New Student, Old Bag going back to school! Could use some encouragement!

Love it - exactly why I'm 44 now, taking pre-reqs, and off to nursing school in the fall (I hope - alternate at the moment!) - My neighbor, retired psychiatrist, said the same thing, "well, how old will you be anyway?!" and reminded me that I still did not HAVE to have a full-time job away from home.....

Welcome and like you I'm fairly new to Allnurses. I'm 41 and will be taking my prerequisites in August. It's so awesome to see other older folks going back to school. I too found this site to be very informational and very supportive. There are so many experienced nurses on here to give you great advice. It had really been a great motivator for me.

I am also an older student, Ive been going to school for about 4 years. I just got into the nursing program and I am very nervous.I work full time and honestly It does concern me with the schedule.I have committed to do my best and give it all I have. I will get through this, as you will. I was happy to see another older student going through similar feelings I have. Heres to Us...

alternate no more!! acceptance letter received Saturday, 5/29.....

Hey Andrea, Don't doubt yourself at all. I went to nursing school and obtained my RN at 55 and my BSN the following spring. I started working on my MSN this January and with any luck and a lot of hard work should be a FNP with a MSN before I turn 60. I work full time at a very busy intermediate care unit. There are a few coworkers who are my age or a little older but many of them are burned out and worn out, they have been on the job so long. Most of the nurses who started either just before or just after me are 20 somethings with a few 30 somethings thrown in. I won't kid you at all, I am a good student, I hold my own with the best of them. When I hit the floor I expected to work hard but basically did not expect the enourmous challenges I found. Nursing is a very hard field to learn once you get the degree and go to work. It is challanging mentally, emotionally and physically. You have been an aide, so you do have a clue as to what you will be expected to do. I had been a medical social worker in this same hospital years ago, but had no idea of the intensity of nursing.

The learning curve is very steep, you will question your sanity for getting into this field, however one day at about 8 months you will find yourself breathing a bit easier. Then in about a year you will look back and see how far you have come and you will smile. You will run into some more bumps, maybe some pretty hard ones, but you will be able to use your life experience to get through it. Some coworkers will be wonderful, they will be supportive and great teachers and friends. Others will look at you expecting you to fail and do nothing to help you when you feel like you are drowning, maybe even pushing you down in the current a little. If the saying "what doesn't kill you makes your strong" applies to any career field it applies to nursing. Personally I would rather have a good bit fewer muscle building opportunities, but the fighter that I am meets these challenges head on. Nursing contains the best and unfortunately the worst of career experiences to which I have been exposed and this is my third career.

The twenty and thirty somethings accept me in an odd way, sort of as a curiosity. Earlier it was almost like they keep expecting me to faulter, but often they turn to me for advice and support. The gals closer to my age are shocked that I would want to do this after having a "desk job" which they see as higher status, with little work, for almost 30 years. Physical condition is very important on my floor. When you can't keep up, you are regarded by the majority as useless, so just be aware, take care of yourself physically, because the herd will trample you if you fall. Put a lot into your job, but remember it is not who you are. As awsome as nursing is, make sure you have a life outside of nursing.

I may sound like I don't like my job. I actually love it and know that I absolutely made the right choice in going to nursing school. I am able to see the good, the bad, the ugly and the wonderful in this job which gives you 4 free days per week to do what you want to, gives you the opportunity to make life and death differences in peoples lives, and gives you the opportunity to help teach other nurses, and to influence them to bring out the best in themselves and others. Nursing is never ever boring at least on my unit. I learn loads of new things almost every day. I have some phenomenal coworkers. I once had the experience of a patient with a tramatic brain injury coming out of a coma and responding to my usual "chittchatt" to coma patients by saying to me "you are so nice." That was a high point in my early career!

Keep going bravely forward but go with your eyes wide open! You sound like you will make a great nurse. We are not old bags by the way. I am a fairly new nurse with 57 years of life experience!

Mahage

NOT!

Mahage the fairly new nurse with 57 year life experience!

Age is just a number, remember that, it's how you feel on the inside that counts. I"m new as well but welcome. :-)

Andrea:

Thanks for posting it. I have yet to read the entire thread but I just know I'm gonna find some good stuff! I am finishing up my prerequisites this Fall and hope to enter a nursing program Spring 2010. If that doesn't happen, I'll try again for Fall 2010. I'm 54 and have been a paralegal/legal assistant for the last 20 years. It was a career that chose me rather than the other way around. I have a B.A. and my plan as an undergrad was either nursing or medicine. Marriage, children and divorce got that all turned a$$ backwards. Now my youngest is leaving the nest and it's time for ME!

I know I'll be one of the oldest if not the oldest in my class. But I don't much care. I guess I'm in what Susan Levine calls the "Eff You Fifties!" I'm really looking forward to this second part of my life, although I have to admit that I'm a little worried that I won't have the stamina to keep up.

Another of my big worries is finances. I'm single so I have to support myself and I live in a very expensive part of the country (DC Metro). So I suspect I may have to sublet a room in my home or find a room in someone else's home (I currently rent) to make it financially.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get as physically healthy as I can, getting the house in order, saving my pennies, and stretching my brain. And reading everything I can here.

Lori

Hey Lori, I started the prereqs for nursing school at 50 after over 30 years as a social worker. I graduated with my RN at 54 and my BSN @ 56. If I continue on I will get my MSN just before I turn d60. I work at a very busy intermediate care unit in a level 3 trauma center. We stay extremely busy. I not only keep up, i out work a lot of my younger coworkers. Most of them are much much younger. I do find that I am not as agile or physically strong as some of them, but what I lack in those areas, I make up for in others. I manage to prioritize quiet well and generally get finished fairly sooon. I am able to assist others when needed. Hang in there.

Mahage

After working for many years as an C.N.A. I went back to school and got my L.P.N. AT 45. I never thought i could do it since i speak another language and had to learn English. I now work for the Federal Goverment full time as an L.P.N. Currently am 48 and taking pre-req to enter the R.N. program. Is never to late to pursue your dreams and reach to touch a life. Nurses come in all forms and ages. I will be done in my fifties God willing. For me this path has been a long time dream. I cannot see myself doing anything else . Nursing has been a struggle from the begining but is in my blood to help others. Determination hard work and faith had made it possible for me to be where i am now. God bless all the nurses (ANGELS OF MERCY) from the C.N.A.s to the R.N.'s in top.