Thinking About Starting Nursing School at age 50

Nurses General Nursing

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I am thinking about starting nursing school next August, if I am accepted. I have taken all the prerequisites and would like to make application in March for the class that starts in August. I will be 50 years old when I start. I would like to know if there is anyone with my similar situation. I have a very good paying job with great benefits. I have been with this company for 25 years and I have 6 more years until I can retire. I have been dissatisfied with my job for the last 8 years. I have no promotion opportunity and I feel unfulfilled and would like a job where I can contribute more. I am very scared about pursuing nursing. I do get tired a lot easier these days and I would be scared that nursing would be too much for me down the road. I have thought about other healthcare careers, but nothing really interests me as much as nursing does. Is this crazy of me to think that I would be able to do this. I want so much to have something to look forward to like this.

i am thinking about starting nursing school next august, if i am accepted. i have taken all the prerequisites and would like to make application in march for the class that starts in august. i will be 50 years old when i start.

thats getting up there, but many ppl remain active as a nurse well into thir sixties. i will say though that when i first started and on regular occasions since i have never been so tired in all my life. some days ive gone home and slept 12-13hrs and my normal is 9.5. tiredness is a factor. however you can choose areas that are less taxing on your body i.e psych nursing ( night duty or pm shifts - smaller wards are what you should aim for)

i would like to know if there is anyone with my similar situation. i have a very good paying job with great benefits. i have been with this company for 25 years and i have 6 more years until i can retire. i have been dissatisfied with my job for the last 8 years. i have no promotion opportunity and i feel unfulfilled and would like a job where i can contribute more.

if you believe that all nurses are satisfied and love their job after being 'called' to do it you would be kidding yourself. nurses are a strange bunch. power is very important to them, you will learn that in your studies that some nurses are very dominant i.e nurses eat their own young is something they taught us at university ...watch yourself ...many of these ive worked with have teeth and they will use them.

there will be tons you can contribute too, if you derive your pleasure from helping others then go for it ...but let me tell you this idea gets old ....pretty soon you start to want more benjamins !!!!!

if your looking for promotion in nursing well you have to do your time first in the trenches and attain further post-grade courses to move up ...all of which take time. time your 50yr old body doesnt have

i am very scared about pursuing nursing. i do get tired a lot easier these days and i would be scared that nursing would be too much for me down the road. i have thought about other healthcare careers, but nothing really interests me as much as nursing does. is this crazy of me to think that i would be able to do this. i want so much to have something to look forward to like this.

see above, but bed-side nursing is very hard work on a busy floor, its no place for the weak with 20 somethings running through their shift. you also need to be mentally sharp; to be able to know a persons care plan and do it (keeping in mind you'll have 5-10 patients to care for ....dont forget to do anything. if you omit to do something and it brings harm to the patient that is negligence! dont let me dissuade you, but nursing is not for the weak or faint of heart. you have to be able to be professionally told what to do and to pick up your act by people that make just as many mistakes as you do ...can you do that??? and pull a double shift and be back up 7 hours later for your next shift, with the bi$ch from nursing hell who's rideng your tail, can you do that??

i love my job, im suited to it, i use my mind and im respected by my peers, my patients love to see me when they hit rock bottom. why because i along with my colleagues are a face in the bleak wilderness that they walk in everyyyyy day ...i make their life easier, i tell them the truth about their care and listen to their woes and educate their faimilies. yes i love my job, but my message to you is think carefully ...you aint no spring chicken honey (im joking!!!!!!!!!!!)

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

Nursing, well, it is just not what the media portrays is to be. There is often not even enough time to properly care for people at all. Just this alone, leaves a nurse to feel like a machine some days. This was one part of the reality that shocked me when I started.

Another reality is that nursing is really hard on your body, I never used to ache, now I ache every day and I am 42 with no health problems and no arthritis but I still find the work very stressful and tiring. I don't work full time and I never want to have to as long all goes well. The crappy reality is I had tons of energy in my twenties and thirties but, not now.

The last reality is that there are some wonderful people in this field but there are just as many people that are happy to throw you under the bus, just like any other work place. When I started, I was surprised at just how cut throat this field makes nurses, due to job cuts and destructive politics.

If I could do my life over, I would not have become a nurse.

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I am 43 and am considering nursing school because I am feeling unfulfilled in my current career, but I would NEVER quit my job in order to go to school. My job is my safety net so I plan to get my ADN by taking classes at night and will take my time. If I get a job as a nurse someday then great, but if I don't, at least I can say I'm an RN and I'll have more knowledge than most people about healthcare. BTW, not all nurses work in a hospital so I'm not sure why so many people are posting as if that is the only option. That's not what I plan to do when I finish school.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..
I am 43 and am considering nursing school because I am feeling unfulfilled in my current career, but I would NEVER quit my job in order to go to school. My job is my safety net so I plan to get my ADN by taking classes at night and will take my time. If I get a job as a nurse someday then great, but if I don't, at least I can say I'm an RN and I'll have more knowledge than most people about healthcare. BTW, not all nurses work in a hospital so I'm not sure why so many people are posting as if that is the only option. That's not what I plan to do when I finish school.

The reason people are only posting about hospital nursing is because in order to gain good nursing judgment and assessment skills, and to be able to qualify for jobs with a lighter load, you need this floor experience. You will be competing with many other nurses who do have this experience. In nursing, solid clinical experience is a real must in order to provide safe care and to keep your licence free of any disciplinary actions.

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i think you should really do it. my mom started around 50 something too. and i think shes more responsible for the well being of the patients in contrast to the younger nurses who seem to live for the moment. now im not overgeneralizing things but such is what ive noticed.

anyway i dont know about getting a job tho. good thing i have a backup degree cause i heard getting a nursing job is pretty brutal nowadays. but it is practical as you can use it in ur daily life (take care of a loved one, etc).

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I'd retire first.

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Well, soon you will be 60, then 70, 80, and eventually you will be dead.

Do it now if it's something you want to do. Put together your plan and execute on it.

I have several people in my class who are in their 40-60's. I'm 34 and some people told me I was too old to switch careers. Don't listen to naysayers. Do what you want with your life.

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I started nursing school at age 52. I graduated in August and still not having any luck with a job. I don't think age is as much of a problem as finances. Before I started nursing school I retired, with health insurance, which is a REALLY big deal. There is no way you should go without health insurance, especially if you are going to nursing school. It is extremely stressful most of the time. Also, you must be sure you can handle it financially. I spent most of my after tax savings getting to this point. I still have my retirement, but accessing it before age 59.5 can be VERY expensive. Six years may seem like forever, but if I were you, I would hang in there.

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Hi I just graduated ADN May 2009 and I'm 48 soon to be 49. I say go for it! If you have the resources to stop working for 2=3 years and dedicate yourself to lots of hard work. And there seems to be at least one soul crushing Clinical instructor bent on washing you out but persevere. But in the end when you are an RN you dont have to be a bedside side nurse. New grad jobs are hard to come by now but things may be different when you graduate. Good luck. Peace

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Be an ICU nurse. It's easier on your body.

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Specializes in geri, peds with ventilators, home health.

Go for it. I was 47 , I had more time to study since the kids are grown and out of the house. I have been a nurse for 2 years and I am thinking about furthering my career.

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Go for it. I was 47 , I had more time to study since the kids are grown and out of the house. I have been a nurse for 2 years and I am thinking about furthering my career.

So you are 77 years old????

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