For all you 2nd, 3rd or 4th career RN's?

biker nurse · Aug 14, 2007

I just completed the Rn program and I graduated with a man that was 62 and just 2 years ago he completed the LPN program and he did great and is a really good nurse. We all looked up to him for all his life expirences. Don't let your age stop you!! You are going to get older weither you are a nurse or not. I say go for it

farmgirl_dee65 · Aug 14, 2007

toots:

i found myself between jobs a couple years ago. have an associate degree in office administration; worked in office/business settings for 15 years. when i couldn't find a job as quickly as i figured i could, i figured i might as well go back to school and pursue my long-simmering interest in health care. altho i am not an RN, i just finished my LPN schooling and received licensure a week ago. i plan to get my RN. there were several people in my class that were over 40 y/o. life experience counts for a lot, even from "unrelated" previous careers. so, yes, it can be done. if it's something you really want, you can do it. good luck!

dee

Joe NightingMale, MSN, RN · Aug 14, 2007

Hi - I'm strongly considering changing careers. I work in the business field today and am not happy at all and am just getting by until I can be done. I'm not fulfilled where I'm at so therefore I don't apply myself like I could or want to. I want to find "the career" where I make a difference and actually feel like I'm helping someone and not just working behind a computer.
For those of you who went into nursing after having a previous career(s), did you find it difficult being a little older? Was it hard switching gears and completely doing something different? Was it hard to apply yourself? I think I've just been in this rut for so long that I'm starting to feel like I may not be of much value to any field. I know that's not true but being underappreciated for so long does that to a person.
Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give! :)

Don't let your job get you down--you do have something to offer! Just not in business, apparently.

I'm just starting classes this September, so my experience is limited, but I have to say that I think being older will make me more effective as a nurse. I often wished I'd started years ago, but with the increased maturity that comes with experience (both good and bad) would have been lacking.

It is a bit of a shock, going back to being a student again after being of of school so long. But I'm finding myself looking forward to my classes, much more so thatn when I was an undergrad.

My advice is to do some research into nursing and related fields. Ideally, find a career counselor who can give you personalized advice. And good luck!

JailRN · Aug 14, 2007

Hey, GO FOR IT!! My hubby, Doug, decided to go into nursing..his 3rd career...he was upper management for Digital Equipment Corp, started with them at age 19, when he was 40, they started they layoffs, by the thousands (1992), second career, he got his PhD in Harley Davidson repair...but the market was SSLLLOOOWW, so he decided to become a RN, figured he's ALWAYS have a job, and he was a 'people person', who was truly compassionate and a healer. He started his prereqs for RN program at age 49. He had numerous setbacks, but he was persistant and determined. One of his worries was that people would mistake him for a doctor, (he'd say, "hey, you put a middle age man in a lab caot and everybody thinks they're a doctor", plus with his penna dutch accent, he'd say his name was "Doug" and people thought he said "Doc"--actually it came out more like "Duck"...he finally got through school, and passed his boards, and I KNOW he'd encourgae you to go for it, no matter what your age...he used to say to our sons, "hey, you have to work for X# of years, do you want to work for $8.00/hr or do you want to work for $70.00/hr???? The difference is education."

Good luck. let us know how you do....

mauxtav8r · Aug 14, 2007

"hey, you have to work for X# of years, do you want to work for $8.00/hr or do you want to work for $70.00/hr???? The difference is education."

Amen to that.

I had a liberal arts bachelor's and was well-employed as a paralegal. For me the money will be about the same but I won't have to work for people who went to school to learn how to manipulate morality. Law just wasn't for me.

I've worked for a year on a very busy med-surg floor as a student and love it. I'm very flattered to have been told several times in various circumstances that I have "the touch." I will graduate with a BSN in a year and will be in my mid-forties. I say go for it.

vampireslayer · Aug 14, 2007

DEFINITELY go for it! I had been in a corporate business environment since graduating college (the first time), 16 years or so, and then went back to nursing school. I graduated nursing school at the age of 40.

NO there will be no disadvantage to being older, although you don't mention how old you are. Somehow, no matter how scared or nervous I was (I work in the ED, went there straight out of school) I repeatedly got comments about people who were surprised to find out that I was such a "new" nurse. They all assumed I'd been an ED nurse for years. I honestly think a lot of that is my age, people just assume it based on the fact that I'm older. A 22 year old, behaving exactly as I do, would be looked upon as a novice. It's not fair, but I think it's true. So I felt like I got more respect easier than the very young nurses who go straight into nursing school from high school. Of course, that wears off very quickly and you have to have the knowledge to earn that respect...I just think it comes to us older nurses easier than the very young ones.

Also, in my job interview, I stressed the fact that I have "life experience". I have managed people in a supervisory role as well as having dealt with other life situations and stressful situations that a 22 year old just hasn't had the chance to do yet. I intentionally brought my age into the interview as a positive thing, just to head off any negatives that might come up about it.

As far as the school and the studying, I found that I took it ALL so much more seriously than I did the first time I went to college (when I was 18), because I realize now that it really does matter, they really are trying to teach you things you need to know (well...okay, not all of it, but you know what I mean).

So all in all, I think being older was an advantage for me.

VS

deleern · Aug 14, 2007

i graduated as an rn this spring at the age 48. i sold a successful business at the age of 45. not knowing what to do with my self i ended up going back to school --because to help out a friend (administrator at a nursing home) i took a short term position as an na on the night shift…. well i fell in love. the work is very hard but when you actually make a difference in some ones life that is something hard to put into words.

i started there as an na, then na-r, lpn, and to day i am an rn, i am the assistant care coordinator, will soon be the in-service director, and they are sending me to a training seminar that will enable me to teach the na-r classes. .

i never regretted going back to school … i am even entertaining the thought of going on to get my masters…. we’ll see. i am going to enjoy this year and then decide.

the best of luck to you in your decision.

arciedee · Aug 14, 2007

I've been in your shoes... worked in corporate finance for six and a half years that were (mostly) filled with boredom, dissatisfaction, and a feeling that I wanted something more out of a career. As a result I didn't apply myself... if I had tried I could have moved up the ladder pretty quickly, but my heart just wasn't in it. And I felt a bit as you do now. I spent a lot of time thinking about my career and worrying about it. But healthcare is something I had always had in mind as a field I wanted to work in and I started taking classes at night towards nursing/medicine (I wasn't sure which at the time). I was amazed to find out how much I enjoyed these classes. I applied myself better than I did in college the first time. I found a passion that I was totally lacking during my 9-5. It was a great feeling. And from that I knew that I had to keep going and pursue the dream of becoming a nurse.

I've now completed two semesters of a direct-entry masters program in nursing and I love it. Okay, sometimes I hate it, but in general, when I look back on what I used to do, I am so thankful that I took the plunge as scary as it was. I would definitely recommend doing some more research, maybe start looking into some programs and sign up for a class or two. It's so worth it to not feel hopeless on your daily commute.

hpcat · Aug 14, 2007

Nursing will be my 3rd career. I was a secretary/admin asst for 11 years and a copywriter for a cosmetics company for 14 years (still there while I'm going to school). I will graduate at 45 and plan to go on for at least a BSN. My original BA is in social & behavioral sciences, I'm hoping to blend it and my RN ed into a new career, perhaps in psych nursing or case management.

If you want to change careers, you absolutely should. I found that I'm not the same person I was at 20 or 30. I could not have done nursing in my 20's but I really think it suits me now (and people tell me so). People change and grow. There's a male LPN in my class who is 49, going for his RN, and one of the women in my micro class was 46, doing her pre-reqs. My sister's mother in law is still a nurse, teaching new mothers breastfeeding - she's in her mid-70's.

I think the idea that you're supposed to retire by 65 is outdated. If you want a new career, at any age, you should act and not let age hold you back.

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 14, 2007

Go for it! I had a brief teaching career before going into nursing so wasn't really "older" when I went to nursing school, but I've known lots of people who didn't start out in nursing right out of high school. Most of them have done very well.

My experience is that people who go back to school later usually do at least as well if not better than the younger folks. I don't think applying yourself is nearly as hard when you're older.

You don't give your age but I would be surprised if you were the oldest person in your classes. You may expect to find yourself surrounded by 18 to 20-year-olds but that probably will not be the case.

Even if you were to find that nursing is not what you really want to do, I would encourage you to look around and see what all is out there for you. Don't stay in something you are miserable in! There is a place for you!

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Aug 14, 2007

Okay, I will give another opinion:

Yes, it is hard to go back. Nursing school is PSYCHO. I was 50 when I entered nursing school, after 25 years in the IT field. I was shocked at the requirements, the casual attitude of the nursing school administration as they flunked out many of my classmates, the rigid grading scales.

It is hard to be low man on the totem pole once you graduate. New grads are often treated pretty poorly (see the numerous threads on "Eating our young". ) I was treated pretty poorly in 2 different situations.

However, once you get 2 years of experience in, it totally changes. Now you have confidence, experience, and don't put up with a lot of cr**. I have now transferred to a clinical job that is 9-5, no holidays, and it is great. I was hired partly because I was older and more mature.

So, the beginning can be stressful and the first year or so awful, but then it becomes worth it in terms of flexibility.

Just wanted to give you an honest but different point of view.

Oldiebutgoodie