Greetings! Advise to give an RN who has not been working acute care for many years. (Still have my license, want to do ER, then FNP) Just can get my foot in the door.

There are refresher courses specifically for nurses who have been out of the game for a long time. That will help you a lot when applying

Apply at smaller hospitals

See if you can job shadow in ER for a day and then talk to the supervisor and tell her you are really interested in a position there if you like it. It shows her you are taking it seriously. Tell her your goal is to eventually become an NP. My daughter worked in the ER for 8 years and did trauma and charge nurse. They really like her work ethic and she went down to 2-12hr shifts a week while in NP school and was offered a job 1 year before she was done with NP school because they really wanted her to stay there.

Look for part time. If you are going back to school, working part time will allow you to go to school and get your groove back with acute care. Good luck.

Hello,
I have not been in acute care since 2015. Have been a FNP since 1998. Bedside nursing has changed forever the patients are much sicker than before however, check out residency programs at local hospitals (community- which is a tad bit slower) otherwise go into behavioral health which is considered acute to get your feet wet. And you can take some clinical refresher skill classes to boost your skill set and confidence.