ThiraFira

Hey Everyone I am new to this board but have been lurking for quite some time. I am an RN-BSN who graduated back in 2003 and worked as a nurse for just shy of 2 years in a Cardiopulmonary unit. I left nursing mainly because of anxiety and stress. I felt that I was not cut out for it and decided to quit altogether. I could really kick myself now. I have always struggled with my self esteem especially in my younger years and although I am not completely free of it now, I feel that I have gotten better with coping with it. I enjoyed Nursing, but let certain fears and anxiety get the best of me. My biggest fears were codes, and lack of technical skills and accidently harming a patient. Instead of confronting my fears I ran. In short, I left nursing and went back to school and got myself a Dental Hygiene degree and have now been working as a Hygienist for almost 2 years. Two seems to be the magic number lol. Although I don't mind Dental Hygiene for it is certainly less stressful, I just can't see myself doing just this for the rest of my life. I would really like to get back into nursing but don't see myself as being very marketable, especially since everyone in my area now is struggling to find nursing jobs. I have been out of nursing for five years. I thought I would at least be on par with a new grad but it doesn't seem to be the case. I have read that recruiters don't favor too well with re-entry nurses because of being out of practice for so long. I'm also worried that recruiters will hold it against me that I left nursing and went into another field and now want to come back. Seeing me as someone who gave up or was not cut out for it or being fickle. I don't even know how I would begin to explain myself. Should I be honest? I know there are people out there who have had absences from Nursing but I noticed it is usually because of raising a family or after they had been in Nursing for quite some time. Just to add, I would definitely take a refresher course and ACLS course to help me become more marketable. I would not go in unprepared and just hope for the best heh. I am wondering if I should wait until the market gets better to increase my chances of landing a job or to take my chances now and enroll in a refresher. I just don't want to spend the money on a refresher and not get a job when I could maybe time it better. My husband thinks I should try to get back in full force but I have always erred on the side of caution. I would really appreciate any advice from nurses, recruiters, or anyone in similar position. I hope I could get a second chance at this.