<p>I maintained my New York professional RN nursing license but have not worked as a nurse in about 25 years. I have done research and medical writing but I now have a tremendous desire to do something to help people one-on-one and directly. Does anyone have any suggestions? </p>
<p>I have looked into nursing positions and they all require recent hospital employment (last 3 years).</p>
<p>I would love to start my own business but am unsure what I can do. I have a nursing background, a community health Masters degree and a passion for helping others. I am an extremely caring, compassionate person.</p>
<p>Have you thought about doing home hospice? You can start working for an agency and maybe branch out on your own. As difficult as hospice care can be, it can also be very rewarding.</p>
<p>No matter what you decide to do, I highly recommend that you take a VERY good refresher course. Find one that includes both a focus on the “book stuff” (we’ve learned a lot in 25 years) as well as a clinical component. Many refresher courses have a requirement that you go back to a clinical environment and put in hours much like a nursing student would. This will be scary and uncomfortable, but really invaluable.</p>
<p>Personal Care Attendant? I have a dear friend who is an active and independent quadriplegic, he relies on PCA’s for daily necessities. Some of his attendants have had several clients they care for throughout the day. They make decent money and don’t (necessarily) have to work long hours. They do need to be consistent though and not flaky.</p>
<p>questbest,similar situation here. BSN worked in hospital until S1 came along 25 years ago. Then S2 came along less than 3 years. Have been a preschool teacher at a child development center for last eight years but have been toying w/ returning to the healthcare field in some capacity when DH and I relocate to our “retirement” destination next year. One thing I know for certain is that I don’t want to go back to hospital shift work…too old for 11-7 anymore!</p>
<p>Here in CA there is a shortage of school nurses. In part this is because they now require Masters. What about school nursing? The Community health Masters would be in line with that.</p>
<p>In my area of practice, shifts are almost always 12 hours. I’m definitely too old for that! Even when I was young, I always needed a day to recuperate from working 2-3 shifts in a row.</p>
<p>I tried school nursing when the kids were in pre-school - after 13 years at a major NYC hospital. Oldest has since graduated from college and I’m still doing school nursing. (Rather odd when you consider my MSN is in Acute Care of the Adult.)
Last year, I looked into on-line teaching and got a job teaching Health Assesment and Public Health Nursing for one of our local universities.
One thing I have learned from my students is that there is a wealth of opportunities out there. I can’t believe some of the jobs these nurses have - fantastic!
PS I absolutely hated 12 hour shifts. Sure, the time off was great but I found it to be most unsatisfying from a professioanl perspective. On my surgical unit, I would spend days doing bowel preps, pt. teaching - all great - only to be off for 3 days and come back to find the patient ready to walk out the door. The lack of continuity for me was awful. On the other hand, I assume today most patients don’t stay in the hospital for very long…</p>
<p>Many nursing schools offer refresher classes for just this situation. I would highly recommend one as things have changed SO MUCH in the last 25 years! Technology is pushing the knowledge base of RNs at a very rapid pace…
There are so many different career opportunities for Nurses, but it sounds like you would really like to return to hands-on, patient care…While those are often 12 hour shifts (or the old 7-3, 3-11, 11-7 shift) there are areas when you can have more “normal” hours…think oncology infusion centers, ambulatory care (both usually normal business hours), Day-Surgery centers, etc.<br>
Good Luck and welcome back to nursing!</p>
<p>One other field that might appeal is public health–immunization campaigns, COPD, asthma, obesity, etc. There are quite a few RNs doing research and outreach in these areas. I also agree that a good refresher course and considering what YOU want to do is key. Case management of worker’s compensation and/or complicated cases, patient navigator for folks trying to get insurance and/or cancer treatment is another area.</p>
<p>Many newGraduates are having difficulty finding work out of nursing school. Here in NY there is a surplus and hospitals can pick and choose who they want to hire. Several new grads I know got hired as Nursing Techs then in several months were hired as nurses in the same institution. Good luck!</p>