Fired After Fifty: Redux

[VivaLasViejas]

Several years ago when I was laid off from my LTC job due to low census, I remember despairing of ever finding another job. I was in my early fifties then. At the time I had a bad knee that had ended my floor career despite surgery, and to add insult to injury I'd gained thirty pounds due to inactivity. I couldn't imagine who would want to hire me. But I had barely drawn the first few unemployment checks when I got two calls: one for another LTC, and one for an assisted living facility that I fell in love with at first sight.

Fortunately for all concerned---at least at the time---they fell in love with me right back, and before I knew it I was working at this beautiful residence and making the kind of money I'd only dreamed about. After about a year of working there, I decided that I'd finally found the "forever" job I had been looking for through my entire career, and made up my mind that it was the one I would retire from when I reached the appropriate age.

Alas, I forgot that all good things do come to an end, and after months of struggling daily to cope with an ever-increasing workload and maintain some semblance of physical and mental health, I lost the battle to hold onto my job. It seems that the severe anxiety attacks which necessitated my taking a leave of absence were used to redefine my position, effectively rendering me incapable of working without the accommodations my doctor recommended when I returned. It was a stacked deck, and I knew it, so when I was fired three days later it was no surprise whatsoever.

And so I'm pounding the pavement once again.....only now I'm pushing 55, weakened by repeated exacerbations of my illness due to stress, and in the midst of a bad economy to boot.

Never have my prospects of finding another job appeared so bleak. The vast majority of nursing positions available in my part of the country nowadays are travel nursing and/or hospital jobs for which I lack both the skills and the physical capabilities, despite having lost a great deal of weight in the past year. And the others are management jobs such as the one I was just fired from......yep, jumping from the frying pan into the fire makes LOTS of sense. Said no intelligent person, ever.

But the worst part of all this is having to reassess my goals in view of my limitations as well as my possibilities. I hate having limitations! I can't work nights or rotating shifts; that would be destabilizing. I can't handle anything that's too physical; I'm still fat and have bad knees, AND I'm old. I can't work 50-hour weeks being totally responsible for a department over which I have no real authority; obviously that's too stressful or I'd still be doing it.

What, I wonder, is to become of me? Or any nurse in my predicament? It's a tough world out there; these days no quarter is given to anyone with a disability or who is merely aging. But when both of those factors are involved.......well, the picture isn't pretty. In fact, it's downright terrifying.

There's nothing quite like the fear that haunts the unemployed nurse late at night, long past the time when the brain should have been switched to the "off" position. Dear God, the problems.....I just bought a newer car. How will I make the payments on the $500 a week I'll be getting from unemployment? I no longer have health insurance coverage, so Heaven knows how I'll be able to afford the medication that costs $165 per 30-day supply (which I MUST take to stay well enough to work, if I ever get the chance again). And as pathetic as those UI benefits are, I'm still too well off to qualify for any other form of government assistance, so I find myself feeding three older adults stuffed baked potatoes or tuna casserole on several nights each week.

And yet......there is something oddly hopeful, even exhilarating in facing the unknown. For one thing, I'm free of the crazy-making politics that beat me down so badly in the last few months of my old job. Granted, there are no politics-free jobs (at least not in nursing!) but there's got to be one out there whose description doesn't change every five minutes. I also like the idea that it could be time for me to try something I've never done before, like collecting blood donations for the Red Cross or working in a clinic.

At this stage of life, I don't even want a 'career' anymore.......I just want to make a decent living doing something I can enjoy at least a good part of the time, and most of all I want a JOB---not a 24/7/365 commitment. I want to work hard, know I've given it my all that day, and then leave it at the door when I go home.

I haven't been able to do that in a very long time.

Maybe this is the universe's way of telling me that my focus on career at the expense of living my life is no longer necessary or appropriate. Maybe it's time to literally stop and smell the roses that are growing wild in my front yard.

And maybe---just maybe---finding balance in work will help me find balance in life. ?

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

Reading these stories really tick me off. I understand the concept of potential higher insurance premiums because of claims, or perhaps loss time related to illness, or even work productivity concerns. I also understand that facilities must pay higher wages because of experience. However, experience is of value too. I am not going to get into the BSN versus ASN debate, but I am willing to bet that nurses with 20 years of experience demonstrate better patient outcomes than a nurse with 3-5 years of experience. I am 37 years old. My mother was 49 when she gave birth to me. So, my siblings are of the baby boomer generation. Let me say there is a huge difference in work ethic among the generations. How much money does the facility lose in regards to call offs? Where I work, a nurse who worked for the facility for 34 years was let go; the reason cited was errors in the electronic EMAR. This was in the works for months. They knew they were going to let her go. She worked over when they asked. She changed her schedule when asked. They lost a really good nurse; a highly valuable one. I spoke to her about two weeks ago. She is now working for one of our competitors.

Viva, I am sorry this happened to you. I don't understand management's logic at times. Look into home health or hospice. I have never worked in the specialty, but I would venture to say it is less stressful and not as hard on the body. Nursing education may be another area. Good luck to you...and I will be sending prayers your way.

[happy wild 1]

WOW! This is exactly what happened to me except I don't have bad knees. It's as if I wrote this. I feel better knowing I'm not alone. Thank you!

[DoGoodThenGo]

Sadly age discrimination isn't just limited to the nursing profession in this recent downturn, but everyone >50 or even >40 is feeling the effects.

For many once you reach 45 or so there is a target on your back and when a business is looking to do layoffs, guess who is first in line? Worse even though both the employer and employee *know* the real deal the former will threaten to withhold severance packages unless the latter signs papers agreeing *NOT* to sue them for any sort of discrimination including age.

It should come as no surprise that it has recently been reported there has been a huge increase in the numbers of suicides of middle aged persons, especially men.

Where is the leadership on this issue? This current administration and Democrats are getting so wrapped up in other social issues what about the vast numbers of "middle aged" and above Americans that are rapidly sinking into poverty for unemployment? These persons want to work and are willing to even take small wage cuts to make it happen. However time and time again they cannot get a foot past the door or more accurately get beyond computer submitted applications. Even if by some miracle some are able to outwit the parameters of computer screening and get a few telephone interviews, once they show up in person that once promising voice changes. It becomes obvious the recruiter or whomever was expecting a *younger* person and things slowly go south afterwards.

[pfchang]

I am 59 and have been looking for a job since January. I might check into insurance companies like Aetna, Wellpoint, Cigna, etc. All are expanding case mgmt, care coordination, disease management, telephonic services, etc., for members. I haven't worked in LTC but is there a particular EMR that your facility used? You may be able to train or support users. Contact the companies that had products your facility used. Wound care, etc. I will say that everything takes a long time to move ahead even when you are being considered for the position. I have a few in the works and just wish someone would get off the pot. Seems like one ends up in a black hole with no feedback But stay positive. Good luck to you.

[DoGoodThenGo]

Ageism and or anti-seniority in nursing is not new, and seems to come in cycles.

Those around long enough in the profession remember when the managed care craze hit during the 1970's and 1980's if not a bit beyond.

Suddenly scores of senior nurses from staff to management and administration were got shot of for no other reason than they were expensive. Why? Because they committed the cardinal sin of having stuck with the profession (often at the same facility) and were at the top of their pay grade. Mind you we are not speaking of today's wages at >75K in some areas, indeed you were lucky to be pulling $35K as a floor nurse with decades of experience here in NYC, but because of all those years you had a pretty decent wage/benefit package thus were "expensive" and had to go.

Positions were either outright cut or morphed into what we see today. Head nurses and their assistant positions were largely eliminated, supervisor numbers were often reduced and those that remained covered a larger territory, and so forth.

Voices were raised against this madness but in the great name of cost cutting and the supposed resulting benefits were largely ignored. And what many predicted would happened, did. With so many senior and or experienced nurses now gone the ranks of nurse educators plummeted for it was from those nurses a bulk of instructors/professors came. Indeed the whole nursing shortage of the 1990's can in large part be attributed to the same reasons including the lack of nurse educators.

The other shoe fell when all those senior nurses were replaced with new grads (often at lower pay rates), many of whom quite frankly were in over their heads. Without experienced nurses to orientate and train these new nurses error rates began shooting up. Boots on the ground nurses warned about this, but again they were rebuffed.

Every pundit today keeps saying the same thing "why don't these "older" nurses retire and make room for new grads who need jobs? Well if you knew that the steady gig you currently have may be your last if you jump ship, would you leave?

Everyone I know >40 is hunkering down to work as much and as hard as possible to get themselves financially correct for now and any potential future *problems*.

[DoGoodThenGo]

RN1253 said:

I am 59 and have been looking for a job since January. I might check into insurance companies like Aetna, Wellpoint, Cigna, etc. All are expanding case mgmt, care coordination, disease management, telephonic services, etc., for members. I haven't worked in LTC but is there a particular EMR that your facility used? You may be able to train or support users. Contact the companies that had products your facility used. Wound care, etc. I will say that everything takes a long time to move ahead even when you are being considered for the position. I have a few in the works and just wish someone would get off the pot. Seems like one ends up in a black hole with no feedback But stay positive. Good luck to you.

Am not as old as you but still far enough along to remember the "old" way of job hunting/interviews which makes today's methods of screening difficult.

Back in the day you answered an advertisement or by whatever method got into personnel/hiring office for at least an initial interview with a real HR person. There you could shine (or not, *LOL*) and state your case. From there the ball would get rolling to send you on interviews to whomever was hiring for that particular department/job in question. Often even if the initial spot one wanted was taken or was turned down for the HR person (if they liked you) would keep on plugging until they found you something.

Today of course real HR persons are few and far between. Initial layers of screening are done by computers and most recruitment has been farmed out. These people are told to find "X" which often translates into "we want this or that person but not *that* person". If you are *that* person who does not fit the set parameters you might as well be dealing with a wall of bricks.

[wahminame]

OMG, I thought Georgia was bad at $330 per week.

[BCgradnurse, MSN, RN, NP]

Too old to hire, too young to retire..... things get scary when you hit 50. Viva, you would be a great asset to any organization. Don't give up.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Viva, I know saying this might be a jinx, but I am confident you'll find a job. You're obviously intelligent and caring and that will come across in your resume/interview. There are employers out there that will be delighted to have your experience. Some employers really do recognize that experience is worth it.

There's a great job out there waiting for you. Someone has to keep all the newbies from killing everyone :)

[Liddle Noodnik]

VivaLasViejas said:

yard.

And maybe---just maybe---finding balance in work will help me find balance in life. ?

and to that, aaaamen Viva!

[TXRN2]

good luck, Viva!! being in the over 50 club- i certainly feel your angst- keep us posted- will be very interested in the rest of this story!!

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

BCgradnurse said:

Too old to hire, too young to retire..... things get scary when you hit 50. Viva, you would be a great asset to any organization. Don't give up.

No kidding! Scary times. Not quite 50 here but getting close, and pretty nervous about it. I am sure there are a lot of workers, not just in nursing, that are walking in Viva's shoes. Here's hoping you come through this quickly and find not only what you need, but what you want.