returning to nursing after 14 years

[1cfordrn1]

Good evening:

I am looking for advice concerning my desire to return nursing. I graduated in 1998 with my associate degree in nursing and worked for three years on a cardiac unit before deciding to stay home and raise my children. Well, my children are now in college, and I want to return to nursing. I am a little nervous. I have contacted my state board of nursing, and they tell me that as long as my license is on active status , I can return to work in the nursing field. I think I need a refresher course, but the area hospitals do not offer one. I would have to do an online course. Has anyone completed an online nurse refresher course for RN'S. If so, how difficult was it? I appreciate any advice my fellow nurses could give me on returning to nursing. Thanks, and God bless

[SeaH20RN, BSN]

hi im inthe same situation. graduated in 1997 worked for 3.5 yrs then decided to be astay-at-home mom. now after 12 years of being out of nursing i want to go back.i found the refresher courses on at the jr. colleges. im in florida, so i did theonline course for theory which was good, but boring. taking a clinical through alocal college at a local hospital. i have to do 100 hrs of clinical 12hr shiftson med-surg. for free! also have to take a skills review, caths iv's etc. mostcolleges offer the refresher in the spring and fall semesters that last 5months. but im in a hurry and separated my theory and clinical at 2 differentcolleges. some places offer an weekend type rn refresher course but i did notfeel it was very detailed. i want to dothis right, its been a long time. istarted in jan 2012 and should be done with everything by mid-august. after icompleted the theory part i did start putting resumes out for jobs. but most hospital say they want me to finishmy clinical and skills portion 1^st. uhhh! i did try to get into a rnpreceptor program for new grads. they even said “no” you’re not a new grad andyou don’t have any recent experience. istart my clinical next week and hoping to get a few letters of recommendationsor even job at the hospital i will be doing a rotation at. it’s all veryexpensive too. plus cpr & acls,fingerprints, physicals with blood titers and tb test. it’s very flustering and i feel now im beingpunished for being a stay-at-home mom. did i make the right decision 12 yrs ago? i probably should of stayed on part time iguess. i thought about going back into accounting but i could not stand anoffice job m-f, 9-5, yuck! it will be soooworth it in the end!!! and look forwardto retiring as a nurse. let me know howyour situation is going. good luck!