Reason for leaving to become stay at home mom

[fsaav]

I'm in my last year of nursing clinicals and I'm applying for a position as a nurse extern. On the application I have to state my reason for leaving a previous job. I left to be a stay at home mom for 2 1/2 yrs to my daughter and I'm wondering the appropriate way of handling this and how I should state it.

Thanks.

[Music in My Heart]

I'd just be straight up and say why you left: To provide care for your kid.

[christieb01]

I put "to manage and maintain a household".

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

for last position my mother always says she is the CEO of the [last name] household

[Jami RN, BSN, RN]

When I was a nursing recruiter, I always thought that people who tried to assign some sort of official title to being a stay-at-home mom were kind of cheesy. I would just say, "resigned to stay at home with children." There is no stigma attached to staying at home with kids. Your situation is different now and you are choosing to work instead. I don't think that any recruiter would think badly of you for staying at home for a while.

Be honest and concise on your application and don't sweat it, but don't try to make it seem like you had a bunch of job duties or make up a phony job title -- most people take care of children, clean a house, pay bills and manage a family whether they work or not. This is not what recruiters are looking for. Focus on your clinical situations and skills and use your preceptors and clinical instructors as references. Recruiters want to know what kind of nurse you will be and are most interested in your clinical experiences.

I have the opportunity to interview new hires for our department. We just hired a mom of 6 who had been a SAHM and homeschooled her children for the past 15 years. I admired her for being able to do all of that and didn't think badly of her for not working outside of the home for that time period. She is a great employee -- obviously good at time management, very patient and a very hard worker.

Best of luck,

Jami

[Music in My Heart]

When I was a nursing recruiter, I always thought that people who tried to assign some sort of official title to being a stay-at-home mom were kind of cheesy...

Be honest and concise on your application and don't sweat it, but don't try to make it seem like you had a bunch of job duties or make up a phony job title...

Personally, I'd be less inclined to hire someone who was trying to aggrandize the sufficiently grand role of SAHP (parent) by coming up with a fluffy description.

I say, be proud of it.

[waterlily777]

Jami RN, you brought tears to my eyes...

I am a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of three, and when I finally graduate from nursing school, it will also be 15 years that I have been in that role...

You have just given me hope and renewed energy to pursue my dream of becoming a nurse.

Bless you!

:-)

[schoolnurse1001]

I took a 4 year break after my third child to stay home. I just put that I left last job to stay at home with

a new baby. I was hired in my first interview and have been back in nursing:redbeathe for 5 years now.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I have participated in the hiring of many people in my life -- and I agree with Jami. Getting "cutesy" with the SAHM thing or trying to aggrandize the experience only makes you look like you are ashamed of it. You made a decision to leave the workforce for a while to take care of a child (or aging parent, or whatever) and there is no need to apologize for that.

Be professional about it by being straightforward with how you talk about it. That will earn you more respect than cutesy, evasive, or anything else that's wierd.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

Yes, because you need to account for gaps in your work history. Being a stay at home mom is fine and should be included there.