I am getting so frustrated. I have only been out of acute care nursing since late 2004. I took an online RN refresher course earlier this year because we were moving to AZ and it was required for me to get my license there. We ended up right here in Michigan instead, but I am glad I took the course, since I thought it would look good on a resume and it is worth 120 CEUs. However, since beginning to apply for various positions in my area, I am finding that the fact that I have been out of the field for almost five years is a huge stumbling block, or at least that's the feedback that I am getting. I will never regret taking time off to stay home with my kids, but I am so frustrated because I know that I am a good, competent nurse. I have over 10 yrs. of acute, inpatient Med/Surg hospital experience, and I never had one issue with discipline or safety the entire time I was working and always got great performance reviews from my supervisors. I tried long term care a couple of times and it was beyond awful, so I know better than to try that again, because it isn't what I am skilled at or want to do, so I would probably just end up quitting, which wouldn't be fair to my employer.
Is anyone else having this same issue? Can anyone suggest anything that I could do? I took the refresher course, but other than that, I just flat out can't change the fact that I haven't worked in five years. I could go back to school for my BSN, since I already have over 80 college undergrad credits towards it, but we can't afford it right now. I need to get a job with tuition reimbursement first so that I can complete my degree, that's the irony of it.
