Where do I fit in?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am in my fifties. I have been a nurse for 30+ years. For 15 years, I had a job I loved with co-workers, I loved. I left six years ago. My original manager left and was replaced by a person who did not like me and whom I did not like. Frankly, she was very dishonest person. Eventually, after I left, she was replaced by one of her protégé's after having an affair with another administrative person at the facility.

Recently I had a very difficult family situation. I left an administrative job and worked at a small hospital with a very toxic culture for a short time. The unit and hospital where I worked has had many nurses who last just a few months. Though I thought I could go back to my old admin job, it was eliminated.

In the meantime, have been caring for my relative. For the Fall semester, I worked as adjunct faculty which went well. The course I taught is only offered in Fall. I have applied to several other jobs, but have not secured another position. I was asked by the school to return next year.

I had one interview and it was difficult for me to answer some of the questions they asked me to their satisfaction. I had been part of a friendly, but dysfunctional team in my last admin. position. When asked about my accomplishments and what projects I had led/completed, I stumbled. Honestly, we did not get a lot done in over 3 years. There was a takeover by a larger organization and three different nurse managers with whom I worked. The longest serving manager was a lovely person. However, she delegated significant tasks to staff who did not follow through. Projects I should have been involved with (and offered to participate in) were delegated to people who did nothing to move them ahead.

The sister hospital to my place of brief employment, had an open position which fit my qualifications. As a lark (almost...I thought they would not call),I applied. They actually interviewed me. It went well. Two weeks later, I got an email. They are pursuing other candidates. No other information available. I am not sure what happened. It may have been that I had quit the position at their other facility after just a few months. I was honest about this before I was ever interviewed and during the interview (I did not call it toxic). Three staff people from my former employer work at this facility because my former employer basically told them to leave or be fired. Perhaps they complained about me? I know as someone "in management" they disliked me.

So...coming up, I have another interview. Again, it is work which I have done before. I have MSN and multiple certifications. I am well qualified...but I am old. I don't ooze confidence. I used to love being a nurse. Between my family situation and lack of confidence, I am ready to give up. If I did not need to work, due to being so discouraged, I really would just give up. Maybe I should. I had even been accepted into a DNP program, but now cannot attend due to finances. What can I do? Should I go back to staff nursing and do adjunct on the side? It seems I have wasted so much of what I once had going for me. What can I do to boost my confidence and find that job I can retire from in 12-15 years?

Specializes in Critical Care.

I can only say it is tough out there to find management jobs. We had two Chief Nursing Officers that were let go over the years and I followed them on Linked In. It took both of them about a year to secure another position and one had to relocate to a rural area far from her fancy expensive house. I mention this because they had been part of clinical ladder committee where they bragged about their $300-400,000 houses and in the next breath voted to demote a staff nurse with resulting pay cut of the clinical ladder. All I can say to that is what goes around comes around. I wonder what the supervisor is doing with her fancy house living in the middle of nowhere USA. Did she sell it or is she commuting. Too bad they had no compassion for the peon staff nurse who they were just so happy to cut her pay!

Well. I was not at that level. My job was more of education/quality type of work. I did occasionally help on the unit which was fine with me. I think those type of people have a lot of connections. There are some great people in upper management, but also many fluffed up people. I had a nice salary and worked mostly days. I also did a lot of projects at home. I drive a cheap car and live in a semi detached house so I am not at that level. It frustrates me when I get interviewed by upper management who seem to want me to have a magic wand and be listed as lead author on ten nursing research articles. I genuinely care the patients' welfare and am passionate about what I do. Unfortunately, I don't have supernatural powers to persuade 50% of the staff to join the clinical ladder or exercise mind control over docs and mid levels with huge egos. I do envy the high level managers their confidence and ability to spin their stories!

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I'm uh...lets just say...just short of 60 and just landed a new job and got hired out of a pool of 5 others (all much younger than me). Some tips for those of us that are shall we say experienced:

1. Dye your hair if you have gray.

2. Don't mention your kids ages - especially if like me your kids are nearing 40.

3. Keep up with technology - this should be number 1. Know your way around Twitter, Instagram, FB, etc.. Be familiar and use texting.

4. Be very flexible about new opportunities: new EMR, new techniques, new equipment. Be the first one to volunteer.

5. Smile and present a positive attitude. No complaining about age-related issues.

6. Mention your years of experience but don't keep mentioning the number of years, mention what you have learned.

7. Don't mention you took the NCLEX a bazillion years ago and it was a two day, pen and paper ordeal.

8. Don't talk about retirement even if its approaching. I was asked what my 10 year goal was in a recent interview. I told them that a DNP was still on the table. (This is not on MY table, but I also didn't want to tell them that I wanted to be retired in 10 years).

I think age has huge relevance to today's nursing market but I also don't think that others perhaps value age as asset but rather look at it as a deficit.

Ha Ha. I have considered dyeing my hair. It took a whole darn year to grow out. Honestly

I also thought about a wig for interviews really!!! I have only been off since March so there is no more of a gap than many folks have post birth. I appreciate your insights. Maybe some kind of temp dye???

Specializes in Critical Care.
Well. I was not at that level. My job was more of education/quality type of work. I did occasionally help on the unit which was fine with me. I think those type of people have a lot of connections. There are some great people in upper management, but also many fluffed up people. I had a nice salary and worked mostly days. I also did a lot of projects at home. I drive a cheap car and live in a semi detached house so I am not at that level. It frustrates me when I get interviewed by upper management who seem to want me to have a magic wand and be listed as lead author on ten nursing research articles. I genuinely care the patients' welfare and am passionate about what I do. Unfortunately, I don't have supernatural powers to persuade 50% of the staff to join the clinical ladder or exercise mind control over docs and mid levels with huge egos. I do envy the high level managers their confidence and ability to spin their stories!

I'm sorry, it wasn't fair of me to bring up the situation as it didn't involve you and thankfully you are not one of those arrogant people. I was just so steamed when my friend who was the only staff nurse on the committee told me about what went down. I know of probably half a dozen nurses who we're demoted with pay cut, most involuntarily, a couple that voluntarily accepted a pay cut because the ever changing requirements to maintain the clinical ladder were burdensome.

I know this is off topic, but do most clinical ladders have demotion clauses? By us it was rolled out with great fanfare as a solution to low pay and wage compression as the next best thing since sliced bread by a CNO who was intent on achieving magnet status for the hospital. But I was shocked by the demotion clause and in all my years of working I've never heard of a pay raise followed by the ever present threat of a pay cut in the future. Frankly, it is so extremely disrespectful to nurses and makes a mockery of nursing as a profession! For that reason I refused to climb the ladder, otherwise I might have considered it. Even for the nurses that did many regretted it when the yearly portfolio was due and of course the loss of morale to those who were actually demoted with a pay cut. In fact it was even more of a pay cut than the raise they originally received since it was based on a percentage.

But that issue aside, it is hard and can take a long time to get another management, educator or admin job because there are many candidates while corporate healthcare is constantly downsizing in any way they can! Where I work, we've lost several supervisors and educators over the past couple years since we were taken over by a corporate entity. It was very sad all the way around. In fact I lost the best boss I ever had, but I was happy to hear she landed a position quickly with a well respected competitor! After we lost her, the unit really unraveled and we lost half our nurses who decided there was no longer any reason to stay! She was such a great supervisor, hands on, helpful she truly had your back. She took a staff nurse position which I'm sure was a fairly smooth transition because she had been so hands own. It may simply be easier and faster for you to take a staff position. I know another supervisor who was laid off and took a staff job until she found another management position. You can always keep looking for the management position you really want, but have current work experience and a paycheck in the meantime. Have you considered nursing homes and home health for a management job?

I would suggest focusing on your passion and enthusiasm for the job, for teaching new nurses and building morale. Don't be discouraged if it takes time to find another admin job as I believe that is the norm these days.

Specializes in Critical Care.
Ha Ha. I have considered dyeing my hair. It took a whole darn year to grow out. Honestly

I also thought about a wig for interviews really!!! I have only been off since March so there is no more of a gap than many folks have post birth. I appreciate your insights. Maybe some kind of temp dye???[/quote

Dyeing your hair would probably help. Age discrimination is a problem in our society especially for women unfortunately. It may just take more time to find the job you are looking for. Best of luck in your job search!

HaHa! No offense taken. Nurses can be brutal to one another! Practicing what your preach is important. In a leadership role, you need to show compassion if you demand it from your staff. Sometimes, in my experience, the ladder programs are designed by folks very much about research or professional image. This is great except that many times those on the ladder are more about the hands on care. Of course, it is connected, but the vantage point is a bit different. I was on a clinical ladder review committee with a person who felt she was better than all others, even the other committee members. She really ripped into a pretty decent nurse who wanted to be a level 4. She would only let her be a 2. I actually had been pulled to the unit as a staff person and I tried to tell her that this candidate that this was solid nurse who was recognized by peers as a leader. She didn't like the portfolio so that nurse was ouuta luck! It is very discouraging and unfortunately there is often a disconnect. The jerky people in any role give others a bad name I guess.

Why don't you try working for an insurance company or in education at a facility if you like that. The best part about nursing is you can reinvent your self over and over.

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I have been looking at some Case Management/Insurance Jobs. I don't find too many that don't require a day or two a week in an office several hours from home. One required a license in DC. I am not in a compact state so in addition to the drive. It can be a little by process.

The college I interviewed for is checking my references. That seems promising! I also have a a phone interview for another hospital based education job and a Clinical adjunct for another college. All are an hour away which is doable. If I do the college job, I will need something prn because the pay is low. It seems like a great opportunity. Unfortunately, I must financially contribute to my relative's care if I am able to do less of the care myself. That is expensive. For the hospital job, the hours are worse BUT the pay is better. I don't have an offer yet, so we shall see!

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