This morning I applied for a job, as I do most mornings. Not a super high paying job. But something to help me sock away a little money to buy my cat food when I retire who knows how many years from now. Something satisfying, but lower stress than what I have done in the past. Something with enough hours to make it worthwhile.
My resume makes very clear that I am a Registered Nurse who retired 15 years ago, and let her license go inactive. Why did I do that? Well, because my husband finished his doctorate, and wanted me to quit my job, stay home, and raise our kids. Which I did. I also returned to school part time, and earned two more degrees, including a terminal Masters Degree in another field unrelated to nursing. My work history since leaving nursing includes a three year stint teaching undergraduates in my new field. It's super satisfying work, and I am GREAT at it... but working as a part time Art History Adjunct does not really yield much money, since adjuncts are not assigned very many sections to teach.
So I have been looking for a more regular source of income. Something with less stress than clinical critical care nursing, and enough guaranteed hours to make the job worthwhile. Something that would utilize the backlog of skills, both technical and intrapersonal, that I have acquired through the years.
This morning, I applied for a job in a local hospital Post-Partum Unit, as a Nurses' Aide. Do you know what a Nurses' Aide does? A Nurses' Aide takes vital signs, passes fresh water and dinner trays to patients, helps patients up and down to the bathroom, helps patients walk up and down the halls if they need assistance, and changes dirty bed sheets. The requirements listed for this job are as follows: A High School Diploma or GED, and the ability to speak English.
I bet you can see where this is going.
My resume makes clear that, as well as having three degrees and 300 college hours, I also worked as a Critical Care Nurse for 20 years. Do you know what a Critical Care Nurse does? She assesses the vital functions of a critically ill patient, monitors those functions for the entirety of her shift, continuously administers extremely potent, life saving medications in minute amounts , maintains the patient's artificially supported airway, draws lab specimens and calls the physician if there is a significant change in lab values. She is alert for any change in the patient's condition which signals a turn for the worse, and intervenes appropriately should such a change manifest itself. (The knowledge base and skill set necessary for this sort of work is, well, enormous.) She carries out vastly different procedures such as complicated wound care, and precise measurements of intracardiac pressures with equal aplomb. She works side by side with physicians and staff to salvage life and limb under the most precarious of conditions. At any moment, she may be called upon to administer CPR, or take other life saving measures. She will often find herself interfacing with the families of patients who experience profound emotional crisis because of their loved one's illness.
That's what I did. That's who I am.
My resume makes clear I am also quite at home lecturing a class of undergrads about Gothic Architecture, Coptic Vessels, or Abstract Expressionism. My second and third degrees are in Fine Art. That's also who I am.
At any rate, this morning I applied for the minimum wage, Nurses' Aide job that required nothing but a GED and the ability to speak English. A low stress but fulfilling job helping others in the only happy place in the hospital - Post-Partum.
This afternoon, I was turned down for that job after "careful consideration" because I do not "possess the necessary skills."
Did I mention that I am 60 years old?
This job market is a sick, sad joke, ladies and gentlemen.