Is it worth renewing my license?

[rayshell626]

I became licensed in 2012 and my license expired in 2013. I was pregnant as my license expired and thought maybe working as an LVN was not in the cards for me. As time passes it seems such a waste to have completed the program and become licensed and never work as a nurse. I currently have over 11 years working in an animal hospital as a veterinary assistant but this doesn't seem to serve me any good with my job search. I am contemplating giving it one last shot and renewing my license but at this point my program ended in 2011 and I have yet to work in a hospital. Is there really any shot of getting a job as an lvn in California at this point?

[Girlafraid13]

It would probably be very hard to get an lvn position in a hospital in socal with no experience. But if you're open to a snf, private duty, home health etc I think you have a shot.

[reluctantrn]

Dear rayshell626,

If you look hard enough, there will always be someone willing to hire you, somewhere. So, if that is your goal, then it may be worth it to renew your license.

Before you do though, if I were you (and I am in some ways, my license is active but I have not worked as a RN for 9 years) I would research long and hard--then think long and hard, about if these are any kind of job you would want. For myself, the answer has been a booming and resounding 'no'. I would rather be on welfare or anything else, than to work in the kind of environments that would hire me at this point. Unless, I was able to find a gig with a one on one at someone's home. Not 'home-health care' but a private person hiring a nurse to care for a newborn or something like that.

These positions may be better because they are *emotional* positions. The 'employer' is not looking at the bottom line but rather at someone they connect with and trust to care for someone they love. And I would take that seriously, by brushing up on skills relevant to the individual I was caring for. But this is the only kind of position I would consider at this point.

As the old saying goes, "I don't want to be a member of any club that will have me". That's because I know there are better candidates out there (maybe they are actually better nurses or maybe they just *look* like better nurses on paper) and I know that if anyone hires me it is because NO ONE else wants that position and there is a reason WHY.

One potential solution for you is to do a bridge program and get you AS in nursing or even better, your BSN if any program like that exist (my entry point was AS, so I am not sure). This would give you the 'golden' new graduate status + experience and would make you more competitive than the average new graduate. It would also allow you to apply to programs offering residency/preceptor etc. and from the situation you have described, I think that may benefit you.

Another option is to return to school for a totally different field that you can use the course work you have done so far to build upon, such as biology or teaching in the sciences at a elementary level.

If you do decide to return to nursing school, research schools carefully and fully. Heed words of caution.

Best of luck to you and congrats on your new baby.