[Toots71506]

Hi everyone - For those of you who didn't pursue nursing as your first career choice and waited to go back to school, how old were you when you went back to school and then started your nursing career? Were there any of you in your 40's? Was it more difficult because you were older or did you find that to be to your advantage? Will an older student feel out of place? - even though early 40's isn't that old? And lastly, do any nurses work into their 60's or even 70's?

Thanks in advance for all your feedback!

[*Heather*]

I don't think age matters as much as intellect & attitude. I started nursing school on my 40th birthday & am getting ready to go into my last two semesters. I have found it to be an exhausting but wonderful experience. In my opinion, attitude is far more important than age.
Best Wishes~

[kevinmc]

I am now 46 years old male and am going back to nursing school. I found that age does matter. The average person in our curriculum is 36 or so. The younger ones fell aside in the first semester.

We still have a few younger students but as many of those are offset by us 40 and 50 year olds.

I sold a few businesses in Atlanta and decided i could do what i wanted.
There is no field of practice that is more open than nursing. Psych, surgery, law, home care, man just look at the lists of diff kinds of nurses. If you decide you don’t like your field of practice there is quite a diverse field to choose from.

Age.. what is age but a few more laps around the sun. What’s your goal to make money or to be what you really want to be? Both are readily available in this field. What are the alternatives otherwise?

[fultzymom]

I attended school with "older" students. They were like all the others. Some fit in really well, while others did not. Some of them did really well in school and others had a harder time. I liked the different age groups being in my class. It made the class more diverse. It also gave you more perspectives. I agree with the poster above. It is more in your attitude. One of our best students was a mother whom both of her daughters were both in nursing school at the same time!!

[justrissy]

I'll be 38 when I finish nursing school in Dec. Just the right age I think. yeah it has been hard on me and my family for me to be so busy with school but, when I graduate Dec 13th so will they! They have been a huge help to me, my husband and kids helping me study, my husband picking up my slack, family members babysitting, it has been a group effort!
As for nurses working in to their 60's, my mom is 63 and is still working full time in LTC but she is counting the days until retirement.

[suzy253]

I started nursing school when I was 50, graduated at 53 (5/06) and have been working on a super-busy telemetry floor and loving every minute of it. The only problem I had was having to go back to school after having been out for so long. Never too late. Go for it!

[ann945n]

In my class we had just as many older (40 plus) students drop out as the younger ones did. Age makes no difference to commitment to an education. Everyones life is different and things happen and come up that make school more difficult. Evaluate your own personal situation and if you feel you can do it nothing can stop you but yourself. Age is no factor in that IMO

[RedRobin8]

I sure hope age doesn't matter - I'm almost 39, married with two kids, and planning on applying to the local hospital program in January. Personally, I am much more focused on accomplishing my goals at this stage of my life, unlike my late teens and twenties, when I thought I was bulletproof and running through life with my hair on fire. I am also confident that this life experience will contribute to the people skills that benefit a nurse. I hope you will pursue returning to school!

[Beggar♂]

I think age DOES matter.

Having been a traditional college student and then returned in my 30's and now again in my 40's, I find that I become better and better as a student.

I am much more focused than I ever was and I have an ever-increasing body of knowledge, experience, and wisdom from which to draw when I study.

I am calmer and much more able to avoid making "mountains out of molehills". I've worked with many, many different kinds of people and continue to develop more skill at interacting with people very different from me.

Lastly, as an older student, I am much, MUCH more motivated. Anything less than my best is failure and failure is absolutely not an option. I have a family who's counting on me and sacrificing for me to become a nurse. I will not let them down by failing or even adopting the cop-out attitude "Oh well, C=RN...". I may earn some C's but it will be only from aptitude, not from effort.

Age does matter, and it's an asset as far as I'm concerned.

[ptadvocate81]

I'm not sure that age does matter. I graduated at 25 and was one of the younger ones in my class. Overall, we all did well in school. I think that there is often more motivation for the older students. As they are looking more at retirement, paying for kids in college and such. Younger students seem more carefree (often to a downfall) and footloose. I think that anything is possible at any age that you put your mind and heart into. I say go for it! Nursing is awesome and it is so diversified that there is room for everyone! Come on in!