Old but not an "old nurse"

[Mdean]

Hello all! I have only been an RN for barely three years now. You could say I'm a late bloomer because I'll be 60 in a couple weeks. Yes... I guess I am a little crazy, maybe even foolish. As a new grad at 57, I started out in Tele in a hospital, but I didn't do well, and only lasted for three months. I spent the next year and a half at a SNF, and then just a few months in a psych hospital in Georgia. I kind of liked psych ( not loved) but I had to quickly relocate to care for my mother.

Now, for a little more than a year, I have worked for a company doing private duty nursing. The patients aren't usually very sick, but the government pays for them to have skilled nursing 24/7. I use no nursing skills on this job. I haven't even given an injection in over a year. I basically get vital signs and sometimes hand out a pill or two. Now I am ready to move back to Georgia and I have no real experience that qualifies me to do anything. I'm sure I can get rehired at the psych hospital, and I know SNFs will hire me. I just don't know if either of those are what I want to do for the remainder of my working years.

I probably made a big mistake in deciding to be a nurse. However, with all the effort and cash I have invested in it and considering my age, I really need to try to find the right path in nursing. It's not like I have a lot of time to fool around with a career. Hopefully I'll find the right way before I'm too old to work. Anyway, I think I just needed to vent and share my frustration with others. Thanks!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

You have an interesting array of experiences. You could try public health nursing (it's fairly targeted to infectious disease/STDs). You'll use a lot of history and assessment skills. There's also school nursing. I'm finding it's a satisfactory mix of daily medication, Band-Aid provision, and just enough emergent stuff to keep me on my toes. Good luck!

[spotangel, DNP, RN, NP]

Ambulatory clinic nurse, Group home Nurse,home care,LTC, school nurse,med surg floor nurse in a hospital, Telephone triage nurse, managed care nurse----the world is your oyster!

Throw away the fear and seize the day!

Before you commit pray on it and get your heavenly father's yes! Always work for me.

Mdean , you got this!

[Mdean]

Thank you both for responding. I think I got caught up in making salary a priority. It is important to me, but it cannot be most important. I am passionate about helping in areas where people are stigmatized. That is why I was more comfortable in Mental Health. Originally, I wanted to work with HIV/AIDs patients. Someone very close to me is positive and almost died with AIDs because she was too embarrassed to go for treatment. That is why I went to nursing school. I was angry that a mother with a disease, would rather lose her life to the disease than to take a chance that others would find out and judge her.

I am going to find a way to work where I feel I am needed, and where my passion is. I have done a lot of praying and meditation. Now, I am seeking the opportunity.