I have been out of nursing for over 10 years and have searched in my area for RN refresher programs only to find that they will only accept those with under 10 year absense from nursing. Nurse recruiters at the major hospitals also are not interested in talking to anyone who has been out of practice over 5 years. So what's an older nurse to do? You can't get hired without a refresher program and they won't take you because you've been out of nursing for too long. It's an actual catch 22. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad due to the nursing shortage. Can there really be a shortage if they won't hire nurses and give them a chance at retraining?