Return to nursing - mental health tech??

[plf2323]

HI, I am new to this forum. I am an RN who has not worked in nursing in 13 years. I was lucky enough to stay home with my kids and now just do substitute school nursing. I am ready to go back to work and took an RN refresher course. However, I am finding that getting a job is very hard and in fact I may just have been out too long. I am not getting any callbacks for jobs. I have applied to MANY jobs, in hospitals, managed care, nursing homes, rehab hospitals, psych hospitals. I am not picky. Alas, I am not marketable after being away for so long, even with the refresher course.

I am especially interested in psych nursing. I know many of you have worked as mental health/psych techs while in nursing school, but do you think this is a viable option for someone like me? I am having trouble "getting my foot in the door" and I did oncology nursing before, not psych. I would love for someone to give me a chance but I'm not sure that is going to happen with an RN position. I am feeling very discouraged and have started looking at other jobs like assistant teacher, etc. Before I completely give up on nursing, would a mental health tech job help me land an RN position in the future or would I be wasting my time?

Thanks for any input!

[Psychcns]

You would be marketable in a different economy. LTC has psych pt. Maybe do per diem or agency. Keep doing school nurse substitution. If your interest is psych nursing try to get psych nursing. Anywhere. Keep active and applying summer is coming. Nurses take vacations. Be available for off shifts and holidays. Good luck.