Please help ...... feeling really stuck!!!

I have been a nurse for 4 years with med/surg and inpatient hospice experience. I am 45 and as of May, unemployed. I of course have been filling out apps like crazy and have gone on a few interviews but no job offers as of yet. Things are really tough out there for us "non-newbies" but "not-enough-experience"...I feel like we fall through the cracks. I recently read the 2009 edition of "What Color is Your Parachute?" It gave me new ideas on how to look for jobs (coincidentally the internet job searches are the worse way) and it gave me exercises where I can think about what I really want out of my career and plan logically for it. I'm beginning to think outside the box and I feel like I will turn this around soon and find my dream job.

Look online for career information, start researching different jobs, figure out what your transferrable skills are and I would recommend reading "What Color is Your Parachute?" Be proactive in planning your future and I am sure you will get what you want too. Best of luck to you!

Well obviously we all have our ups and downs. And when I posted my initial statement I was feeling pretty down. I actualy went to sign up for possible per diem homecare work and I received a call from a school to possibly do some teaching to LPNs. So things are moving but still not quite in a direction that makes me feel totally comfortable. I do keep plugging and I actually thougt about reading one or more of the type of book you're recommending. I know its been quite awhile since I looked at that (I am an ex Psych grad). So perhap I might see things differently now. I was just hoping by posting something here that someone might have had a similar circumstance in terms of career development and moved into a sub field that I might not have thought of. Thank you for taking the time to reply.....

I want to pursue B.Sc in nursing from usa. I have completed 10th plus diploma in civil( 3yrs). The universities are saying to give HESI A-2 test for nursing. I have no idea about this test. Please tell me where is this test conducted, where are the centres, which books to prefer so that i score high. Is this test conducted in india or i have to go USA? Time is running shortly. Kindly help me.

I couldn't seem to find a good clinical fit myself. I'm sure there's something out there but I haven't lucked into it and I honestly don't want it badly enough to persist as much as I'd have to to make it work. And then I imagine whatever it is that would work for me might be such a small niche that I'd live in fear of that job going away and being stuck again unqualified for the majority of nursing positions out there.

I so admire good clinicians and want to be like them, but when it comes to application, experience tells me that I perform better in more administrative type roles. I feel so much more at peace going into my office every day than I ever did going to bedside work. But that's me. If you really want to get into hands-on practice, then don't give up!

I'm currently working in hospital quality assurance and data abstraction. Even there, it would be more ideal if I had a strong clinical background, but those with such strong clinical skills generally don't want to do what I do and have many other preferred options.

In my job search for health-care related work, I've met a number of MDs who don't practice medicine for one reason or another. And I know some good folks with law degrees who don't practice law. So if I'm feeling down on myself, that reminds me that it's not a crime or totally unheard of to not directly practice what one has earned the proper credentials for.