Fired After 50, Part I: What It's Like To Be A Statistic
First in a series about a nurse (me) who finds herself suddenly unemployed at age 51 and learns she is part of an alarming trend of American workers who are losing their jobs at midlife and beyond. This is a story about the new "midlife crisis", the lessons learned during the transition process, and ultimately, starting all over again at a time of life when I'd once hoped I'd get to throttle back and cruise into retirement.
Hello. My name is Marla and I'm an unemployed nurse.
There, I said it. Now's the time when everyone's supposed to shout "HI, MARLA!" and applaud. Oh, wait---that was AA, circa 1992. Oops. *blushes*
I've talked about this revolting development here on my blog before, but I had never actually felt embarrassed about it until two days ago, when I received my first unemployment benefits check. What a humbling experience that was! Even though I haven't worked since mid-June and needed the money desperately, it hurt my pride to walk into the bank and deposit a government check into my account. I swore that once I left welfare (now sixteen years ago) that I would never again darken the door of any government office until it was time to apply for Social Security. And until I lost my nursing-home job thanks to a deadly combination of a lousy economy, chronic low census, and degenerative joint problems, I had never needed to.
I've been in between jobs before, but there was always another job just around the corner......I wasn't "out of work", and I certainly didn't need to rely on public largesse to keep a roof over my family's heads during the brief interludes between the end of one job and the beginning of another. But the plain truth is---even if it's not really my fault---I AM unemployed, and the prospects for finding even a temporary position till I land my next 'real' job are few and far between.
Ironically, a temporary position was all I was looking for when I found this last job as a 3-11 charge nurse on a long-term care unit. I'd just come from a bruising experience working with an administrator whose passive-aggressive approach to work nearly separated me from my sanity; all I wanted was a job where I could hide out for awhile and nurse my wounds while still being able to eat and pay bills in the same month. In the process, I found redemption for previous career mistakes, right there in that old LTC........and even after almost two years, the old yearnings for money and power hadn't returned.
Well, fate is indeed a fickle creature, and thanks to the aforementioned trifecta of misfortune, I now find myself part of a growing---and alarming---trend in which many older Americans are being "Fired After Fifty", as AARP recently called it in a piece they did on the subject. No, we're not necessarily being hauled into the boss's office and told "don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya"; but whether it's described as getting fired, losing one's job, or being laid off/let go/shown the door/downsized/outsourced/cut back/restructured/fill in the politically correct blank, the result is the same: we are out of a job. And Lord help us in finding another one.........few companies want to hire in uncertain times, and fewer still are willing to take on, ahem, experienced workers who tend to cost more in terms of salary and benefits than their younger counterparts.
I have become something I never thought I'd be in a million years: just another statistic.
That said, I am oddly optimistic about my future, even though I'm what you might call damaged goods. I may have a case of advancing age, but I still have the education and knowledge that no one can ever take away from me. My body may be in a state of dilapidation that precludes any job requiring physical stamina, but I'm comfortable in my own skin, I can still do what I need to do to get through the day, and frankly, I think I've lifted as many 300-pounders and run as many halls as I should ever have to. (Nor is my overweight state solely to blame for it; I hear complaints all the time from fellow midlifers who are thin and fit, and yet have knee and hip problems and backaches that are as bad, if not worse than my own.) I'm also fairly intelligent, I learn things quickly, I get along with just about everyone, and I'm willing to try new things......what else could an employer possibly want, right?
We shall see, in any event. I've gotten some nibbles from the twenty or so applications and resumes I've sent out, and the interviews have now begun. Today's was interesting, especially in light of the fact that I am directionally dyslexic........and the job involves extensive in-state travel........and I got lost trying to find headquarters. Stay tuned!
In reply to BabyLady, who has less than one year of experience, we older nurses know quite well what happens when you quit a job. Oh, you thought we were stupid and didn't know that? I had my first nursing job probably long before you were born. I was holding on to this job for dear life. I was asked to resign. They didn't have grounds to fire me, but they wanted me out. So they offered me a different type of work, reporting to the same boss who was asking me to resign! In other words, they made it nearly impossible to stay. When you have a few more years under your belt, then you too may find that your experience is not at all respected by a younger boss, or one who is new to the profession.
I am not in this position because I wanted to be. It amazes me that you have the audacity to think so. The nicest thing you could do is to try and have some respect for the older nurses with whom you work. Yes, they do know more than you do. And it's hell to get old. Have some compassion, for goodness sake.
To you, who apparently doesn't realize that I have over 20 years of upper-level corporate experience, it doesn't change NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF INDUSTRY THAT YOU WORK IN.
Thanks for being, part of the reason, why I generally hate nursing. Most of the senior nurses at my hospital, I have stone-cold busted false charting, changing dates on things that need to be done so they don't have to do it on their shift, but can put it off on another one and trying to tell "junior" staff about "rules" that don't exist.
So, the next time that you assume that I am some wet-behind-the-years 20-year-old college grad with no life experience, think again sister.
I am a 49 year old nurse who has similar story. I have been an LPN for close to 30 years and have spent the last 10 years in the MDS field as an MDS coordinator. I have been proud for having excellent documentation skills and have always had a good reputation from anywhere I worked before.
I was recently terminated from a long term care facility for having a cell phone in my purse. The company has a strict cell phone policy whereby you are not to have a cell phone on your person. I signed the policy in agreement, having no objection to it. I never carried the phone directly on my person. As I worked in an MDS office and had a desk with drawers and cabinets in it, I did not realize it would be an act of misconduct to keep my phone (muted at all times) within my purse which was kept in a closed cabinet. I had an office phone by my desk which I used for making or receiving any telephone calls and never used the cell phone. Some of the other office workers also had cell phones which they kept in their purses and everybody sort of just kept it "hushed". The floor nurses, nursing assistants and other dept staff could use lockers in the back of the building to keep their possessions in and that was allowed by management.
I feel like my coworker may have been harboring ill feelings for me. She worked for the company for over 20 years and I was like the new kid on the block. She used to pass remarks about the other employees there. Often, she would sit in the office making private calls on her office telephone. She would also spend long periods of time sitting out on the nurses stations and making conversation with the floor nurses. She would punch off the clock at the appropriate time to avoid overtime, but would then return to the office and work off of the clock as to get her work done. I, on the other hand, had responsibilities to get to at home. I came in early every day, put in my time and then went home after I clocked out. I feel like my coworker resented me for this. I say this because her mood would suddenly change as it came toward the end of the day and she saw me gathering my things to prepare to leave for the day. She would become all quiet and there were times when she never even answered me as I wished her a good evening and left. I did not want to have conflict with her, so I never confronted her and I never said anything to any of the other staff there as I did not wish to talk derogatory about anyone. All I wanted to do was get my work done and as said earlier, I take pride in what I do.
One morning a few weeks before I was terminated, I came in to find that my desk had been rummaged thru. I always kept my employee handbook on a particular shelf. Also, I used to keep papers, such as the calendars for who takes time on call, etc, This was stuff I felt was important as to show that I had taken my turns on call and when,etc...Anyway, all this stuff I had was gone. Later, when my coworker came in, she admitted that she had gone thru my desk and said that she was only trying to help me straighten it out, that it was beginning to look messy, whatever...I resented this, but held my tongue.
On an afternoon a few weeks later, all employees were requested to bring their purses, lunch bags and any other personal items that they had to report to the administrators office to be searched. The director of nurses told us that one of the visiting student nurses had reported that a bottle of prescription drug was missing from her purse and that was the reason everyone was being searched. I have never worked anywhere before where I was asked to be searched, but agreed to this without objection. My coworker and I both brought our things to the administrators office and were searched by the director of nurses there. My cell phone was in my purse, but the director of nurses didnt make a comment about seeing it. On the following week, I was called into the conference room to meet with the director of nurses, the administrator and the human resource director and I was given a termination notice. I was terminated for violation of the cell phone policy and the way the director of nurses wrote it up was to say that I was 'observed by two staff members as having a cell phone in my purse' and that I always kept my cell phone in my purse in an office which is considered a clinical area. Furthermore, violation of the cell phone policy was considered grounds for immediate termination and they were not going to even allow me verbal or written warning to try to correct this "misconduct". I was in such a state of shock and humiliation, I did not speak up and say anything for myself. I was not given a copy of the write up notice (which I later found that they were supposed to.) I was walked back to my office to collect my things while the director of nurses stood over me and watched. Of course, my employee handbook and other personal info papers was gone and I so were any names/ contacts numbers of corporate persons that I could try to turn to for assistance. Just like "Fired after 50", I went to try to collect unemployment, but my claim was denied due to "misconduct". I have had to wait almost 2 months to appeal. Meanwhile, I have no income coming in other than a small amount of child support from my ex and I have had to apply for food stamps and medicaid for my children. I have a son with special needs and can not work shift work as I would not be able to find someone to watch him other than day hours. I have applied for multiple jobs on a weekly basis and have been to 7 jobs interviews. Seven job interviews without any call backs!
Unemployment finally provided me with a copy of the termination notice and also a copy of the original cell phone policy which I signed when I was hired on. Nothing meshes. The exact policy says no cell phone on your person. The write up notice accuses me not of having phone on my person, but accuses me of having the phone kept in my office which is named as a "clinical" area. Since when is an MDS office considered "clinical". My perception of "clinical" is that it is the same this as a "resident care" area. And would it not be against HIPAA regulations to have patients in our office? To sum it all up, I think I was set up, probably by my lovely coworker. I have found an attorney who is interested in my case and is willing to hear me out to see if this could be a wrongful termination suit. I do not know whether I have any chance of winning, but atleast I'll get my chance to be heard. The upper management of that skilled nursing facility that terminated me do not know how much damage they have done to the life a hardworking nurse and to my family. I invite your comments. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Good Luck to you "fired after 50". I know how you feel
I am over age 50 and work with several nurses that are in their 20's. I have been a nurse for 20 years. There are several of us that are in the same age category, 45-55 age group. There are also several in the 22-30 age category. The supervisors assigns the older nurses the hardest jobs and the younger nurses the easiest jobs. The young nurses are the charge nurses. They are suppose to be in charge of us older nurses but they don't know enough to be in charge. They are suppose to be my boss but I have to tell them how to do their job.
They think if you are over the age of 40 you are stupid and can't do the job. I just completed the baccalaureate degree and maintained a 4.0 GPA while working full time. I am also a long distance runner and just completed my 5th marathon, and am training for a triathlon coming up in October. The younger nurses that I work with can't do that.
I am not doing this to show them up at all. I am doing this only because I want to. I do resent them telling me, and thinking that I am stupid just because of my age. There is not one other nurse that I work with or that I know of that has a 4.0 GPA or that can run a 9 minute mile for 25 miles without stopping. They need to do some serious reevaluting of their attitude and behaviors.
Post # 37 describes a situation in which someone breeched ethics and admitted that, in private. The coworker who illegally searched the other person's belongings, needed to be reported for that. I was happy to see that she didn't slip the missing prescription bottle into your purse. That wouldn't have been past her, I think. When something so blatantly wrong happens, it needs to be reported formally. Otherwise the wrongdoer is enabled, and will do it again.
The way things turned out, I suspect that the snoopy, thieving co-worker was also after the MDS job and may have applied for it and been passed over, when it was given to you. Having worked there so long, she could have influence on someone in administration, but you had the experience that was needed. You may look into what happened about your former position at the place. I wouldn't be surprised if that co-worker has or applied again for that job. I assume that the missing prescribed medication wasn't found, since that wasn't in the post - so whover took whatever that was, must have taken it home or put it in their car. It would be interesting to know what it was, but not necessary for your case. Keep your contact with others who still work at that place, secret. If you can't trust anyone to do that, don't contact them. Remember some people will do anything to keep their job......
It wasn't said how long the poster had her job there, which may be shorter than necessary for your lawsuit to be worthwhile. The attorney needs to be asked what research he/she has done regarding other cases (precidents) wherein the wronged person had the same length of time on his/her job, as you did. Some lawyers will take cases for the money, while having no precidents that aid the chances of a decision in the client's favor. It's important that money isn't wasted on an attorney when the chance of winning your case isn't good. I think it would be unwise to loan money to pay the attorney. If the poster had extra money, it would have prevented qualifying for food stamps.
The fact that interviews weren't given theposter, could mean many things, including not showing the ability to "toot your own horn" in the letter accompanying the applications. That could imply lack of self confidence. When I found myself in the same situation the poster was in, I went to the Department of Employment's terrific adjunctive program called "Profiles Club", in my community. There are classes with that program that address all aspects of attaining employment, as well as resources that can be checked for openings that require your expertise. They could also find laws that apply to the strength of the former employer's right to terminate the poster's employment there.
Also on an ABC radio talk show Sunday nights, there is a wonderful host who presents callers with vocational opportunities for them, according to the background presented. He is great! Call the program if you get it in your area. He also knows what needs to be done for people in callers' situations, although the poster's one may be seen as "beating a dead horse". Go for it, girl!
"They need to do some serious reevaluating of their attitude and behaviors. " from post#38
There has always been discomfort for young nurses when dealing with older colleagues, that has more to do with their distrust of seniors, than the poster personally. However, boasting about strengths that are better than the younger nurses will only increase the antipathy. Seniors acceptable completion of the work assigned them, especially when it's "harder" (?more complex"?) than that assigned the younger nurses, will prove competency. Charge nurses (no matter what their age) know that the responsibility for care given all the patients, rests with them and they hate to have to pick up after any nurse who leaves things undone.
It also grates on anyone's sense of who they are, to be confronted in a superior way.....
Yes...anytime you believe you were fired for age discrimination you should file a complaint to EEOC. They take this stuff very seriously and will do an investigation.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I'm figuring on doing that for my dh, whose fulltime position was given to a new hire and he was demoted to part-time status while he was out for knee surgery in May. He's fast approaching 60 and I think his employer was just itching to get him to quit. He didn't, and of course now his knee is WORSE and he's going to have to leave anyway.
By contrast, MY position was given to a nurse who's got almost two decades on me, so I can't c/o age discrimination.
I'm so sorry to hear that your husband's knee is worse, following surgery. The demotion isn't accompoanied by a reason, either, huh? I hope he still gets to keep the insurance coverage until the national program is up and running. I wish you and your family well, employed, and happy (?in that order?)
I agree with "lamazeteacher" who said that no one likes to be confronted in a superior way. However, most people who do this do not even realize that's how they come across. I also think that there are unethical people in both younger and older groups of nurses, and that even if you've been a nurse most of your life, doesn't mean that you've never worked in the business world, and have no sense of how to manage your career. Again, compassion is the key, with our patients and with each other. It really hurts to be told "we don't want you here anymore." It is a type of pain I wish no one had to experience. But nobody said life is fair. I still have some resilience and will get through it.
Specializes in med surg, pediatrics, geriatrics, family.
I'm also a 17 yer LPN with 16 years phlebotomy experience at age 50. Reinventing myself in urgent care clinics and school districts (pay is awful for schools). Always hoping, praying and looking for anything to help me pay the mortgage. Another area of reinvention is paramedical life insurance. Independent contractor is good for money but won't pay the mortgage.
I can relate to the mortgage scenario, all too well. I did get a modification though, by calling the bank's CEO office repeatedly, threatening to write my story to the newspapers..... When it came through though, the payments were higher than before (I had the "pick-a-payment" thing - a desperation move), the principle amount was $45,000 lower, and the time of the contract was 40 years (I'm 71 yo). They told me that "the rate of interest is "fixed", but it will change every year". I plan to get in battle mode when that happens..... How I wish I could sell the property, but in these times.......
I'm campaigning for the local senatorial candidate, to have an ally in government. Hopefully he'll get in, for the 15th district in CA. Judged a strawberry pie eating contest with him, yesterday (there's a first for everything!). That was after being onstage while the band (mostly brass and drums) did their thing and the mostly Hispanic audience danced and sang with them, as they sweated and I gave them paper towels I had with me (to clean the faces of the pie eaters, I found out later). Their suits were in hot pink, and they flirted with abandon as the crowd became more abandoned. I wished I was working on a nice, quiet night shift.......
BabyLady, BSN, RN
2,300 Posts
To you, who apparently doesn't realize that I have over 20 years of upper-level corporate experience, it doesn't change NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF INDUSTRY THAT YOU WORK IN.
Thanks for being, part of the reason, why I generally hate nursing. Most of the senior nurses at my hospital, I have stone-cold busted false charting, changing dates on things that need to be done so they don't have to do it on their shift, but can put it off on another one and trying to tell "junior" staff about "rules" that don't exist.
So, the next time that you assume that I am some wet-behind-the-years 20-year-old college grad with no life experience, think again sister.