Nurses Returning to Work in Droves; Taking a Closer Look

Featured Guest Blogger July 20th, 2009

Carol Fishman Cohen is the co-author of the acclaimed career reentry strategy book Back on the Career Track and the co-founder of career reentry programming company iRelaunch.com. She can be reached at info@iRelaunch.com. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing released a study about 2007-2008 nursing employment patterns. Here’s what caught my eye:

“Many nurses who had left the field have re-entered the work force to compensate for a spouse’s lost income or health benefits, the study said. About half the increase over the [2007-2008] period came from nurses over age 50.”

A look at the career paths of four relaunching nurses here in Newton, MA, where I live, will give you a sense of the wide range of possibilities open to returning nurses:

“Jane,” an operating room nurse who used to fly on medical helicopters bringing in transplant organs, returned as an elementary school nurse. She was concerned this position might feel like a big step down from her high level, high pressure previous nursing career, but that hasn’t been the case. Jane is responsible for monitoring some very complicated and serious health conditions among her students. She also saved a student’s life by recognizing a child was in early stage, undiagnosed, diabetic shock, and made sure he went directly to the emergency room.
“Silvia,” a hospital nurse who volunteered as a La Leche League leader while on career break, returned to what she calls her “dream job” as a lactation consultant/nurse at a major teaching hospital.
“Diane,” also a hospital nurse, returned to a corporate nursing agency. Nurses from this agency go into companies and set up mini-clinics for administering flu shots and dispensing health information.
“Sheila,” formerly an obstetrics R.N., returned to a minimal part-time schedule by teaching a weekly childbirth class. She then went back to school to get a Master’s in nursing and certified as a nurse practitioner. She is now a nurse practitioner in private practice.

Formalized career reentry programming in all fields is a fairly new phenomenon, as most of the growth has occurred since 2004. Nursing reentry programs are no exception, as we have witnessed the emergence of programs offered by employers, educational institutions, and governments over the last few years. Here are four examples:

Northern California’s Sutter Health’s New Grad/RN Re-entry Program combines classroom and clinical experiences to update nurses returning to acute care environments.
Online educator Nursing Knowledge International offers a Return to Nursing Refresher Program. Seven units covering pharmacology, IV therapy, communication techniques, and care of the chronically ill, are included in this 40-60 hour program.
Australia has introduced two government programs for returning nurses to help cope with a severe nursing shortage. The Royal College of Nursing National Nurse Reentry Scheme is specifically for nurses “whose registration has lapsed and/or who have not practiced for 3 years or more.” The Australian Government’s Bringing Nurses Back Into the Workforce program gives nurses returning after a leave of at least 12 months up to $6,000 Australian in cash bonuses.

Some nurses on career break wonder how to stay connected when they have family or other obligations that keep them from a full time work commitment. Here’s how one nurse did it: “I was lucky enough to add various jobs that worked around motherhood. I covered a shift [at the hospital where she used to work full time] every other week or so, and at one point I temporarily covered one day a week for a couple of months until someone was hired for a position. I also did some phone triage for pediatricians’ offices overnight. I would be nursing my daughter and answering the beeper, talking to parents with sick children in the middle of the night.”

The Vanderbilt study indicates the surge of first time entrants and re-entrants into the nursing profession over the 2007-8 period helped ease but not eliminate the current nursing shortage. The study estimates a shortage of 260,000 nurses by 2020, demonstrating that nursing will remain an excellent career choice for the long term. Nurses on career break should not hesitate to take advantage of an online or employer updating program and start working on their “relaunch” immediately!