Does age really matter???

SchoolRN,BSN · Jul 20, 2007

I don't think age matters as much as intellect & attitude. I started nursing school on my 40th birthday & am getting ready to go into my last two semesters. I have found it to be an exhausting but wonderful experience. In my opinion, attitude is far more important than age.

Best Wishes~

kevinmc · Jul 20, 2007

i am now 46 years old male and am going back to nursing school. i found that age does matter. the average person in our curriculum is 36 or so. the younger ones fell aside in the first semester.

we still have a few younger students but as many of those are offset by us 40 and 50 year olds.

i sold a few businesses in atlanta and decided i could do what i wanted.

there is no field of practice that is more open than nursing. psych, surgery, law, home care, man just look at the lists of diff kinds of nurses. if you decide you don't like your field of practice there is quite a diverse field to choose from.

age.. what is age but a few more laps around the sun. what's your goal to make money or to be what you really want to be? both are readily available in this field. what are the alternatives otherwise?

fultzymom · Jul 20, 2007

I attended school with "older" students. They were like all the others. Some fit in really well, while others did not. Some of them did really well in school and others had a harder time. I liked the different age groups being in my class. It made the class more diverse. It also gave you more perspectives. I agree with the poster above. It is more in your attitude. One of our best students was a mother whom both of her daughters were both in nursing school at the same time!!

justrissy · Jul 20, 2007

I'll be 38 when I finish nursing school in Dec. Just the right age I think. yeah it has been hard on me and my family for me to be so busy with school but, when I graduate Dec 13th so will they! They have been a huge help to me, my husband and kids helping me study, my husband picking up my slack, family members babysitting, it has been a group effort!

As for nurses working in to their 60's, my mom is 63 and is still working full time in LTC but she is counting the days until retirement.

suzy253, RN · Jul 20, 2007

I started nursing school when I was 50, graduated at 53 (5/06) and have been working on a super-busy telemetry floor and loving every minute of it. The only problem I had was having to go back to school after having been out for so long. Never too late. Go for it!

ann945n, RN · Jul 20, 2007

In my class we had just as many older (40 plus) students drop out as the younger ones did. Age makes no difference to commitment to an education. Everyones life is different and things happen and come up that make school more difficult. Evaluate your own personal situation and if you feel you can do it nothing can stop you but yourself. Age is no factor in that IMO

RedRobin8 · Jul 20, 2007

I sure hope age doesn't matter - I'm almost 39, married with two kids, and planning on applying to the local hospital program in January. Personally, I am much more focused on accomplishing my goals at this stage of my life, unlike my late teens and twenties, when I thought I was bulletproof and running through life with my hair on fire. I am also confident that this life experience will contribute to the people skills that benefit a nurse. I hope you will pursue returning to school!

Beggar♂ · Jul 20, 2007

I think age DOES matter.

Having been a traditional college student and then returned in my 30's and now again in my 40's, I find that I become better and better as a student.

I am much more focused than I ever was and I have an ever-increasing body of knowledge, experience, and wisdom from which to draw when I study.

I am calmer and much more able to avoid making "mountains out of molehills". I've worked with many, many different kinds of people and continue to develop more skill at interacting with people very different from me.

Lastly, as an older student, I am much, MUCH more motivated. Anything less than my best is failure and failure is absolutely not an option. I have a family who's counting on me and sacrificing for me to become a nurse. I will not let them down by failing or even adopting the cop-out attitude "Oh well, C=RN...". I may earn some C's but it will be only from aptitude, not from effort.

Age does matter, and it's an asset as far as I'm concerned.

ptadvocate81 · Jul 20, 2007

I'm not sure that age does matter. I graduated at 25 and was one of the younger ones in my class. Overall, we all did well in school. I think that there is often more motivation for the older students. As they are looking more at retirement, paying for kids in college and such. Younger students seem more carefree (often to a downfall) and footloose. I think that anything is possible at any age that you put your mind and heart into. I say go for it! Nursing is awesome and it is so diversified that there is room for everyone! Come on in!

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Jul 20, 2007

I started nursing school at age 46. I was not the oldest student by far. One or two were in their 60s. Also had a few 19 and 20s who were outstanding and very committed.

No trouble finding a job at all. The older nurses do tend to migrate to specialties such as ER and ICU. Nursing as a career can accomodate just about anything. There are flight jobs and desk jobs and everything in between. Best thing I have ever done. And I have a physical therapy license, but love nursing much better.

mom and nurse · Jul 20, 2007

Started nursing school at 43, graduated with a BSN when I was 45. Went back to school a year later at 46. Lord willing, I'll graduate by the end of this year at the age of 48 with a Masters in the Adult Nurse Practitioner program.

This was my second time around at college. I had a previous degree from when I was 22. I feel I was more motivated this time and was a better student than I was the first time around.