This article (and the YouTube video above) centers around getting back into nursing after a long hiatus.
This was originally inspired by a viewer question that I received in one of my videos. The question and my answer follow below.
The Question
The comment is from eucilia4255 who asked the question in the video that I made on the best nursing jobs for older new grad nurses.
The question she asked was, “What advice do you have for someone who left nursing for over 12 years and wants to return back?”
From how I’m taking this question, it looks like they worked in nursing in some capacity over a decade ago.
They left for whatever reason and now they’re considering coming back to nursing.
Tips to Getting Back Into Nursing After a Long Hiatus
So let’s talk about it.
What should you do if you’re like Eucilia4255 and you’ve been out of nursing for a long time and now want to return?
Here are my thoughts.
1. Understand Why You Left in the First Place
The first thing you wanna do is some soul-searching to understand why you left in the first place.
Knowing and understanding why you left is important because you’ll want to make sure you’re in the right headspace and personal situation to return.
Depending on how long you were gone, getting everything in order to come back will probably take a combination of time, money, and resources.
You don’t want to invest all of that only to regret the decision once you’ve started.
It sounds difficult when I say it, but understanding why you left might not even be that complicated.
For example, maybe you had kids and wanted to leave for five years to raise them until they were in school.
If the kids have all started school and that was the reason why you left, then that’s been resolved, and now you can return to working.
Or maybe you left to take care of a sick child, parent, or dependent, and now that situation is resolved.
These examples are clear-cut and easy to rationalize: “This is why I left; that situation is resolved, or that goal is accomplished, so now I can come back.”
Where issues may arise is if you left for a reason where a resolution is not so clear-cut.
For example, maybe you started nursing and then thought, “Oh, I don’t really like nursing,” or you had a bad experience. So you left nursing and did something else, like real estate.
Now you woke up one day and decided, “I want to get back into nursing.”
For situations like that, you need to do a deep dive to understand why you left and ensure you have a pathway to avoid whatever issue you may have encountered before.
2. Make Sure Your Nursing License is Still Active
All right, so you’ve done the first part, which is some soul-searching, and you know why you’re coming back into nursing.
The next thing you should do is check if your nursing license is still active.
Different states have different requirements, so I’m not even gonna begin to try to go into all of that because some of these rules can vary widely from state to state.
But either way, you just wanna make sure that your nursing license is still active.
If it’s still active, then you potentially save yourself some significant steps. However, if it’s inactive, you’ll need to go through the process of reactivating it.
This will involve contacting your state board of nursing to figure out how to bring your license up to active status after being inactive for however long.
The process can vary depending on the state. It could include continuing education courses, refresher courses, or paying a larger-than-normal fee.
In some cases, you might have to do all of these—take a refresher course, complete continuing education, and pay a hefty fee.
Either way, contact your state board of nursing, or just go on their website and do some research there.
3. Obtain Any Required Continuing Education or Certification
All right, the next thing you probably wanna do is make sure that any continuing education you need is up-to-date according to your state’s Nurse Practice Act requirements.
While you’re at it, you’ll also want to ensure that your basic life support certification or any certification that you’ll need is current.
4. Take a Refresher Course
Depending on the state you’re in and how long you’ve been out of nursing, there’s a chance you might need to take a refresher course before getting your licensure reinstated.
With that said, regardless of your state’s requirements, if you’ve been out for an extended period without working, it might behoove you to take a refresher course.
I would probably say, if it’s been greater than 10 years, you should seriously consider taking some kind of refresher course, even if your state board doesn’t require it.
If it’s been anywhere from 5 to 10 years, it really depends on how confident you feel in your skills and where you fall within that range.
If you’re closer to the five-year mark, you might not need it as much, but if you’re closer to the ten-year mark, taking a refresher course would probably be a good idea.
5. Update Your Resume
All right, the next thing to do is to really focus on updating your résumé. If it’s been a long time since you last worked, I highly encourage you to look at the current resume standards. You can go to NurseMoneyTalk.com/resume, where you’ll find an article with tips and examples.
In the article, I give detailed advice on crafting a modern résumé. There’s also a link in the description below where you can get your résumé professionally done to ensure it looks polished and up-to-date. Considering that you’ll likely have an employment gap, it’s important to present your résumé in the best possible light to maximize your chances of getting hired.
6. Start Looking For Jobs
The next step is to start looking for jobs, and this is actually going to encompass several different things.
A. Start Applying to Jobs
The first thing to do is go to NurseMoneyTalk.com/jobs and start applying to jobs.
B. Start Preparing For Interviews
Next, you’ll need to start preparing for job interviews. Go here to find a wealth of resources, including example interview questions with answers and explanations of what interviewers are looking for with each question.
Additionally, you’ll find tips on the best interview etiquette.
C. Start Networking
Finally, look at networking opportunities.
As an example, see if you know any nurses working in specialties or facilities that interest you.
Contact those nurses and see if they know if there are going to be any upcoming job openings that haven’t been made public yet.
Depending on your relationship with them you could see if they’ll put in a good word for you.
While I’m thinking about this another good idea is to join a professional nursing organization to connect with other nurses or potential nursing managers.
I know networking sucks. But the beauty of it is that you can sometimes bypass the traditional job application process and get an edge in finding the right position.
7. Set Your Expectations
Lastly, depending on how long it’s been since you last worked as a nurse, it’s important to set your expectations realistically.
If you’ve been out for an extensive period, like over 10 years, you should internally prepare for some struggles as you get back into the field.
For instance, some things may come back easier than others. And honestly, if it’s been a really long time since you last worked, you’re probably going to feel like a new nurse all over again.
One other thing—I feel like this is a given, but I’m going to mention it anyway.
You need to expect that you probably won’t be making as much money as you think you should, and you probably won’t be making as much money as a nurse who first got their license around the same time you did but kept working.
