Reentering Nursing after 2 years

[bbmax]

I have 20 years of experience in PACU and have been at home for 2 years taking care of my kids. I keep hearing about a huge nursing shortage in California (I live in SF Bay Area) but have not seen lots of jobs in my field. Also, I have seen very few reentry programs for RNs who want some refresher. Where are all the desperate employers???

Thanks.

[NurseCC]

There is such a nursing shortage all over the country, that you should have no problems with getting back into nursing. I, too, have been out of nursing for 2 years after 15 years working mostly PICU (RN). My last 4 years of Nursing I spent in Recovery room. I spent so much time at the hospital after regular working hours (on call) with little or no support or backup that I thought I may as well move into the hospital. It was so unsafe I felt like I may as well throw my license in the trash every time I walked into the hospital. This was the final straw for me, burnout was so bad, I had to get out. Now, I am finding that I am actually missing nursing and am thinking of getting back into it. I don't believe that we require any additional education for re entry---down here in South Texas, the shortage is so bad that the hospitals are paying large sign on bonuses in addition to higher salaries. I read in another area of this Bulletin Board that Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston is paying some of the highest salaries in the country--one nurse is making $92 K a year (40 hour week). Pretty unbelievable for me since I never made any where near that amount, but it sure does make me think more and more about getting back into the job market. Good luck.