Older Nurse no BSN needs advice

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I am a nurse with 25 years of critical care experience in a level 1 trauma center in the DMV. I have worked in the trauma center, CCU, CVICU and ran an in house transport program until 2020 when I got Covid. I missed 5 weeks of work and struggled with some long haul symptoms and left my hospital after 25 years in 11/2020 to recover and take some time off which lasted 2 years too long. I was 1/2 through a BSN but went on a program hold because I wasn't sure where I would end up. I worked in another hospital that didn't require a BSN but left after 10 months due to some stress and staffing issues. That hospital apparently blacklisted me unfairly, I was a good nurse there and gave excellent care. I cant find a job now and as a 61 year old need some advice about what type of systems in Raleigh (hoping to relocate there) that do not need a BSN. Im interested in ASC preop/PACU and urgent care. Any advice would be so appreciated. I know I went about the last few years poorly but am hoping to rebuild my once stellar career as a RN. Covid really derailed me 😞 Thank you to anybody that could help me sort this out.

 

Jon C RN 2024 said:

I really just need a good nursing position to get me to retirement at 67. A ASC, SCHOOL 1:1 nurse support role, or maybe urgent care or somewhere I haven't thought of yet.🙂

I worked ASC for a while, it's a nice change of pace from the hospital setting and much better schedule (mine was closed on Fri so I just worked Mon thru Thurs!).  With your ICU experience you'd probably be a great fit for PACU since those patients can occasionally go bad quickly.   I've known a few school nurses, they all love the job and schedule but (at least in our area) the pay is really low.  Have you considered occupational health?  I worked in one of these settings briefly covering for a nurse that was out on surgical leave.  Lots of first aid and injuries, as well as workman's comp and osha compliance.  Can get busy but nothing like a hospital setting.  Mostly minor injuries/ illnesses, although unfortunately sometimes there are more serious injuries like amputations.  Also people do have heart attacks and strokes at work - your ICU experience would be a huge plus in those situations!  These jobs are a bit hard to find since they're places you wouldn't think to look, but check with any major industries in your area to see if they have nurses on site.  Even if they're not hiring maybe they'd hang onto your resume?  Sometimes the ones in my area advertise thru indeed but not always.  Seems to be very word of mouth, so maybe if they already have a resume they'd call you first next time they have an opening?  Good luck!  Hope you find something you can truly enjoy for the rest of your career.  After that many years in the ICU, you've earned a easy fun job! 

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Specializes in Employee Health Nurse/Vascular Access.

Go a little further south to Gainesville, GA at Northeast Georgia Health System. We are a 5 hospital system, with our main campus in Gainesville. After 35 + years of nursing I was faced with hip replacement and torn muscles/ligaments and decided I wasn't going back to Emory. NGHS is honestly the BEST hospital system I have EVER worked for. I started out making more $$ as an employee health nurse than a bedside nurse! They do not require BSN, pay is awesome, sign on bonuses, relocation bonuses, referral bonuses (I got $500 for my daughter coming on as a phlebotomist, but some referral bonuses are as much as $10-12K!) and so much more! They really treat the staff well with other things too like ice cream socials, one year anniversary gift, nice nurses' week gifts, etc. The thing that really blew me away was during COVID we had a program called Pandemic Partners where staff could volunteer to help in the ED or ICUs working along side the staff. We had to fit test those who volunteered. At the Gainesville campus we fit tested over 300 employees who volunteered, one of those was our awesome CEO! And the extra pay was incredible!
The area has a lot to see and do. We are about 45 minutes from downtown, Atlanta; an hour from SC, and 2 hrs from Chattanooga.

I hope you will check us out, and if I can help you in any way, please let me know. It truly is the best decision I ever made! Good Luck!

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Specializes in 25 years Level1 ER/CCU/CVICU/Preop.

Thanks sounds like a great place to work Im not sure Alanta is for me I have no family there but I will keep in in mind

 

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Specializes in Employee Health Nurse/Vascular Access.

Just to clarify, we are an hour north of Atlanta. My husband and I didn't want to be near the city. We have many nurses who travel to the hospital from NC, SC, and TN. Not travelers, but work their three days and go home

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I work in the Raleigh-Durham area. The hospitals are hiring ADN and LPN nurses. You might be able to get a waiver for the BSN requirement if you are thinking of retiring 5-6 years. I know that we have veteran ADN RNs that do not have to do their BSNs. 

Message me if you want. 🙂

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Specializes in 25 years Level1 ER/CCU/CVICU/Preop.

Thanks, That's interesting because I've done the math too and it seems insane to finish my BSN with only 5-7 years to go. I live in Virginia so Im not very familiar with how the hospitals hire and any exemptions that they offer in RDU. I've applied to wakemed, Duke and UNC but have not heard back as yesterday. I struggle to what might be a good fit for this stage of my career. Thanks for reaching out that's interesting information. 

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I am sorry you are going through this. I think the BSN requirement is completely unnecessary if you simply want to be a clinical RN. I would much rather take a RN with an ADN and decades of real experience over a new grad with a BSN. Your experience is significantly more valuable than having spent a year or two doing asynchronous computer work to learn things you probably already know at this point in your career. 

I know you don't really want to relocate, but places like NV don't care about ADN vs BSN for the most part. ADN nurses have no difficulty finding work in the acute care setting. I have even met a couple ADN nurses who are supervisors (though working on their BSN).

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Specializes in 25 years Level1 ER/CCU/CVICU/Preop.

Last week I accepted a position in a busy ASC surgery center no BSN good pay but high volume of procedures any good PACU advice lessons learned I would love to hear Thanks Its been a long road to get here I excited to resume my nursing career 

 

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Jon C RN 2024 said:

Last week I accepted a position in a busy ASC surgery center no BSN good pay but high volume of procedures any good PACU advice lessons learned I would love to hear Thanks Its been a long road to get here I excited to resume my nursing career 

 

Hey that's awesome! I am super happy to hear you are back in the game. 

I never worked PACU, only a little bit of recovery at an endoscopy center (it is WAY easier than anything PACU related) and none of the patients were ever under general anesthesia, so I won't be much help there unfortunately. 

But I just want to express my happiness in that news you were able to keep being a nurse in an employed role. 

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Specializes in Telemetry Med/Surg.

USAJobs.Gov

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Specializes in CWS Certified Wound Specialist.

I would consider some alternate options. For example, home health is a really good choice because there is a lot of money in it, you see one patient at a time and you're able to educate tremendously, and you can build your day the way you want. I feel like hospitals are going the wrong direction for me. The older I get the more challenging it is to keep up with the amount of medications that are expected and I feel like a drug meal. I am also associate prepared and I'm thinking about going back into the online adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner track. But I think you would be quite suitable for home health, and you should also look into some short-term rehab long-term care facilities. You would be in excellent ADN and move to don. They also have infection control options that you could be trained in there's a lot of different angles outside of the hospital.a

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Try an insurance company for worker's comp or medical case reviews.  Also, check with local attorney offices - they love nurses that can do pending medical law suits. 

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