All Nursing Students 50 and older! I need your feedback.

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Hi everyone,

I am currently waiting to get into nursing school and was wondering how many of us mature students are out there. I recently turned 50 and I am feeling pretty good, in same ways better than I did in my younger years. However, I am not naive enough to think that I will make it through NS without some battle scars. I know a clean lifestyle goes a long way and I have greatly improved my diet and exercise habits over the last few years. I am just afraid that when NS starts and the stress kicks in, all of those good habits will go right out the window. I would love to hear your suggestions and recommendations.

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Specializes in med surg home care PEDS.

I am 58 years old and am graduating in May, with God's help and I mean that literally, my pre-regs and first 2 semesters were in walk in the park, alot of work but do able, however, these last 2 semesters have been rough. It is a tremedous amount of work and stress, I am exhausted, stressed out, and many times ready to give up, Just put one foot in front of the other, and keep going. I would try to keep up with my sleep, good diets, and take some time for yourself every week and you will be fine. You have a good attitude and understand that this is a marathon not a sprint. You will be suprised how much you will learn and how rewarding it can be. Just keep your eye on the prized.

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Specializes in volunteering!.

I am in my 40s and am very excited about starting a nursing program (finishing prereqs now!). I think older students are good at pacing themselves and have terrific organizational skills--great for plowing through lots of school work.

I sure hope I will not be the only more mature adult in my class. Older students are inspiring to me!

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as a 50-year-old who has survived the prereqs and the first one and 2/3 semesters of nursing school, i can tell you that it is quite a challenge. life experience has helped me in many situations in which my younger cohorts were lacking, but they have me beat when it comes to recall and speed of thinking. the work load is tough, but the emotional beating is rough as well. it is hard to be the only wrinkled one who is literally twice the age of the rest of the class. one of my classmates graduated from high school with my son! the key to surviving all of this is to be gentle with yourself. accept that it might take you a bit longer at the study desk than the younger ones, and make sure you keep up your nutrition and sleep. keep your eye on the prize - a career helping others. it will be so worth it. my sister is 65 years old, with ms, and she started nursing school the same semester i did. she is having a blast and making fabulous grades! if she can do it, any of us can! hang in there, and may the best of luck follow you right into nursing school!:nurse:

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Specializes in volunteering!.

now see here emptynstr2, when you say " in many situations in which my younger cohorts were lacking, but they have me beat when it comes to recall and speed of thinking," that's just silly.

(pause)

i'm sorry, what were we talking about?

as far as wrinkles are concerned, i solve that problem by taking off my glasses. that's the beauty of the eyes going.

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I'm 59 and in my second semester of a four semester BSN program. It's plenty challenging, but I find that maturity, good study habits, and decent organizational skils compensate quite nicely for all those brains cells I've lost over the decades.

I manage to keep things together physically by walking five miles per day, trying to eat decently, and making an effort (often in vain) to get at least six hours of sleep each night. I'll admit that I've had a few stress-induced junk food orgies along the way, but in general I seem to be coping about as well as my (much) younger classmates.

For the most part, the material you'll cover in nursing school is not extraordinarily difficult, but the volume of it is pretty staggering. My advice is to resolve yourself that you're going to have little or no free time while each semester is in progress. Be aware that nursing school can be tough on relationships and family life.

You should also try and adjust to the concept that you'll be constantly tested in both the classroom and clinical settings, which seems to catch many people by surprise.

Nursing school will be difficult. You'll be stressed both emotionally and physically. However, I don't think you'll find age to be as much of a handicap as you're expecting.

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Age wasn't my problem, exhaustion was. And everyone was exhausted. If you think of nursing school as a boot camp you'll do better.

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I turned 50 my first month in nursing school and I am graduating next month. I was warned about how it would be harder for me to memorize facts and terminology and retain information. I disagree with that completely. I learned quicker than most of my younger fellow students. (There was probably not a disorder that we learned about for which I did not know someone who had it, and many drugs we learned about I had taken!) Mother-baby is a lot easier when you've given birth. I am graduating with close to a 4.0.

For some older students, you may have more difficulty than the younger folks. But you should not just assume that will happen because you are over 50. It did not happen to me. After raising three kids born within 4 years, nursing school was a snap.

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I turned 50 my first month in nursing school and I am graduating next month. I was warned about how it would be harder for me to memorize facts and terminology and retain information. I disagree with that completely. I learned quicker than most of my younger fellow students. (There was probably not a disorder that we learned about for which I did not know someone who had it, and many drugs we learned about I had taken!) Mother-baby is a lot easier when you've given birth. I am graduating with close to a 4.0.

For some older students, you may have more difficulty than the younger folks. But you should not just assume that will happen because you are over 50. It did not happen to me. After raising three kids born within 4 years, nursing school was a snap.

Hi LBJ202,

I agree with you about the Mother-baby being easier when you have given birth yourself. I have an old NCLEX book for PN's and did the practice questions for Unit VI under the heading of Maternity nursing. I was surprised how many of these questions I got right just based on life experience and what I learned in my A&P classes. Congratulations on your high GPA. You should be proud of yourself!

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I'm 59 and in my second semester of a four semester BSN program. It's plenty challenging, but I find that maturity, good study habits, and decent organizational skils compensate quite nicely for all those brains cells I've lost over the decades.

I manage to keep things together physically by walking five miles per day, trying to eat decently, and making an effort (often in vain) to get at least six hours of sleep each night. I'll admit that I've had a few stress-induced junk food orgies along the way, but in general I seem to be coping about as well as my (much) younger classmates.

For the most part, the material you'll cover in nursing school is not extraordinarily difficult, but the volume of it is pretty staggering. My advice is to resolve yourself that you're going to have little or no free time while each semester is in progress. Be aware that nursing school can be tough on relationships and family life.

You should also try and adjust to the concept that you'll be constantly tested in both the classroom and clinical settings, which seems to catch many people by surprise.

Nursing school will be difficult. You'll be stressed both emotionally and physically. However, I don't think you'll find age to be as much of a handicap as you're expecting.

Hi Mossback,

Did you start your walking routine when you first started NS or was it something you had being doing all along?

I am convinced that exercise will help me regulate my stress. I just worry that I won't find time for it anymore, once school starts. Do you get your walk out of the way first thing in the morning? I used to record my A&P lectures and listen to them while I walked. I got a lot out of that. I hear though that in nursing school the lectures are not always helpful...don't know if that is true or not. As for the junk food orgies I had a few of those myself when I was taking A&P, Algebra and CHEM all at the same time. It managed to get A' s in all of my classes but I ended up 10 pounds heavier at the end of the semester...lol...

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as a 50-year-old who has survived the prereqs and the first one and 2/3 semesters of nursing school, i can tell you that it is quite a challenge. life experience has helped me in many situations in which my younger cohorts were lacking, but they have me beat when it comes to recall and speed of thinking. the work load is tough, but the emotional beating is rough as well. it is hard to be the only wrinkled one who is literally twice the age of the rest of the class. one of my classmates graduated from high school with my son! the key to surviving all of this is to be gentle with yourself. accept that it might take you a bit longer at the study desk than the younger ones, and make sure you keep up your nutrition and sleep. keep your eye on the prize - a career helping others. it will be so worth it. my sister is 65 years old, with ms, and she started nursing school the same semester i did. she is having a blast and making fabulous grades! if she can do it, any of us can! hang in there, and may the best of luck follow you right into nursing school!:nurse:

emptynstr2,

are you the only older student in your class? so far in my pre and co-reqs there has been a good mix of students and in some of them i was not even the oldest one. eng 102 was the " youngest" class i took. the science classes all had quite a few older students in them. i will take your advice to heart and keep my eye on the price!

my hat is off to your sister...the best of luck to the both of you! are you guys at the same school?

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Specializes in Home Care.

I'm 48 :)

I'm finishing up the last pre-req this semester and completing an AA degree. I've been in school forever and will finally have a degree.

Last year I graduated LPN, now that school was a lot of work since it was completed in 12 months and the curriculum was top notch. I wasn't overly stressed out from school, I had family issues to deal with at the same time.

I'm more stressed now since I haven't yet found an LPN job and I'm scheduled to start the RN transitional program in August. I'm also stressing about not finding an RN job next year. For me being unemployed is far more stressful that school.

I quit a decent job to go into nursing...now I'm having second thoughts.

Hopefully a job is around the corner.

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