does age REALLY matter?

[pinkynbd_99]

O.k. I don't want to offend ANYONE out there, I just want to know what are the opinions of different people and maybe not feel so bad for thinking this way. I'm currently attending an ADN program and I'm so happy that I was accepted to nursing school. HOWEVER, I have to say, It really gets me thinking when I see the OLDER crowd, and what I mean with that is people who are OVER 50, who get into nursing school. Now, I have NOTHING against ACCOMPLISHING a life-long dream! I'm all for that, but... REALLY if you're over 50 years old, it takes 2 years to become an RN. How much longer can you work and before you retire?

And so my question is, do you think that person's spot would have been better off to a younger person who could aleast work MORE than 15 years in nursing before it's like, "oh, I can't no longer catch up with all the action?" I mean, we are in a nursing shortage, and we have enough nurses retiring as it is...to now have new nurses that won't really last that long in the field.

You can start biting my head off now!

[widi96]

I would imagine that the original poster is in her early 20s and more interested in the bar scene and possible marriageable opportunities than she will be in nursing.

The OP said she has been married for 9 years and has three children.

[saag57]

As I began reading this....I felt as though I knew where you were headed. And yes, I did feel a bit insulted , initially; however, I was pleasantly surprised by the response & support given by many of our nursing "sisters"! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the positive comments in support of us "older gals"! Thank you!

I am a 50 year old nursing student scheduled to graduate in December, if all goes as planned. I must admit I have shared many of your same concerns: "How long will I be able to work?", "Will I be able to keep up?", " "Can I take direction from someone HALF my age?", etc. Believe me I've thought long & hard. To answer your question, I plan on working for at least 20 years, as long as my mind & body hold up. I'm in great physical condition (if I say so myself - possibly better than some of those in my class) & have consistently maintained a 3.95 + GPA throughout school.

Life experience, I believe, helps to grant us all a bit more compassion and sensitivity. I know we've all witnessed this - not just in the medical field. It really depends upon the individual & how they approach life in general. I'd like to think I'm bringing more into the field that I'll ever take out! That's my story & I'm stickin' to it!

[Scrubby]

pardon me, but i've always thought that the expression "nurses eat their young" referred to some experienced nurses picking on some poor newbie who didn't deserve it for no good reason. this person came on a public board and asked a "question" in an offensive manner -- either they're trying to start a controversy (in which case they've succeeded) or they're clueless and need to learn.

um pardon me but the op is a nursing student so definitely a newbie. the only offensive comments i have found on this thread so far is the responses made to her. as i said before the question may have been worded in a more sensitive manner but i think it's a topic worth discussing. this is a public board, if people here can't handle a bit of controversy without resorting to sarcasm, name calling etc then i guess that they are clueless and need to learn a bit more maturity and tolerance :wink2:

anyway to respond to the original question i believe nursing should be a career open to everyone of all ages. but saying this i also firmly believe in equality. when i was a student there were older nursing student who seemed to think they should have easier patient loads, shifts etc because of their age. and i also work with a lot of older nurses who don't scrub for long cases, leave it all up to us which is extremely unfair and does make me think they shouldn't be coming to work if they can't do the work. if you can't deal with the workload, shift requirements whatever your age is then nursing is not for you.

[Scrubby]

This one really made me think before I decided to comment....

I would imagine that the original poster is in her early 20s and more interested in the bar scene and possible marriageable opportunities than she will be in nursing.

Ummmm a pity you didn't READ before you commented lol. If you did then you'd find the OP has been married 9 years with three children instead of making silly comments like that.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Closing thread. As OP said she is done with this topic.

Thanks.