Coming back after years away: refresher course first, or apply now?
Discussion starterThe question
Nurses on r/Nurses and r/nursing keep asking a version of this: licensed, away from practice for six or ten years, and every application goes quiet.
If you came back, what got you the first interview? A refresher course, a return to practice program, a job somewhere easier to get into first, or someone who knew you from before?
How long were you away, and how long did the return take?
The conversation
2 repliesStart by checking whether your license is still active and what your board asks of someone returning. Some states require a refresher course or a set number of practice hours after a gap, and that requirement decides your first step for you.
If your license is active, the returners who got hired fastest usually did two things together: a refresher course they could put on the resume as recent, and applications to places that train people as a matter of course, like long term care, subacute and home health. A year there and the gap stops being the first thing a hiring manager sees.
On the resume, say what you did while you were away in one plain line. Caregiving, another career, raising kids. A blank stretch reads worse than a reason.
What would you tell them?
Answer from what you have seen. It posts without your name.
