How Do I Start Over?

[SunnyPupRN]

So- I'm 45, and I've been out of the loop for a good six years. I want to work again, have kept up with my CEUs, but never felt I got a really good education or floor experience except in psych. I feel like I really need clinical hours even though I took a two day nursing refresher course, it was pretty wimpy. I want to do low acuity prn home health or prn family medicine.

I have an RN not a BSN, and I'm thinking I need more education but I'm the sole care giver for my child who has had a spinal fusion. I can get around that, but should I, can I go back to school, ? I can survive (barely) if I get a grant or scholarship and hit the books but there's no way I can take out a loan. Any advice? Thank you so kindly.

P.S. I have more of a sympathetic, gentle personality , not take charge...So I am also considering doing yoga teacher training and eventually yoga therapy.

[nutella, MSN, RN]

One of my children had medical problems for many years and it was not always easy, at some point I had to do the paperwork for intermittent family leave to protect my job. But you won't qualify for the FMLA right away, I think it is still only after one year of work.

I did home hospice and palliative care for a while - home care does not mean low acuity anymore. Nowadays, patients go home pretty sick and with a variety of problems - to be successful in home care and to be able to complete your charting within work time, you need to be a somewhat dynamic personality and have good organizational skills. In home hospice there is also usually some on call responsibility. The plus with home care is that depending on for which place you work, you may be able to be more flexible. I had no problem starting late or go and pick up a sick child from school.

Perhaps something like school nursing would be an option for you?

If you need a steady income with low acuity perhaps LTC would be an option as well.

I went back to school but there are some costs associated with it plus time you need to take to study. If your child has a lot of medical problems you may not be able to dedicated enough time to be successful and perhaps should wait until your personal situation improves.

I have no idea about teaching yoga - I know that there are different certificates for teaching yoga but I am not sure how well it is paid and if you can make a living with it.