I've been a nurse since 1993, and have my BSN.  Unfortunately, I've been out of acute care for several years doing behavioral health nursing, and now find I seem to hopelessly limited in employment options.  I keep hearing about the nursing shortage, yet am unable to find anyone willing to give me an extended orientation to refresh my skills and have been told my one nursing educator that there aren't any refresher courses out there to her knowledge because there "isn't a need for one right now."  How can this be?  I would appreciate any advice about how I can get out of this box where I feel trapped.  I loved ICU and telemetry and that's still where the majority of my experience has been.  I didn't realize how quickly I'd be seen as unemployable on a medical unit when I started working in Behavioral health.  Thanks, and best of luck to all you new grads and old hands like me who are trying to get a fresh start.

I agree with Janet Landis. I had been away from nursing for 17 years, when I took a nursing re-entry course. The problem with the re-entry course I took is that it did not include a clinical component. Now I am looking for a job, and although there are plenty of job offers posted, they all say they require a year of acute care experience, and many of them are now specialized, requiring certification, etc. I, too, enjoyed ICU and telemetry but I figured I would have to try to get a position on a med.-surg. floor, probably on night shift, just to get back inside the hospital. I haven't had any luck even getting an interview so far. I don't think I can go back to nursing school, and I don't really want to spend the time, effort and money to get my masters degree, so I feel like I am stuck in the middle!  I think that nurses like us who have been out of the hospital and would like to go back into it are a resource that our profession should look into retraining and getting us back into the hospital. I know I have some value that is not necessarily found in the new grads, such as emotional maturity, not planning to move, and not planning to start a family. I am determined to keep trying to land some kind of job in a hospital, and then hopefully move into more desirable units/shifts one step at a time. Good luck to you, too!

if you are open to relocating, you should look into Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX. There's a residency program for new grads and experienced nurses moving into a new area of practice. It's where i did my externship and I hope to return someday. It's one of Fortune100's Best Places to Work.

ps- I believe day shift there is about $26/hr and there's a differential for nights.

Sorry, I need to complete thoughts before entering posts. The pay i mentioned was for new grads, so you'd likely get more. And I think the hospital is committed to hiring BSN-prepared nurses. The lady who is in charge of the program is great and so supportive to help nurses meet their goals and excel in nursing.

Janet L and Janet P  I understand exactly what you're experiencing.  With a lot of facilities trying to function with up to 50% less staff there is no nursing shortage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm an RN who would like to return to hospital nursing also.  I was told the same "there are no refresher courses".  Sooooo........ employers I've talked to have also said "you need to have more recent critical care experience"  and you can't get critical care experience because you need to have it before you get a job.  I'm not quite sure how that works!   Sounds like a catch 22.  It is unfortunate that having >20yrs nursing experience is not appreciated by potential employers. I would really like to get back to patient centered nursing (does that even exist anymore?) .  Maybe I'm naive,but I left a job in LTC because it became such a toxic working enviroment, I want to work in a professional enviroment with co-workers who are supportive and know the meaning of team work.  I have a strong work ethic and offer reliability,stability, empathy, self knowledge, know the inportance of patient teaching, have experience in a variety of nursing settings, have a desire to continue learning and increasing my nursing knowledge and feel I have a lot to contribute as staff nurse.  The question is why can't we get the job?  I recently realized I'm in "the older worker catagory" but I don't feel like an older worker.  Like you I'm going to continue searching and I'm hopeful something will open up.  Wouldn't it be great if we could apply for a mini internship?  Good luck in your search.     

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DAH

Wow these posts really make me stop and think whether or not I want to spend all of this money on a nursing degree.  If there are no jobs available for students when they graduate due to lack of experience.

i totally agree with u here. i just graduated with my associates and it is so hard to find a job. everything is bsn or associates with experience. theres really limited opportunities in ny for new grads with associates. what shortage is absolutely correct. so now i am signing up for my bsn for january. hopefully i can get a job b4 then. this is really hard to swallow especially when in my opinion the associates holds most of the clinical aspect of nursing courses. im trying my best to not uproot my family to move where there seems to b more opportunities like florida, texas, maryland, and tennessee.