ctantiques

I believe you will find cost containment is largely responsible for the hiring of tech's over RN's and a whole new market for "how to delegate safely" essays.

With that debt I'd be more likely to get an AD in nursing at a local community college and take the boards after that. There are many options in nursing with the degrees you do have.

I'm in Maryland. I am just starting the course, it's Mount Carmel College of Nursing Online course, which then requires 100 hours of clinical via a pre-ceptorship. I would have started earlier but there were no clinical preceptor ships available to me until I was offered this position via former colleagues. The on site community college courses are better for some because they do have a clinical component already included in them, though I am hoping to complete this course in half the time. I'm not into it far enough to really know but I know you have to be able to devote several hours a day to the online assignments. The things that are the most new and possibly more difficult to learn for me are not things like new drugs or new pathways or but are the evidence based practice guidelines, and the medicare rules about no longer reimbursing for certain hospital acquired illness or conditions changes.. in other words health care delivery changes. The other stuff seems pretty straight forward, though I had to spend a few days refreshing my math skills for drug calculations. I believe Mount Carmel allows you a refund if you take two weeks of the course and decide it is not for you. I'm not sure about that though I'd have to look. One I get heavily into it I'll let you know.

Jobs are evidently quite tight right now. I left in 98 after 21 years of critical care trauma and kept only an inactive license. Up until a couple of years ago there were nursing jobs galore here, when I decided to go back last winter I was going to do an online refresher and then get my own clinical....fat chance. What would have been easy a couple of years ago was impossible. The only way you get a preceptor is if they want to hire you and rarely are they going to retrain an old RN if they can choose a new grad. I was lucky as in June I was recruited to be a forensic nurse at a local hospital by someone I know, so the hospital finally agreed to precept me in the ED to after my didactic so I can reactivate my license. You have to be persistent.

I worked in Critical Care Trauma for 22 years, left in 1998. I bought and ran an antique shop for 8 years, and spent the last few years taking care of ill parents. I do miss it, and as I'm am healthy and free of most encumbrances at age 55 and am currently starting nurse refresher course, after didactic I will do 100 hours of clinical to reactivate my license in the state of Maryland. I'll then train as a Forensic Nurse at the hospital that recruited me. It's an on call grant based pay position but most of the people do some on call in the ED. I'm looking forward to it, but am a little anxious as well. Wish me luck.