Not working out...

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2015

Nursing is a second career for me - one that I took up because at the start of the recession, jobs in my old profession - engineering - just weren't available in my area.
Got my ADN, and have worked for a few LTC places since, because hospitals here simply won't hire RN's with only an AD. There may be a nursing shortage nationwide, but locally, there's a glut. Have thought about going for my BSN, but honestly, I'm already in my upper 50's, and already getting burned out on nursing. I would have never worked to get my ADN, if I knew this was what awaited me.
I don't really expect any magic answers, but thanks for letting me vent.

Unfortunately, your first mistake was believing the old "there's a nursing shortage" myth.

Way back in the 90s, there MAY have been a slight dip in available nurses, because girls finally realized that other professions besides nursing and teaching were opening up, and paid better, too. Enrollment in ADN and BSN programs (reputable CC and Universities-no diploma mills at that time) dropped, clinical instructors resigned, and hospitals realized they could pile more work on remaining staff and blame it on the "nursing shortage".

Twelve hour shifts were pushed because-wow! You only had to work 3 shifts a week instead of 5 8 hour shifts for full time! It also meant fewer nurses were needed, and hospitals were lauded for finding a way to staff safely in spite of the, yada, yada.

Unfortunately, most hospitals will only hire BSNs (that pesky Magnet status). You might want to check clinics, ambulatory care, insurance, they might be more willing to accept an ADN.

Nalon1 RN/EMT-P, BSN, RN · Aug 18, 2015

Depends on your location (which you did not list). Many hospitals hire ADN's, even new grads, just depends on where you are.

As said, the "nursing shortage" is not completely true, nor false. There is a shortage in some areas of experienced nurses, while other smaller areas do have a shortage of nurses period. The "shortage" also refers to the"upcoming" shortage when all these baby boomer nurses retire, which many have put off retiring due to the economy and many being in management positions that do not take a toll on the body like bedside nursing does.

Have you looked into other aspects of nursing?

A friend of mine just started working for a dialysis group doing emergent in hospital dialysis. He works 3 days a week, on call for 1, does 2-3 patients a day, says most of it is setting up, working, cleaning the machine, maybe 1 hour of actual work in a 4-6 hour treatment. Pay is not bad for around here and he said there is lots of overtime (many of his coworkers are making 6 figures easily).

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Aug 18, 2015

Schlepping in a hospital is not all that it seems.

You have a professional degree that open many doors for you. Figure out what you want to do... and go market yourself.

allnurses Guide · Aug 19, 2015

The idea of an expected tsunami of retiring nurses began as essentially a talking point to make sure prospective nursing students were still attracted by the high-demand "recession-proof" marketing strategy. I've never seen anything other than anecdotes to support that claim.

Swimswithsharks, you don't mention specifically whether it is the frustrating job hunt or working in LTC that is causing the "burnout" -- I can see why you don't want to take on more debt, but I would say that one area that has continued to expand over the years is the number of specialties available to us. I couldn't begin to list them all except to say that a look at the forums in our site map might spark an idea for a role you may not have considered before.

I can certainly relate to your dilemma as far as our age and the amount of financial obligation we're willing to take on. Wishing you all the best!

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Aug 20, 2015

Come on down to south east Texas, golden triangle Beaumont-port Arthur-orange and north to Jasper and the lakes area, both engineering and nursing opportunities........the need, or glut, is quite geographic, in a lot of cases.....

barcode120x, RN, NP · Aug 21, 2015

As someone else might have told you or mentioned, explore the nursing profession. Hospital jobs and LTC/SNF aren't the only places you can work for. Some examples that I've heard of are home health nurses, public health nurses (working for the gov/county), school nurses, you can even look into data analyst nurses. The list goes on and on, but I do think having a BSN would be a highly valuable asset, if not a mandatory one. You're only in your 50s, we had, I believe 2 in my class that were in their 50s and are just starting their nursing careers as we speak.

I have one friend that is an IV nurse for a clinic. I have another friend that works for a pulse ox research company as a nurse. Not sure if that's what you would want to do for an entire career, but you gotta look for what you are interested.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2015

Answer to what? What is the question? Is there an easy job that pays a lot of money? Not that I know of. What did you think "awaited" you with an ADN? Nothing is "waiting" for anyone. You go get the required education then you go get the job. I don't know what the question is? I am not even sure what you are venting about? That YOUmade the wrong career choice? If you need to vent about that do it to a mirror.

I_slapped_Ouiser · Aug 30, 2015

I understand what it feels like to be a second-career nurse and to question my decisions from time to time, especially the first year after school. I want to encourage you to keep on venting until you find clarity. For what it's worth, here is my experience with second-guessing my decision to go to nursing school and the lovely thing that happened afterward... During nursing school and for the first year after obtaining my license, I had no idea of the non-traditional nurse opportunities that are available. They became more evident to me after I made the decision to identify them- some I found here on the Career section, and then other sources like nursing blogs/ podcasts and talking with a lot of different nursing and staffing/recruiting professionals in my city.

I was a teacher in my former career and was happiest in non-traditional teaching settings, which finally made sense to me as a nurse who didn't love the hospitals. There are magnet hospitals in my city but I didn't know about that until after I started nursing school, so I didn't understand the Associate Degree vs. BSN "situation" and relationship to magnet status facilities. Some of my classmates work at the magnet hospitals and let the hospital pay for their BSN- maybe that's an option for you- some hiring standards aren't "Must have BSN before hiring". Here in the south, the magnet hospitals hire ADNs with the requirement to begin a BSN program within a certain number of months after hire. I'm a patient educator now for a private company and have completed 3 BSN courses- not to work at a magnet but to be able to manage or work for an insurance company. I took an interest inventory, hired a career coach for a while, joined NNBA, and actively seek information about the trends in non-traditional nursing.

I love the idea of being able to bounce ideas off of others here because it can be a supportive environment, and I want to encourage you to keep looking deeper at both yourself and the local landscape to identify what your'e really great at doing, if that meshes with what you want to do, and what other roles are out there that you may not even know about. I've stopped framing things in a "one & done" perspective- it is a much more flexible and friendly way to embrace how fluid a career path can be.

I embraced and even celebrated my weirdness/uniqueness as someone who isn't a "nursey nurse" and when I did that, and worked it into my personal "brand" during an interview, I was hired on the spot and the HR manager was told to call the remaining applicants to cancel interviews scheduled for the following week. When you can wrap your arms around whatever your unique perspective is, and clarify the unique combination of skill sets you bring to the table, I imagine that a profound sense of peace will set in. It's okay that you may not be cut out/prepared for the hospitals in your area for now- the LTC work you've done is meaningful and has a purpose for whatever your "next" is. Best of luck!

Anna S, RN · Aug 30, 2015

Here is what the The Dept of Health and Human Services, has to say, re: the nursing glut, and how retiring baby boomers won't make things better- due to a huge surge in new grads.

http://bhw.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/supplydemand/nursing/workforceprojections/nursingprojections.pdf

"The greater growth rate of supply (33 percent) over that of demand (21 percent) will result in an excess of 340,000 RNs by 2025."

PinayUSA · Aug 30, 2015

There was a nursing shortage and they were bringing in RN from other countries right and left, that seemed to stop around 2006.

I would think your issue is where you are living is the issue.

SwimsWithSharks · Sep 5, 2015

Thank you for the replies. (Sorry to take so long to reply back.)

JENSMOM, NALON, BARCODE, and I_SLAPPED: Yeah, that "nursing shortage" myth is just that - a myth. At least, it is in Indiana. Thank you for the alternative suggestions about what I could do with my ADN. I just know I've got to get out of LTC before I go crazy...

BTDT: I agree. When I first graduated, it seemed like that was the thing to aspire to. But eight hours constantly on my feet in LTC is long enough. The idea of working 12 hours straight - even if it's only 3 days a week - has lost its allure.

NURSE156: Thank you. Yes, there comes a time (an age) when we have to consider whether taking on more debt (to get a BSN) is really worth it, compared to how much longer we will work.

SALLY: Texas wouldn't be a bad place to live. It's a long way from family, though...

WINDSURFER: Uh... thanks for your opinion. I guess....

ANNA S: Now THERE'S something that I wish I'd seen before starting down this particular path.

PINAY: Yes, I believe you are correct. Whether there's a nursing shortage or a nursing glut, depends on where you live.