Are we a dime a dozen?

[ThePrincessBride]

Ok, so I am enrolled at a 4 year college, but I am currently taking a couple of prerequisites for the BSN program at my local community college. It seems as though EVERYONE wants to be a nurse, many of the students are in their late 20s and some already have a bachelor's degree. I can't help but feel exasperated. I feel as though I am competing with EVERYONE, and I feel that I am at a disadvantage because some of the older students already have a bachelor's degree.

I keep hearing how there is a nursing shortage, and I can't help but feel that this information is inaccurate. EVERYONE wants to be a nurse. Nursing schools are facing gluts of applicants, many of them are there just to get a job. I feel like it isn't fair for an 18 year old to have to compete with both her generation AND older people who already have college degrees and years of work experience on their resume.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[happy2learn]

Lots of young nurses are having a harder time even getting into school because of the large amount of older women and single mothers wanting to get into nursing, mostly for monetary gain and job stability.

I think this is harsh. I'm not a mom, I'm 24. But my mom was a single mom because my father was murdered when I was a baby. My mom's dream was going into nursing school. She had to put that dream on hold to raise me. She worked 2 crappy jobs just so we could have a roof over our head and food. We never had much, but we had everything we needed. And the moment I was independent, she applied to nursing school. She is in school with me.

She gave up so much for me, I would do ANYTHING to make sure her dreams came true. I would give up my spot if it meant my mom would get in.

I don't think she should be punished or criticized because she couldn't afford school and myself. I wouldn't say she has an advantage either. I would think at a certain age, older is a disadvantage. Why would an employer hire a 50 year old that may only have 15 years of employment left vs a 25 year old that may give them 40 years of employment? Not that everyone retires at 65, just using a hypothetical situation.

You should really start thinking about the older people in your classes as fellow classmates instead of competition. Stop analyzing why people are there. It doesn't matter.

[happy2learn]

There should be a two programs one for people with degrees already and one without lol.

There is a program. It's called an accelerated BSN or MSN, however, they can be extremely expensive. Some people don't want to spend that kind of money when they can do a regular program for less. And most of these people have lives and bills to pay so they can't afford to go to school full time, which most of these are.

[happy2learn]

and to those who keep raging on about how it is all about gpa, test scores, and volunteer experience, what if an older student and a younger student are neck to neck in terms for a spot? should that older student get a spot because he/she is older and supposedly "wiser" and "more mature" than the younger student?

also, should i, an 18/19 year old with a 3.96 gpa, extensive volunteer experience and a newspaper columnist, be refused a spot in a program for my classmate, a pregnant 27 year old who only pushes for c's, has a 3.0, two kids, and no volunteer experience soley because she is older?

umm, no. again, if you think you are being discriminated against because of your age, then you need to contact an attorney. i don't know any place that looks at age. for goodness sake, there are 19 year olds and a 55 year old in my program. obviously, this person met more criteria for the program than you. you need to talk to your school about this. i have a feeling you are not giving us all of the details.

i have a feeling that some older students will say "yes"....ageism in reverse at its finest.

you have a very negative attitude towards "older" people. if you lose the "everyone is against younger people" attitude, you will go much farther in life. i used to have that attitude when i was your age, until i realized it wasn't a good one to have. i knew if i did my best, had a mature, positive attitude, and looked at fixing problems instead of playing the blame game, then i would achieve my goals.

[happy2learn]

Dear God, I see alot of the older students took a line from my post and just ran with it. No need to get offended, but the fact of the matter is this: Most of the older nursing students THAT I KNOW are going back to school because they lost their job or want a job that has a decent salary and benefits, not necessarily because it is a "calling."

And to the Intern, I never said the older people were "evil", so do us a favor and knock it off with the attitude.

I've met many teenagers/young adults who want to get into nursing because of the money and they think there are jobs galore.

[unknownjulie]

I just saw nursing included in a list of "a dime a dozen majors" on a yahoo headline. Is the word getting out that their aren't "unlimited jobs" finally? How did these students from 2010 fair? I was a second bachelor student back when those programs started, so the thread interested me from that standpoint. I have noticed recently some hospitals starting to close and some nurse layoffs. Is anyone else noticing this? What state are you in when you reply?

[unknownjulie]

fare!

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

Seems like California is the only state where nurses are in abundance. New grads have to leave the state to get their 1st year of experience and it is the most popular state for travelers. There are noticeable shortages elsewhere it seems. Pay is also a factor I am sure!

[djksjdalksjf]

Dear lord I hope she didn't get in until she got a few more "old people points"