Huge gap in work history

[Ringo]

I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to get back into nursing... let me explain.

My wife and I put each other through college/nursing schools. First I worked full-time to put her through school and then we reversed roles. I graduated from a good college with a BS in nursing in 1995. I worked for two years in hospital med-surg, then my wife and I had our first child who had a medical condition. We wanted to provide our child's care ourselves; and (for financial and insurance reasons) we decided I should stop working and provide full-time care at home. In the next 5 years we had two more children. So for twenty years I have been a stay-at-home-dad providing the care for our three children.

Our youngest child started driving several months ago. The necessity of my being at home is no longer an issue, so I decided to try getting back into nursing. I knew it would not be easy. I took a brief classroom refresher course but not a clinical refresher. I applied for and was hired at the first place I applied which was a local psych hospital. A month into the job I realized why they hired me so quickly. The nurse manager was disparate for help because about every standard nursing practice was being broken by the staff nurses. The hospital was relying heavily on agency nurses and the inmates where running the asylum. Whenever I pointed out to other nurses that a process or procedure was not being followed, they would would reply: "Don't tell me, I've been doing this for thirty years." Yes I could have reported to the nurse supervisors but (ahem...) they where some of the same nurses breaking the rules. I refused to continue working in a grossly liable work environment. I quit the job in a few months.

Since I left the psych job (which I do not put on my resume) I haven't received a sniff from any other hospital position applications. I am trying to avoid home health agencies because I have a feeling the conditions are going to be similar to the psych hospital job... desperate managers looking for good nurses to work in a terrible environments.

I have resorted to applying for telephonic/remote nursing jobs but that is all on-line. I've gotten through screening but no further. I'm feeling like getting back into nursing is not going to happen. I'm strongly considering other lines of work.

Any advice or comment? Hit me where it hurts if need be. Nothing could feel any worse than being penalized for having taken care of my children for twenty years... especially when it comes from a profession that is lauded for being so compassionate.

[llg, PhD, RN]

You say you took a classroom refresher course, but not a clinical one. That means you haven't had ANY clinical experience in over 20 years. No one is going to hire you for an acute care position with that big of a gap. If you are serious about wanting to work in an acute care hospital, they you will need to do a refresher program that includes a clinical component. The practice of bedside acute care nursing has changed a lot in 20 years.

Even with a clinical refresher, it will be difficult to get a good clinical job and you may have to make some compromises with that first position. But that clinical refresher is the first necessary step in getting back into that field.

You might want to take another look at home health. Some people like it -- and it is compatible with your history of taking care of a child with special needs at home. Another possibility is some sort of outpatient elder care position. Such jobs might not pay as much as acute care, but they are more compatible with your background.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

You are going to be at a significant disadvantage compared to nursing candidates who have more recent education and experience. This means you will have to accept working in a less-than-first-choice position on a less-than-first-choice shift for at least a couple of years. I would stop avoiding putting that job on your resume. It may be the only thing that could get you a second glance.

There are a lot of options other than HH or acute care. Consider SNF, LTACH, clinics, flu clinics and other types of nursing that are less in demand. You may also need to consider looking at rural hospitals.

Good luck.