You can be someone's rock - why nurses, healthcare assistants, NHS and caring professionals make fantastic foster carers
Explore how you can be someone's rock alongside or after your NHS role
As an NHS or healthcare worker, you make a positive impact every day, stepping in and stepping up when people need care and understanding. It's no surprise that many people from a healthcare background just like you choose to become someone's rock through fostering. When you foster with your local council, you can be there for a baby, child or young person when they need you most. There are so many ways you can make a difference with fostering options that work with your lifestyle. You also won't do it alone, with a team of support and welcoming fostering community, right where you live.
What foster carers from NHS and caring professional backgrounds say about fostering
When you're considering a change it can really help to hear from the people who can share their perspectives and experience.
If you're thinking about fostering alongside your current role, foster carer Sharon talks you through her NHS background from nursing and working with babies and intensive care through to becoming a health visitor and working part time so she could do two things she loved.
"Because I was a health visitor, learning about childhood abuse, learning about neglect,, being empathetic and having that understanding and love and care and being really caring really helped. But having an insight into health also helps you care for children as well and looking ath the growth and development, having that skillset has really helped." Sharon, foster carer & retired health visitor (fostered alongside working part time as a health visitor)
Denise was our 100th person to become a foster carer through the Foster with North East hub. Before becoming a foster carer, she a Psychiatric Forensic Nurse before retiring on medical grounds. She then considered carefully what should be her next step.
"Fostering had always been in the back of my mind, and I began thinking about what I wanted to do next—I felt I still had a lot to give. I originally fostered through an Independent Fostering Agency, but I wanted to work with a local authority. I wanted to be part of a bigger community of foster carers. I also felt that working directly with the local authority would create a clearer, more responsive link between myself and the team supporting the children in my care." Denise, 100th Foster with North East approved foster carer. (became a foster carer after retirement)
Foster alongside your NHS role or as your next step
Hundreds of council foster carers in the North East already foster alongside their existing roles. Many have medical or caring experience from roles as doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, psychiatric nursing, as health visitors or other health and social care roles.
You don't need to give up the job you love to become a foster carer, though some healthcare professionals looking for a new direction or heading for retirement do choose to make it their next step. If you'd like to explore flexible fostering, you could foster just for weekends or short time periods like a night or a few weeks through short break or emergency fostering.
Some foster carers also choose short term or long term fostering while continuing to work in their existing role alongside fostering with the help of a support network or by working part time in their existing role alongside fostering. The Foster with North East hub team can help you explore what your options are and what could work for you and the children you'll look after.
You be their care and support, and we'll be yours
When you foster with your local council, you'll join a large and welcoming fostering community, with:
A dedicated local team who get to know you, your needs and your circumstances.
Specialist ongoing training to prepare you and support your development.
A competitive financial package recognising your time, skill and commitment.
A fostering buddy scheme so you can speak with an experienced foster carer from day one.
Mockingbird support groups the opportunity to join a family‑style network of carers who do activities and take trips together and support each other.
A welcoming fostering community across all 12 North East councils.
You don't need to be full time to make a difference
You can foster for weekends, school holidays, a few weeks, several months or long‑term.
Do I need qualifications or training to become a foster carer?
You don't need specific qualifications to become a foster carer. However, as an NHS or caring professional, you already possess the essential we're looking for in good foster carers - empathy and patience. Practical skills you've developed in your role such as listening, nurturing and responding to changing situations are invaluable when it comes to meeting the needs of the children you'll look after.
You will also receive free pre-approval and ongoing specialist training to prepare you for the challenges of fostering and to help you develop in the role. There are opportunities to build new skills and explore important topics such as therapeutic care.
You can be someone's rock alongside your current role or as your next step
Your fostering hub team is here to answer any questions you might have about foster care. We can guide you through the different types of fostering, match you up with a buddy, answer questions about fostering finances and when you're ready to apply, we will be on hand to guide you through the process and check in with you regularly so you know what to expect and when. You be their care and support and we'll be yours. Call 0800 771 771 or enquire online now, and we'll get back to you. Get your questions answered - speak to our team about what fostering could look like for you.
