RN MGR Told me I'm too old.

[gumbi_12]

I graduated last May with my BSN, mid 40's. I had a phone interview, the RN Mgr didn't remember me at first, but then she did from a recent career fair. She told me the unit was "very heavy" and fast-paced, I need "alot of stamina", if I get tired that would affect my "critical thinking" skills, "I'm 57 and I can't do bedside nursing anymore", the young ones can do it. "I can let you shadow a shift, so you can see what you're getting into."

I told her thanks, but not thanks. I did call her on having an issue with my age and she denied it. I left a voice mail with the HR person that set up the interview and asked to call me back and let me know what units do hire "mature" RN candidates.

Should I call and complain to the hospital about this? Did I make a mistake my getting my BSN at 47? I'm completely floored, my self-esteem is really low. I wanted to do this my whole life, excited to finally make some money, and now this.

Thanks in advance.

[guest974915]

While I completely agree, accusing and proving age discrimination are two very differerent things. Unless you have a witness or a paper trail (and a whole lot of $$$ for an attorney's retainer), you're really wasting your time. I'm sorry that this happened to you and I wish things were not this way. I challenge anyone though who doesn't think ageism is rampant in acute care nursing to wait until their mid fifties and then try applying at a different facility-crickets. Unfortunately, maturity, strong work ethic, and wisdom all mean nothing in this business!

[CKPM2RN, ASN, EMT-P]

That is assuming a lot. People have different abilities at different ages; I know 20-somethings who can't be taxed to walk up a flight of stairs.

I'm over 50, a weight lifter and half-marathoner. I think I can cope. You must see the ability to "keep up" in yourself and you deserve an equal shot at the job. That was blatant age discrimination.

[llg, PhD, RN]

That is illegal to even hint at age during an interview. I'd report it to EEOC as discrimination. Nothing about age, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability should come up in an interview. That's a big no no. There are plenty of travelers in their 60s that work in busy heavy work load ERs.

That won't go anywhere. The manager offered the OP a chance to progress to the next stage of the interview process (shadowing) and the OP turned the off down! She can't claim that she wasn't offered the job because of her age. The EEOC has bigger fish to fry -- and more solid cases to investigate.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

While I completely agree, accusing and proving age discrimination are two very differerent things. Unless you have a witness or a paper trail (and a whole lot of $$$ for an attorney's retainer), you're really wasting your time. I'm sorry that this happened to you and I wish things were not this way. I challenge anyone though who doesn't think ageism is rampant in acute care nursing to wait until their mid fifties and then try applying at a different facility-crickets. Unfortunately, maturity, strong work ethic, and wisdom all mean nothing in this business!

I agree older nurses do sometimes have a harder time changing jobs which may be age discrimination or may also simply be the reality of the slimy corpororate world healthcare has devolved into now where it's all about the almight dollar and a new grad costs less than an experienced older nurse. Who is to say it is age vs cost?

I do know older, experienced nurses who were able to get jobs easily at one hospital system that valued their experience, but am aware of another hospital system where it was just the opposite where they literally ran off their own older nurses on trumped up charges and mostly had young new grads but with constant turnover due to poor working conditions.

I do think nurses are more protected from age discrimination in general than the rest of the population, maybe because there is more of a need. Also from what I've read women are more affected by age discrimination than men in general and I've seen that in acquaintances, non nurses who were let go during the great recession and a couple haven't worked ever since, living off family or friends to get by.

One finished an MA associates and only got one temp job and lives with a boyfriend the other is in school now who had an accounting job. Frankly, I fear for them both, taking out student loans and going back to school is not a safe bet when you have no recent job experience, let alone any relevant job experience! The one that got her MA went to a for-profit and I'm sure has tens of thousands in student loans in deferment and piling up ever higher, at the mercy of her boyfriend's generosity. He seems to be a very kind and generous person but it must wear on him carrying her financially. Both of them have been out of the workforce so long social security disability is not an option if they wanted.

All this Republican bragging about record unemployment, but the truth is so many people simply aren't even working and are on the sidelines. The economy is not that great. It is a mirage of smoke and mirrors. The median wage of Americans is around $30,000 a year, half earn less than that which is a pretty sobering statistic when you think about it!

[linda1959]

Age-discrimination is illegal, but the reality is, is exists. When I re-entered the work-force at 48 years old (after having been out for 8 years raising kids, but having done 20 years before I stopped) I had a recruiter at a conference take a look at my resume. He was very honest - "they won't tell you this, but your age is going to be an issue in terms of a hospital job. Your age puts you at a higher risk for injury. As well, the amount of time you were out of work means a full orientation to new technology, something they don't want to do." He said "you will get a job because you have a lot of experience, but I doubt it will be in a hospital." This was not a problem for me because I had no interest in returning to the hospital, but it made me sad . . .there is no doubt many institutions will miss the opportunity to hire very qualified nurses with this thinking.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Should I call and complain to the hospital about this? Did I make a mistake my getting my BSN at 47? I'm completely floored, my self-esteem is really low. I wanted to do this my whole life, excited to finally make some money, and now this.

Thanks in advance.

First off, no, don't complain, because there's nothing to complain about. Even if she did deny you the job because of your age, you might have completely burned your bridge with that hospital by your comment. You should have just left it at her not thinking you were a good fit on that unit and asked about interviewing on other ones. You acted very unprofessionally. I wouldn't hire someone that did that. If I was HR, after that comment, your applications would immediately be filed in the trash.

Onto what happened... Nursing isn't easy. It's not a glamorous job, at all. When I have to clean a really heavy patient, it's not another aide that's typically helping me, it's the patient's nurse, because that's typically the most available person to help. If you have a high bariatric population, you better be able to handle taking care of them. You can't rely on someone else for everything, otherwise, why hire you? The manager made a great call in assuming that the energy to get through the day can become a challenge for an older nurse (because science), but she never denied you a job. She gave you a chance to shadow someone that works there and see what the work involves, and gave you the opportunity to decide for yourself if you're capable of doing the job or not. Honestly, this seems way more like someone that was actually considering hiring you than someone who wasn't. They're typically not going to have you shadow if they're planning on rejecting you, it's a waste of everyone's time. I really think that if you shadowed and thought you could handle it, that you would have been offered a job. Your age isn't what cost you getting hired on that unit, your attitude was.

My advice: Grow up. You said "mature" RN candidate... While "mature" might describe your age, it doesn't describe you mentally. I don't see a rational adult in how you acted.

This was your mistake. Learn from it, and you'll get hired as a nurse, easily. As long as you get out and apply, I'm sure that by the end of this month you can have a job offer. But considering how you acted on that interview, jumped to a conclusion, and overreacted, calling her out and what you called HR and said, are you sure nursing is really the right choice for you? When you eventually get that patient that's detoxing from meth and calls you old fat and tells you to go kill yourself because how ugly you are and because nobody cares about you (and this is on the nicer side of how people detoxing from meth will treat you), are you going to be able to look past that and make sure that patient gets the best care possible or are you going to call her out on being an addict? REALLY think about this moving forward. I'm sure you can do the job with no problem, but do you honestly feel that you're mentally capable of handling it at its worst? If not, then acute or psych care might be terrible ideas for you, and something with a more stable population like a school or a factory might be a better choice.

[Jules A, MSN]

I think it is important to be realistic. As an older person and also one without experience you are not going to be pick of the litter. Sorry but its true. I'm in my 50s, still very fit and yet I have accepted the truth is the only thing I have going for me now is my experience. Fortunately many of the cute youngins have no solid psychiatric experience so as a NP that increases my stock a bit but I'm on the downslope. I have no delusions that all things being close to equal no way would I get the job against a younger person. We can still get jobs but we are the bat girls and not the first string cheerleaders anymore.

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

On one hand what she said was not nice, on the other hand she basically told you the job is chaotic. Maybe she did you a favor by not hiring you.

[RNrhythm, BSN, RN]

I graduated over 50 and have worked a very heavy unit for over 3 years. At my old, brutal LTAC, I worked side-by-side older RNs on night shift. I had never worked so hard! I was the lazy one because I only had one job! These other older RNs usually did per diem somewhere else, too.

I think that hiring manager must be a delicate blossom or the unit in question is abusively hard. I think you dodged a bullet.

You WILL experience ageism but that is the hand you are dealt. You can overcome it and find a job.

[Kratoswife]

@gumbo_12 I wish you asked for advice before taking action.

You made a mistake by not shadowing in my honest opinion. Next time don't be so quick to take action. Good luck on the job hunt.

[Ben_Dover]

Test... Mic test... mic test!

Where is test Mic?

seems like the OP has gone AWOL.

[Ado Annie, ASN, RN]

If it was a phone interview, how did she know your age? Someone correct me if I am wrong, but any info that may lead to discrimination should not be made available to the hiring manager or interview panel.

Legit question: My resume shows that I received a BS in another field in the mid-1980's. How would an interviewer NOT know that I'm at least 50-something?