My mom has been a nurse for 40 years and can’t find a job. What can she do?
My mom (early 60s) has been a nurse for 40 years and I’m trying to help her figure out next steps.
She was recently let go from her job (absolutely unfairly and the day before she was about to take a short medical leave to have a surgery), and now she’s struggling to find something new. She’s a licensed RN and state-certified, but she does NOT have a BSN because she was grandfathered in decades ago. Now it feels like that’s becoming a huge barrier.
Most of her experience is in SNFs/long-term care, but that kind of work has been really hard on her body and I don’t want her going back to that if possible. At the same time, that’s where the bulk of her experience is, so it feels like she’s stuck.
She’s been applying on sites like Indeed and keeps getting pulled toward what seem like sketchy travel contracts in low-income or potentially unsafe areas, which doesn’t feel appropriate for her at this stage/age.
She’s really discouraged and honestly questioning her worth right now, which is hard to watch after such a long career.
I personally think she could consider leaving bedside nursing, but she really doesn’t want to.
So I’m trying to help her figure out realistic options:
- Are there roles for experienced RNs without a BSN at this point?
- What kinds of jobs should she be targeting that are less physically demanding?
- Are there better places to apply than Indeed/Monster?
- Has anyone seen hospitals or outpatient settings hire non-BSN nurses with lots of experience?
- Any advice for older nurses job searching right now?
I’d really appreciate any advice or ideas. I just want to help her!