Back to work

[cab9960]

I've been out of work for 1 year (as of May 20, 2013) and having a bit of a time getting employment. Facilities want a nurse with at least 1 year recent experience. Now I've been in Healthcare for 30 years and absolutely CAN NOT crawl under beds, manage 'violent' patients, work nights, etc. My specialty is Ambulatory/Outpatient Pre/PACU since 2000.

As nurses mature, what type of positions can we realistically hold? Positions that we are actually interested in instead of 'whatever comes along"?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I don't know what to say to make you feel better about your situation. Most of us hit the same 'wall' at some point in our nursing careers.

The best scenario? Plan accordingly for a realistic career trajectory - developing marketable skills along the way to qualify you for non-bedside (less physically taxing) jobs. With the amount of experience you have, I am sure that you have mastered quite a few 'specialty' areas... maybe some that you haven't even thought about. For instance, there is a huge push for physicians to adopt electronic record systems in their practices... those vendors may have jobs for clinicians who understand the outpatient environment... and can help train clients.