I'm a 61 year old male RN with 25 years of experience in hospitals at Med Surg and some Home Health experience. I haven't worked in 3 years because my wife stroked and I've had her at home, arguing with insurance and disability entities. She's paralyzed. I need to go back to work. With 3 years out of work, I'm very worried about returning and I need a different position, off the floor. Any opinions about choices and possible difficulties would be welcome. I worked over a decade at my last position. I did experience the ageism thing, deeply. The unit was run by cliques and a Manager who fed into them. I would appreciate a frank reply.
Dear 61 years old,
I'm sorry about your wife's stroke.
You should be able to land something with 25 years of experience and an explainable 3 year gap.
Network-you have 25 years of connections. Let everyone know you are job hunting.
Prepare a short elevator speech to be ready when the opportunity presents.
Your choices depend somewhat on if your have your BSN or not. Case management, infection prevention, and several other "off the floor" jobs usually require a BSN. Are you interested in trying Home Health again? How about a dialysis clinic or telephonic nursing? Check out insurance companies and managed care entities to see what they offer- you have a lot of personal experience now due to your situation.
To combat ageism, never put yourself down, refer to yourself as "old" or imply in any way that you are not technologically up to speed. Stay fit and project energy. Get a LinkedIn profile and put it on your resume.
monkey205
65 Posts
what state do you live in?