with your fellow RCN members for valuable insight, advice, tips (or even just moral support) on working within different roles or settings or specialisms.

Be proactive and undertake courses or learning relevant to new areas you want to work in. This will impressive prospective employers, demonstrating a commitment to professional growth and dedication to improving your skills and knowledge.

Please note, the RCN cannot recommend or advise you on which courses/learning to take, whether they are suitable for your specific situation/goals, nor verify the quality of any non RCN courses.

RCN Learn 

RCN Learn offers you easy access to the learning and education you need to fulfil your continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and support the delivery of safe and effective care. 

Other resources

• Elearning for Healthcare (elfh) is a Health Education England programme in partnership with the NHS and professional bodies that delivers more than 400 e-learning programmes.
• RCN Careers: Searching for courses - Tips for finding courses, learning modules, or CPD activities, meeting learning goals, funding options, and examples of online learning.
• RCN events has details of workshops, webinars, lectures, ceremonies and conferences
• RCNi Learning offers bitesize learning, CPD modules, and Practical Skills.  

The Back to the Floor programme is for nurses/midwives with active registrations but who are out of recent clinical practice and wish to return to care with confidence and competence in order to regain experience and employment.

Attend conferences, events, and/or your next local RCN branch meeting. If you're not working, this can help you feel more involved, help combat loss of confidence or isolation, and help you stay up to date with the latest of initiatives, projects, discussions, or news.

It could also be the right time to research volunteering opportunities or do some activism work within the RCN. Both allow you to acquire new skills and access free training in most cases, which could potentially open up even more doors for you. It could be an ideal transition if you’re:

• feeling nervous about trying something new and/or getting back into work
• looking to boost your confidence
• interested in gaining new skills or
• trying to combat feelings of isolation.

At the very least, it will look great on your CV.

Important note: If you have been signed off sick from work, always check with your employer and GP before attending events, volunteering or doing any activism work.

Other RCN support available  

Peer support 

The RCN Peer Support Service has lots of information and resources for anybody affected by disability, health ill, or neurodiversity. You can also join support groups to chat, share, and connect with other RCN members who understand what you're going through. 

Emotional support   

Most healthcare professionals are far better at looking after other people than they are themselves, and freely admit that going from care giver to patient is difficult. It's important that you have sufficient emotional support to come to terms with any changes, just as you would want for your patients. The RCN counselling service offers RCN members up to 6 counselling sessions.

Financial support   

If you are concerned about the financial implications of being out of work, reducing your hours or moving to a lower paid job, have a look at our Financial Wellbeing resources for advice on budgeting, managing a low income, and claiming benefits or extra financial support.

Not all benefits are means tested, so even if you have savings or are comfortably meeting your outgoings, there might still be benefits that you can claim.

RCN Funding 

For information about scholarships, educational grants, and hardship grants, see Grants and Funding on the RCN Foundation website.