Sure didn't expect this!

Is this REALLY ok? Ask for less money? To just accept that after of humping your behind for YEARS (in my case 35) and say it is ok to be paid as a new grad?

If that is the case what sort of precedent are we setting?

The whole thing makes me sick and angry....

I'm just try to help by giving my honest opinion. Do I think it's right for someone with more experience and knowledge than a new grad to get paid like one? No

However, employers now have the upper hand, they get 100s of applications and I guarantee a lot of the applicants are qualified for the position. You said it your self, it's mainly about about experience/age. When employers see 20 years of experience they see higher paychecks. Older nurses also tend to be pickier and complain more about the stress of the job. Not all employers are like that and I hope the OP finds one that isn't. I also advise that the OP be open to different specialties and facilities within the field.

I got questions, what kind of facility, area of specialty, and what position are u apllying for anyway?

Sometimes it depends on what kind of position. Especially for your 22+ experience you are overqualified for a staff nurse position.

Can you get on a list to be a substitute school nurse? Sometimes that's your "in" to a permanent school nurse position. Also, private duty agencies are ALWAYS looking for nurses.

I hate to say this but here it goes.... How about a make over with some good concealer ? My mom is a RN who is in her 50's. She naturally looks young but her make up and youthful style makes her appear younger.

BTW- I think it is sickening that experienced nurses are treated this way.

I just want to point out that nurses are often their own worst enemies. Have you written to your local and federal government representatives? Have you done any research into how many nurses in your state are working on a visa? Is your state hiring nurses from overseas?

Much of what happens in nursing is based upon politics and the lack of leadership and support nursing organisations give their members. Corporations are the backbone of Capitalism and they have no interest in anything but profit. Have you spent any time learning about philosphy? Politics? Social theory? How do you vote? Does your vote support the staus quo?

I empathise as I am a minority and have spent much of my life facing discrimination. It does exist and it is real to me and always has been. The sad thing about ageism is that many white "Baby Boomers" have lived a great deal of their lives without ever knowing how it feels to face discrimination. You have become expensive labour in a corporate world where profit is king and quality is questionable. Think Walmart....

@aklgap, the greenmile is in Michigan and in the past Canadian nurses from Ontario have been hired to work in Michigan under the NAFTA agreement. The number of nurses who are registered concurrently in Ontario and Michigan has decreased over the past two years, from 2,262 in 2013 to 1,405 in 2014. If writing to the local and federal representatives will decrease the TN visas issued and help greenmile obtain work, then by all means they should write the letters.

Fellow nurses...the outpouring of responses warms my heart, thank you all for your support. That is the precious beauty of "allnurses". I've done everything from ICU, MH, Occupational Nursing, Home Health, Hospice, Consulting, OR, Travel and more. I obtained ANCC Certification as well. Yes I was inquisitive and hungry for knowledge, autonomy, experience and earnings. It surely disheartens me to think that in this stage of the game I must even consider a return to the education system for a glimmer of hope to become employed into my field of expertise again. Just never expected it is all, this whole thing was a double-whammy. Thanks again my com-padre's :)

Maybe this is regional or site-dependent. I see nurses hired for telephone triage and care coordinator jobs that have long and broad careers, hired for their knowledge and experience. Or it could be the age of the person doing the hiring. Our nurse manager is in her 60's.

I got offered a job this year where they raved about my experience. It was for a care coordinator role and I put every nursing job I had on the resume with dates. The two people that interviewed me were, again, older (that nurse manager talked about her first management role in the 80's).

Best wishes, OP. I hope you find someone that values what you bring to the table.

I was "run" off the unit I worked on last year by a director who only hires new grads. After much bullying he handed me a transfer to the psyche unit and said this is a good place for old people. I'm 58. Well, I went, yes they accepted me. It turned out to be a wonderfully positive experience. I did have to take a hard pay cut.

Recently a friend of mine said there was an opening in their dept, I applied and got it.

I have cut and dyed my hair. Got some advice on dressing hipper. Learned some make up stuff. Bought an elliptical and use it pretty faithfully.

I have started working on my RN to MSN. I turns out that if I had a BSN I would now have a job as the psyche unit director.

I hope to finish my MSN and go into nursing education in a couple of years. I've decided I'm not to old to start teaching. I love to teach the new nurses. I might live and teach for 10 years. Who knows. It just seems like the thing to do. I would like to step away from bedside eventually. It is true that the older you get the harder it gets to find a job. When you do get one never tell anyone your age.

I was "run" off the unit I worked on last year by a director who only hires new grads. After much bullying he handed me a transfer to the psyche unit and said this is a good place for old people. I'm 58. Well, I went, yes they accepted me. It turned out to be a wonderfully positive experience. I did have to take a hard pay cut.

You just let this stand? HR should have been notified about this blatant age discrimination, and then your compliance hotline.

ltc and home helth,

move to Texas

im 65, two years ago I was working LTC, that preferred their DONs new grads., no experience, in that they could mold into their pattern, they got in trouble, and was tickled to have this ole fossil pull thru good DADs survey......