Why Can't I Get a Job?

Dear Nurse Beth Advice Column - The following letter submitted anonymously in search for answers. Join the conversation!

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Dear Nurse Beth,

I can't find a nursing job. I have been a nurse since 1983. I have applied to over 200 hundred jobs since 2013 when I got my Masters degree. I have interviews and have traveled up for 4 hour one way for an interview. I am willing to relocate for my dream job. I have had my resume professionally reviewed twice and have practiced and practiced interviewing, with myself, with other, written down questions, written down answers, sent thank you letters.have applied for entry level up to management.

The only job available is home care and I have done that and do not want to do it anymore. I want a hospital job. I have networked and asked about openings. I keep current with 2-3 ceus per week. I am certified in gerontology, have my resumes posted on different sites. The crux is that I am 57 and overweight so I can't work 12 hour shifts at a fast pace. I am currently working in an office that is not healthcare related. When I apply for jobs I write my cover letter and update my resume to reflect the needs of the position. I do not have leprosy.

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32 Answers

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

Dear Can't Get a Job,

You are an RN with a Master's degree and experience. The missing piece of the puzzle here is your work history and type of experience. You do not say what nursing experience you have other than Home Health. If you are currently employed in a non-healthcare job, employers viewing your resume will want to know what your last nursing jobs were, why you left, and how long you were there.

You may want to consider options other than acute care. There are work from home jobs out there that are worth pursuing.

You are 57 and yes, there is age discrimination in nursing. At the same time, you are landing interviews so your resume is working for you- but you are not "sealing the deal" in your interviews. You may need to prepare in a different way. Here's an excerpt from my book:

To prepare your examples, anticipate characteristics the employer will be looking for. Their questions will be designed to test for those characteristics. For example, you could reasonably expect that an RN employer may want to know about your

  • Personal ethics and insight: "Tell us about a time when you made a critical mistake at work."
  • Customer service: "Give us an example of a time when you went above and beyond in customer service."
  • Conflict Management: "Describe a conflict with a coworker, and how you resolved it."
  • Flexibility: "Tell me about a time you had to adjust to a change at work"
  • Now, think back. Recall a concrete example of going above and beyond in customer service. Think of a time when you made a serious mistake, disagreed with a supervisor, faced an ethical dilemma, and so on. As you think back, more examples will come to mind.
  • Be sure to include at least one example of how you benefited a former employer through your customer service skills, as patient satisfaction is high on the radar in hospitals right now.
  • Your examples can come from school, work or life experience, because what they all have in common is you. You and your behavior. Behavior that illustrates the characteristics they are looking for in a candidate.

All of these ideas have merit but have not worked for me. I have prepared every which way that one can think of and still have not been successful. However, I do want to thank you for your input.

My experience over 34 years of nursing includes acute care, long term care, home care, and administration(which included QI, IC, recruitment and training amongst the many other things I was solely responsible for). As you can see I am highly skilled and educated and there isn't anything I cannot do if a hospital is willing to do some orientation.

In the end I will remain out of nursing as I am unwanted by my own profession. That is my story.

Personally, I would hire an experienced baby boomer nurse over a millennial for many reasons. Studies on nurse retention make those reasons evident. Sadly, due to the lack of funding allocated to nursing departments for salaries nurses will continue to work at breakneck paces, face burn out and suffer physical and mental health issues. Meanwhile excellent and dependable staff are available but are being forced out to pasture. It isn't the lack of nurses, it is the lack of money to hire more nurses. Sound depressing? It is.

You have an impressive resume, an MSN, and extensive experience in many facets of nursing. At least on paper, you have "risen above" the bedside. You mention several non-clinical RN roles.

You admit you are overweight, and at 57, you can no longer do fast paced inpatient 12 hour shifts. Yet this is the only job you considerable acceptable.

I am shaking my head, but when was the last time you did inpatient work?

What was the focus of your MSN?

And how long has it been since you have done health care work? Why did you leave that position?

Your story does not add up to me, and I think it does not add up to employers.

Age discrimination exists, but there is a difference between age discrimination, and an implausible career trajectory.

You would be better off working in HH, and trying to get a different nursing job from there.

If you can't hack 12 hour shifts and that's all that hospitals have...I don't really see the mystery? I bet you could get a job as a staff nurse in LTC any day, and those are usually 8 hours so it's less on your feet on a daily basis...but expecting the hospital to change their needs for you doesn't seem realistic.

Specializes in Hospice.

What specifically is desirable for you about a hospital job?

I worked for a hospital but not in the hospital itself. I don't miss many things about that job.

I am currently employed in an inpatient hospice facility. I'm able to provide the quality of patient care I want and there is enough acuity to challenge me. I didn't "fit" in at the hospital job. I'm a good "fit" where I work now.

My point being is that maybe if you look at what type of work you enjoy that you can look for jobs outside the hospital that meet those criteria. There are many jobs outside the hospital itself... psych, dialysis, hospice, rehab, LTACH, birthing centers and I'm sure many more opportunities.

Good luck in your search.

Specializes in Varied.
Personally, I would hire an experienced baby boomer nurse over a millennial for many reasons. Meanwhile excellent and dependable staff are available but are being forced out to pasture.

Some of your problem may lie here. Mentioning, in any capacity, your discontent with millennial nurses singles you out as a poor candidate. While your experience and education is impressive, your thoughts and views on nurses younger than you is toxic. Companies are going to expect you to get along with new staff and be able to work alongside nurses of varying experiences.

I'm a "millennial nurse" who is competent, dependable, and educated.

Changing your attitude may be the change you need.

Additionally, the VA hires for 10 hour shifts, not sure if that's much better for your condition, but it may help in your search.

Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.

Here's the thing about age...

It's not the number of hours on the airframe, it's how much maintenance and modernization has been done.

I am a solid 53 and yet people routinely think I'm much younger... not because of my body but because of my ATTITUDE. Not only do I embrace change, I actively push for change and improvement. While many of may age-peers still pine for paper and are minimally competent with EMR, I push the boundaries of what we can do with it. When new technology or methods are deployed, I am the first to embrace it and seek to deploy it early. I actively keep my energy level up while I'm at work, despite the fact that I take catnaps at lunch rather than eating. I continue to actively study a second language and use it as much as possible. I treat the young 'uns and newbies as welcome colleagues. I adopt speech patterns which I hear emanating from the millennials and the Xers. I solicit feedback and criticism and sincerely try to make changes off of it. I strive to daily break off the rust and break out of habit and pattern.

Just because I am old enough to have watched live while Apollo 11 landed on the moon doesn't mean that I am not an enthusiastic adopter of technology, that I don't push myself as hard as I can, that I am stuck in my ways and resistant to change. I imagine that that is why I have yet to have difficulty finding new jobs, most recently at the age of 52.

Ageism exists, yes, but the aged also contribute to and reinforce some of the negative stereotypes with which we are labeled.

Sorry to hear your troubles in finding employment. Have you considered case management for a hospital? Also, maybe consider OR. It takes a lot of training, but very suitable for nurses who cant do 12hours. I'm not sure where you have been applying, but if you apply in a high shortage area, I'm sure that you may find better opportunities there. Another option is contacting a nurse recruiting agency, especially since you are willing to relocate. You may even be able to get a sign on bonus in the process. Good luck!

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Some of your problem may lie here. Mentioning, in any capacity, your discontent with millennial nurses singles you out as a poor candidate. While your experience and education is impressive, your thoughts and views on nurses younger than you is toxic. Companies are going to expect you to get along with new staff and be able to work alongside nurses of varying experiences.

I'm a "millennial nurse" who is competent, dependable, and educated.

Changing your attitude may be the change you need.

Additionally, the VA hires for 10 hour shifts, not sure if that's much better for your condition, but it may help in your search.

When you preface something with "Personally..." it generally means you don't plan to express that thought in a job interview. I think this poster just means it's usually a good policy to hire experienced vs inexperienced. Today's millennials will be tomorrow's oldsters pushed out to pasture in favour of the fresh, young, less-expensive nurses.

Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).

There are plenty of RNs who are overweight and in their 50s and even 60s. However, they are also able to handle the physical demands of nursing. Someone who is overweight and over 50 can still be strong and fit.

You are getting interviews, so that means you have a good resume and an effective job search strategy. It appears your issue is with what happens in the interview. Maybe you need coaching on how to interview. The other possibility is that you do not look like you can handle the physical demands of the job and you stated you can't work a fast-paced 12 hour shift. Your appearance and making a comment like that are going to give a prospective employer pause and they will pass you over in favor of a qualified, healthy candidate. You also don't say how overweight you are - if you are morbidly obese, then you need to lose weight. And if you can't handle the physical demands of nursing, then start exercising until you can!

I'm 57 and overweight, yet I am also physically strong and have no problems handling the physical demands of being an RN or NP. Before I started nursing school at age 53, I cared for my mother and could physically lift her into the air and she weighed 120 pounds. I'm not talking transfering, I mean picking her up.

There are nursing jobs like case management or claims review that don't require any physical fitness, so look into those. Clinical research is another possibility. And for your own health, start a reasonable diet and exercise program.

Specializes in Critical Care.

You didn't say what your current job is and what it entails. You didn't mention what your MSN is in. Is it in management or education? Is your current job relevant to the jobs you are applying for? Frankly MSN's are a dime a dozen and I think anyone can get one if they are motivated and willing to spend the money. It sounds like you are applying for management jobs. I can tell you from the corporate healthcare system that has taken over my hospital they run things lean and mean; the least staff they can get away with both for staff nurses and admin, management and educators. There may be a glut of MSN Rn's you are competing with, who may have more relevant experience, plus ageism is everywhere. You don't say how overweight you are but I do believe for management jobs the better your appearance and ideal weight the more of an advantage you have. As a staff nurse, especially working off hours, there is less emphasis on appearance.

My hospital has laid off so many supervisors and educators it is ridiculous. Those people with current hospital experience are going to have an edge over someone who doesn't have said experience and is working in a non-hospital setting. Even for them, things are rough, two of our CNO's who were fired over the years found it took a year to find another job and one is living in a rural area around 200 miles away from her home! We had a wonderful, caring educator who was in her 50's and morbidly obese who was let go due to a political shakeup and it took her 6 months to get a job. In the end, she got a job working as an educator at the local university. These are not good paying jobs, you are adjunct faculty, usually without benefits paid by the class. Thankfully the university union offered health insurance for adjuncts and she already had her house paid off. She was a wonderful person and a great nurse and a blessing to her students. Unfortunately, she had many health problems and died unexpectedly, probably from a cardiopulmonary event.

My advice to you is to look outside the box. What is wrong with the current job you have? Pay or is it not prestigious enough? Some options to consider are working as adjunct faculty teaching nursing students or looking for a job in a nursing home or assisted living facility or working your way up to management from home health. They may be more open to you than a hospital that is running lean and mean and wants relevant experience.

Let me tell you the people that were laid off were all excellent professionals with good credentials and liked by their peers and staff. It was a combination of politics, bad luck, and cost-cutting by corporate that cost them their jobs. They all were older, experienced and obviously paid more than the newer, younger ones that were kept. The ones that were kept were treated crappy too, more work piled on, changing work hours, from full time to part-time and off shifts on the whim of the guy at the top. They are being literally treated like widgets without respect or common decency! Of course, the staff nurses are treated the same! Several times the OP's kept had less education and experience so truthfully it was obvious it was wholly about the money!

Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

I too have an extensive background (due to military moves) and am about the same age. I am considered overweight and well although I can do 12 hours shifts I do not want to any more.

I suggest you hire a HR consult to "groom you" in interviewing and CV writing. A lot has changed the past 20 years and obtaining the current method and wanted CV (also known as resume) will take you far. These services are also offered from the local department of labor.

I always check myself to see if I am coming across in a manner I do not want. Nothing wrong with learning even if you feel you are experienced. Please do not blame our medical profession all the way, self reflection has a lot to do with this as well.

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