All nurses having difficult time right now, thanks for listening

Continue to maintain a positive, optimistic attitude. There's light at the end of the tunnel and I am assured that the economy will improve in the near future. When one of us improves our lot in life, we all improve. It is not acceptable to leave anyone behind.

I feel your pain, Nursemom. I've been hit with a double whammy this summer myself---my LTC cut its nursing hours and my former 32 hr. a week position went down to 8, and then I had to have surgery on my left knee and found out that my arthritis is so severe that I can no longer do a job that involves prolonged standing and walking. So now I have no job, am having to fight for unemployment, and can't go back to floor nursing, and on top of that, I'm over 50 and I'm NOT going to color my greying hair just to get through interviews.

What to do? First thing is to allow yourself to wallow in misery.....but ONLY for a day or two at most. Job hunting is like riding a horse, after you're thrown you need to get up and get right back on again. Sounds like you've gone past that, though, and are really down in the dumps; best thing I can tell you is to consider medication if you have a history of depression (even situational depression is serious enough to call for meds, IMHO). Then you need to sit down and write a list of all of your attributes, especially ones that might impress potential employers, and put them on your resume.

Have your resume critiqued by someone who knows what employers are looking for, then follow the recommendations. Some Internet sites will assist you for free, while others charge fees. Buy yourself an interview outfit that makes you feel absolutely smashing; do your homework on the organization you're interviewing with before you go so that you can ask intelligent questions. Brush up on skills you may not have used in awhile. Most of all, remind yourself that you are a competent professional and hold your head high, even if you don't feel like it on the inside..........IOW, fake it till you make it!

You can do this. I can do this. I've already got three interviews lined up for next week, and not one of those positions pays less than 60K/year (which is a whole tax bracket away from what I was making at the LTC). I don't know if I'll get any one of them, but I'm going in there with a smile on my face and the attitude that I'm going to win them over and make 'em hire me on the spot. It's kinda of like reaching for the moon.......even if you miss, at least you may catch a star. :)