goldenlover

Excellent advice, dream'n. My post was very similar. DO NOT WAIT. You are still young and CAN create a new path for yourself! Get out now.

If there were no barriers ... what would you like to be doing??? If you don't like what you're doing, how bout starting to research a profession you would like and start with baby steps to get there? There are wonderful resources in many community job centers, testing, etc. If you could set your sights on a new career, working as an LPN for a couple more years would only be temporary. I am an RN and will be 60 soon. I have never liked being a nurse!! But it's mainly because my values do not align with western medicine and the "prescribe drugs for every symptom" mentality. I have recently obtained a certification in Health and Wellness Coaching and LOVE IT. (Wellcoaches | School of Health & Wellness Coaching). With your medical background you could work as a telephonic health coach (if you think you might like that). Also, working on making your life more fulfilling outside of work might help. I am sort of where you are with not having a lot in my personal life to fulfill me (I'm divorce, kids are grown, moved to a new city where I don't have friends yet), but it is my responsibility to enrich the outside of my work life with hobbies, activities, meetups, whatever. When I think of my job in that framework (it's just a job and a paycheck) it helps. DO NOT WAIT until you are my age to realize that you've been doing something your whole life that you've hated. Becoming an RN will NOT change anything, but only will make you feel like you're even MORE STUCK. Get out as soon as you can. Life is worth it.

Thank you solneeshka. I think you all are right. "My" memories of acute care (mid 1980's) have very little to do with the reality of today. They say "Time heals everything" and I must have forgotten what it was like to not eat, not pee, not sit down, have an overload of patients who I could not SAFELY care for, have family members crying out for answers and cares asking ... "When is the doctor going to be here?" I was just thinking that as an older (and wiser) nurse, with better communications skills, I would be an added bonus to an acute floor. But I guess I am kidding myself. Who has time to talk to patients? At least with my triage job, I still handle lots of patient complaints on the phones, but at least I get an hour lunch, work M-F, get to pee, and can hang up the phone! I need more than $28 per hour, though, to LIVE!!! I am the sole income earner for my family. My friend works pre and post-op eye surgery, a union job in Twin Cities, and makes over $43 per hour. Is there anything in between???

Wow! I guess I shouldn't want what everyone doesn't miss! I have been OUT of Acute Care for 18 years-raised my kids then got divorced and had to take an RN Recertification Course to get my license back. Took a job doing telephone triage the last 3 years but have such a desire to get back INTO Acute Care. I am so sick of sitting on my butt talking and typing all day long! I THINK I miss Acute Care, but do you think I have simply forgotten what it really was like??? Was it less ACUTE 20 years ago? I know patients were not as sick as they are now and we even had patients who were admitted for 'tests' back then. I have interviewed with Nursing Recruters and they sort of laugh at me-being 53 and WANTING to go back into Acute Care?! Can anyone remind me what I shouldn't be missing???? Deb

Thanks for replying I have been looking into ALL types of jobs. Public Health and School Nursing require some type of certification - not sure if I'm ready to jump into that quite yet without knowing that is what I want to do. Their job listings still require experience. I'm sure every job listing will put "experience required"...who wouldn't want their employee to have experience? That doesn't mean they will always get applicants with exactly what they want. School nursing is not as popular as in the past because the number of positions is dwindling due to budget cuts. Many school nurses cover many schools and the pay is not good at all. I suppose the low pay is a trade off for great hours and no weekends, holidays, etc. My kids' parochial schools utilize volunteers as their school nurse!! Ala "moms with experience". But I truly appreciate your suggestions!! I'm still pluggin' along! d

Hi all, First of all I'm scared to death to return to work after such a long absence. I stayed home to raise three adopted children. My ex, a doc, said to drop my license because one of our kids has autism and took a lot of energy and care. "You won't have to go back to work, honey"... He left me for a younger woman and I am devastated and afraid to get back into Nursing, but it's the only career that can provide enough income for us. Because I moved around for HIS training, I had various short term nursing positions: Children's ER, PICU, Blood Bank, and phone triage for an HMO, but have not set foot into a real clinical situation for maybe 20 years. I'll be 51 soon. I've taken a RN Refresher course to get my license back (yeah me!) but was so disappointed that this course did not update me at all in skills or new technology. It was run by a well meaning elderly nurse who really had not, herself, been in a hospital for years. Our clinical was in a nursing home where we had ONE resident for 4 hours per day for 4 days. THAT was it! The only good thing about it was that it (somehow) qualified for 160 hours to get my license back. I'd appreciate help in any of these areas: 1. How do I structure a resume? Even if I wrote a functional resume rather than chronological one, I can't say that the experience I had or the skills I did decades ago still apply. 2. Where can I get REAL training - so that I can interview with confidence? I am willing to take classes. But, most of them, even a Masters program are book-oriented. I am still missing that "recent experience" that is written in every job description. I am going to start volunteering in a nurse block program and for the Red Cross. 3. Thinking outside the box, has anyone found nursing type jobs that are in different fields, places where people don't usually look? I am motivated, I have a lot of great skills in other areas, but that darn recent experience is killing me. THANKS in advance! Deb

Hi I just finished a RN Refresher course in MN. My only comment is that this 160 hour course did NOT prepare me in any way to return to the workforce. We sat in lectures with systems' review (well it was okay) and mini-quizzes, but the clinical was in a nursing home where we had ONE patient (basically provided the NH with care) for 4 days (about 4 hours a day). Well I learned that I don't want to wipe up pee, change bed sheets, hand-write nursing notes in antiquated 12-inch high metal-bound charts, or feed the elderly (with all due respect as I know I will be there one day soon). But I mean we had NO experience with computer documentation, new equipment or technology, skills lab (other than we got to stab a padded fack buttock with a TB syringe to get "checked out". We all LAUGHED. BUT, we had to go through this as a requirement of our Board of Nursing. So, yes, I have my license now, but am scared to death to put one foot into a busy clinic, much less apply to a hospital again. By the way, on the last day, our instructor told us that NO hospital in the Twin Cities, MN will hire a REFRESHER RN! And, the only hope would be to get a job in a nursing home (ha, the one we had "clinical" in) See the tie in? I am SOOOOOO disappointed! d