I think that I may be the oldest male nursing student when I enter this fall

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I have completed my pre-req's after this semester and have applied to a couple of ADN schools. I've been assured that my scores are high enough to get into either of the schools. I will be 64 years old when I start this fall. I decided after retiring from a career in medical diagnostic sales to do this because it is something that I've always wanted to do. I became interested when serving as a Navy Hospital Corpsman but got sidetracked and ended up with an MBA in Healthcare Administration and a long successful career. Now I am fulfilling a dream. I'm in great physical shape with good longivity genes and expect to work at leat 10 years when I get through school.

Am I the oldest guy doing this?

Well that is a concern of mine ......how long will I be able to work? For at least 10 years I hope.

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.

Judging by the appearance of some of the RN's I've come across, you can apparently work until you are dead.

:saint:

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LOL-What better place to be dead, than in a hospital?

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Judging by the appearance of some of the RN's I've come across, you can apparently work until you are dead.

:saint:

I used to be a flight attendant, and I had the same thought about some of them :chuckle

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
Judging by the appearance of some of the RN's I've come across, you can apparently work until you are dead. :saint:

LOL-What better place to be dead, than in a hospital?

Oh good, because starting nursing @ 41 for me means that I don't really have to worry about a long retirement. I was planning to stay in nursing for at least 30 years (God willing! :bowingpur )

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I took an early retirement at age 48, slacked around the country and the world for a couple of years, and am now ready to get back into the fray. The question I wrestled with was whether to return to my previous technical career in aviation, which made enormously more financial sense, or just do something entirely different. I volunteered in a local very urban emergency room last year, and I no longer had a decision to wrestle with. The answer was clear.

I applied to several flavors of nursing program (ASN, Accelerated BSN, and Direct-Entry MSN), and am butting up against decision deadlines. If anyone has some good rationale why one option is clearly better than another, I'm all ears. Regardless, 2-3 years from now the schooling part should be behind me. It's good to know that there are others in similar circumstances!

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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.
I took an early retirement at age 48, slacked around the country and the world for a couple of years, and am now ready to get back into the fray. The question I wrestled with was whether to return to my previous technical career in aviation, which made enormously more financial sense, or just do something entirely different. I volunteered in a local very urban emergency room last year, and I no longer had a decision to wrestle with. The answer was clear.

I applied to several flavors of nursing program (ASN, Accelerated BSN, and Direct-Entry MSN), and am butting up against decision deadlines. If anyone has some good rationale why one option is clearly better than another, I'm all ears. Regardless, 2-3 years from now the schooling part should be behind me. It's good to know that there are others in similar circumstances!

My OPINION...the one that will allow you to challenge the NCLEX in the shortest amount of time...assuming it is affordable to you.

My OPINION...very little of what we do as RN's is learned in nursing school; it's learned OTJ, therefore my opinion that you get it over with as quick as possible. If I were doing it over again, I would've gone for the accelerated BSN. Unfortunately, there were no local options when I returned to school to be an RN, so I ended up getting a hospital diploma (took 17 months), and then finishing a second BS (nursing), two years later.

Now I am completing an MS in a non-nursing field.

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Thanks. That's succinct and sensible. Your approach would lead me to the same option that I seem to be leaning towards--an accelerated BSN program.

Oddly, though, I am realizing that deep within my lizard brain one of the subconscious motivators has been to get a Masters. It certainly isn't the prime motivator, or even practical, but it exists. In deciding not to rush directly for an MSN, a bit of self-delusional mental jujitsu seems helpful: it's just leaving options (NP or perhaps CRNA) open for another day.

My OPINION...the one that will allow you to challenge the NCLEX in the shortest amount of time...assuming it is affordable to you...My OPINION...very little of what we do as RN's is learned in nursing school; it's learned OTJ, therefore my opinion that you get it over with as quick as possible.
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Specializes in Flight Nurse, Pedi CICU, IR, Adult CTICU.

I think you and I are thinking alike on this issue, and I believe that delaying the MS(N) is wise because of the evolution of career and thought. I originally thought about pursuing CRNA (motivated by the paycheck), then I thought about an MSN/NP program (motivated by ideology), but now I am completing an MS in a non-nursing quasi-clinical field which compliments my health-care experience and renders a paycheck that competes with CRNA compensation without the liability.

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Another good point--thanks! During my last career, my perspective certainly evolved over time. For years I fought to complete a Masters part-time, but work, life, and out of state assignments intruded. It's reasonable to expect the same in nursing.

Thanks for your perspective. I was having a difficult time letting go of the masters thing, but just mailed off my deposit for the accelerated BSN program. It's the right decision. I'm also concerned that I might run out of gas in a 3 year program. Even the pre-reqs are grinding me down, and I realize that nursing school is an order of magnitude more intense. My skill set has always been in math and hard sciences so all this memorization is way out of my comfort zone.

I think you and I are thinking alike on this issue, and I believe that delaying the MS(N) is wise because of the evolution of career and thought. I originally thought about pursuing CRNA (motivated by the paycheck), then I thought about an MSN/NP program (motivated by ideology), but now I am completing an MS in a non-nursing quasi-clinical field which compliments my health-care experience and renders a paycheck that competes with CRNA compensation without the liability.
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31 yrs old here starting LPN program in August.

Reading this really made my day!:yeah:

I know I'm not that old, but looking around and seeing people much younger then myself all the time is kinda disheartening.

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