Becoming a Nurse After 40

FLmomof5 · Dec 6, 2011

I am a new grad in my first med/surg position. I am 49.

I don't look my age either...most folks think I am in my mid to late 30s. The nurses know that I am a new grad, but they treat me very well and don't expect me to know more than any other new grad. I do share with some patients that I am a new nurse. They are surprised, but excited that someone can change course 'late' in life. They congratulate me.

I am thinking of eventually merging my prior IT career with nursing and going for nursing informatics. For the time being, I am loving my position.

Age is a state of mind. Take care of your body and you can be very active well into life! I also think it is a great example for my kids to show that you are never too old to do something with your life! :yeah:

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2011

I became an LPN 2 months after I turned 39. (2008)

I will graduate from my RN program a month after turning 44. (2013)

BSN should be around age 45-46 but that age won't stop me.

Like you I think to myself.. you should have done this after high school. Would have had a LOT of years in by now. Then I remember everything that happened in my life did so for a reason. After high school was just not the time for me to do it. Things did not fall into place until I was much older.

The way I figure the government is saying I cannot collect full social security benefits until I am 72..that minimum age keeps creeping up and up so I may have more years in nursing than I realize..haha.

The average age in my classes is early-mid 30's.

Allison NY RN · Dec 6, 2011

Just thought I'd start a thread about this, because I am probably not the only one out there that feels this way.
So I will be one of those individuals that starts a career in nursing after the age of 40, and I sometimes feel envious of those nurses that are around my age that already have 20 or so years in the profession. So by the time we are 50, they will have @ 30 years while I will only have less than 10. The way I calculate it, I will probably only be able to give 35 years max into the profession, and will be at an age older than most other nurses retire (I don't want to retire at 65, I want to keep going into my 70's). I find myself sometimes wishing I had followed my fleeting instinct to do nursing during my first undergrad years. People try to tell me that I should be proud of the years I spent in another profession (which I am) before I embarked in nursing but the more I spend with nursing, the more I feel regret that I did not start with this profession earlier. I try to resolve my feelings by convincing myself that I can always blend my prior career into nursing (something many people cannot do) and that will give me an edge, which means I will not be delegated to floor nursing for the rest of my working years. I do want to work as a staff nurse for at least 5 years to get the raw experience of nursing, I have no desire even to supervise other nurses right now. Been there with management, done that, and happy to just do my job and make money for now. I think also that in becoming a nurse after 40 not many people will peg you as being a new nurse right away ... but then again, people do say I don't look my age
I just brainstormed the paragraph above so forgive me if it sounds like jibberish .. hopefully you all understood my point. Just want to get new perspectives on this, thanks!

I am with you, as I had never thought much about anyone but myself till after I had kids. My son was born in 2007 so with that said. There is a time and a season for everything. Some simply blossom later in life while others never find "success" after they are burned out with 20 years on the job.

Nursing does a toll on your body remember to find the right fit for you. I am not offering advice, just excited to mention that you are not alone. I will grad from the BSN in April. I was so intimidated when I graduated from RN in 2010 at age 38. I continued school immediately as I think you can never learn too much. I didn't want to be a task worker. I am an analytical thinker, and I like to really understand my patient's holoistic needs. I didn't want a physically demanding job, as I love my body too much to put it through the hell I remember while doing clinical hours. I am not a Med Surge nurse but that is the best thing, you don't have to be.

Some say, "Nurses eat their young", but I would never tolerate this at my age. People judge within the first 3 seconds of meeting you, and you will not be an immediate threat to them, as you may not appear naive. Once again, as I have only heard some of the things nurses do to their own, it may all be just heresay. I never experienced this type of behavior.

My best friend from nursing school is 50 and I only feel pride for her that she took the journey. Younger or older, what does age mean anyway. When we find our calling, we go for it. The better you are for the experience you had. There is so much more to nursing. Age assists in the communication process, I believe. Well back to work, just had to share with a fellow nurse.

LPNnowRN · Dec 6, 2011

I am 48, and I do regret that I don't have that 20 years that other nurses have. I feel like I have much less time to achieve my dream job by getting my BSN or MSN, getting my Med Surg experience. I feel a time crunch because Med-Surg jobs are scarce around my area. I'm in LTC and really love the relationships, but feel the need to keep expanding my skills. I find myself being drawn to cardiac stuff--I've taken 12 Lead ECG Interpretation and I think I want to eventually end up on a cardiac unit, but that means a drive of an hour or so in my rural area. I don't think I'll ever leave the floor, but worry about my stamina ten years from now. I have trouble pushing my regrets aside and looking forward and doing what I can to get where I want to be. I also worry about balancing my wants (money for advanced degree for me) against those of my middle school age children and what they want to accomplish in their lives.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2011

I have a sticker on the inside of my locker--

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

There are days I feel in my 30's and days I feel 90. I finished my RN in 2010, my LPN in 2007. I hope to have my BSN this year, and my NP by the time I'm 50.

Go as hard and as fast and as long as your body lets you!

Altra, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2011

The way I figure the government is saying I cannot collect full social security benefits until I am 72..that minimum age keeps creeping up and up so I may have more years in nursing than I realize..haha.

I'm in your age bracket ... full retirement age for social security benefits will be 67. I point this out because I think those 5 years could be very important when we get to that age!

http://www.ssa.gov/retirement/1960.html

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Dec 6, 2011

I started nursing school at age 45 and now have my masters degree and several years experience. When I started working the families assumed I was the experienced nurse because of my age. It was actually an advantage because I had life experiences to fall upon and could handle crisis without too much drama. Good luck!

itsmejuli · Dec 6, 2011

Don't let regrets consume your soul, be grateful for the here and now.

kdrm · Dec 6, 2011

Some say, "Nurses eat their young", but I would never tolerate this at my age. People judge within the first 3 seconds of meeting you, and you will not be an immediate threat to them, as you may not appear naive. Once again, as I have only heard some of the things nurses do to their own, it may all be just heresay. I never experienced this type of behavior.

There is a good book by Amy Glenn Vega that addresses lateral violence within the nursing profession.

http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Tigers-Nurses-Violence-Novellas/dp/1933638435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323184074&sr=1-1

It wasn't available through my library, but they were able to get it on an interlibrary loan from out of state. It says on the back cover that it also qualifies for 3 CEUs. It's worth reading and I believe it's being used in some nursing programs as a textbook.

I am 41 and finishing up the prereqs to apply to nursing school. I spent some time in the Air Force and the last nine years with the Postal Service. I remember in my late twenties when several friends returned to school for nursing and I couldn't figure out why they would want to do that. I have bad memories as a candystriper in the early eighties and one of my worst memories was the lack of respect the nurses seemed to get. The pay and flexibility was appealing, but I couldn't get over the stress factor.

Then three years ago, my daughter was born two months early. She spent 4 weeks in the NICU at University of Utah Hospital. The nurses were amazing and for the first time I could see myself in nursing. The nurses literally got us through that time. We also had a wonderful resident who really encouraged me to consider nursing. He had tremendous amount of respect for the nurses and really stressed the need for capable, mature people to fill the shortage.

Still it took a couple of years to build up the courage to leave my federal job with great pay and fabulous benefits and start over. If I get in on my first try, I'll be 42 when I start and 44 graduating with my ADN. If I start an RN to BSN program, well I could be closing in on fifty by the time I finish that! I fully intend to work into my seventies too. And I could really see myself spending some time working with Doctors without Borders, once my daughter is grown.

Starting over is scary. But I think I'll be so much happier looking back and saying I was a nurse at least for part of the time.

shamrokks, ADN, ASN, RN · Dec 6, 2011

Age is nothing but a number right?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Dec 6, 2011

my oldest student was 63. she had been married for forty years to a man who told her she was stupid and worthless and never let her do anything she wanted to do, least of all nursing school. and when the old b****** died she took the insurance money and went to nursing school, bless her.

she was a typical student in some ways, except although she was new to nursing she was not new to life. in that she was years and years ahead of the 18-year-old chickies fresh out of high school who were her classmates. she had experienced the vicissitudes of life over decades, had raised kids, and so much else, so she could identify stressors and situations in patients, and they trusted her to listen to them more than someone whose hair wasn't already well on its way to white.

another friend went to med school at 32. when people said, "you'll be forty by the time you finish!" she said, "i'll be forty anyway." good attitude.

good luck!