A few questions for the "older" new nurses...

TypicalFish · Mar 23, 2006

I started school at 40. I had been a ST for 15 years. I was worried about being older-but about half of my class was near my age ( incl. two men) or even a few were older. You CAN do this. It takes a lot of hard work, but you can do this. I started nursing school at 20; met my dh and quit to move; I started at 25; had a baby and quit; I started at 30; had my third child and quit. I am 43 and now have an excellent job as a critical care nurse working in a 28 bed ACCU; you need to realize that with your age, you bring your life experineces and maturity-a benefit to you as a new nurse and to your unit; it can be a plus to be older; think about it. I am working on my CCRN and plan to go back to school this fall for my ASN to MSN degree. I wasn't-I thought I was too old. But I am not, and neither are you. DO not let anyome talk youout of it, if it was something you want to do. Best of luck, and just go for it.

rosemadder · Mar 23, 2006

I will be 45 this month and graduated from nursing school at age 42. I was old enough to appreciate the learning experience and I think age definitely helped me through school. It was hard as I am a single parent who then had two children at home. I would encourage you to be patient with your spouse and demonstrate to her your comittment to nursing school. You will need her support more than ever as this will be one of the hardest things you have ever done. I am now working on transfer classes and will start an RN-BSN bridge program in the Fall following up with a MSN and possibly a PHd (if I don't die of old age first)...Good luck in your endeavors!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2006

Most of the "olders" in my class intend to be a nurse until we can't work anymore, and then we'll volunteer!

Just so you know. . .my mother didn't retire from work in the acute hospital until she was 68 and only then it was because my brothers were after her to finally retire. She was doing perfectly fine in her LPN job in CCU.

Balder_LPN, LPN · Mar 24, 2006

I am 38 and just finished 1st quarter LPN school. I'm going to Bridge to RN as soon as I pass the NCLEX.
:yeahthat: Thats me too. Then I am getting my BSN too.
For the OP.....are you going forward with it or not?

Balder_LPN, LPN · Mar 24, 2006

i wanted to pull this thread out of the mothballs because i ran across an article that pertains to what the op was asking. for those of you "oldies" out there that worry about your age and going to nursing school, please read on:
http://community.nursingspectrum.com/magazinearticles/article.cfm?aid=19940

i understand what this article says about nurses age's, but i found this opening statement hard to beleive and i would have to ask her how she came up with this statistic.

"of the 185,000 nurses who joined the workforce in 2002 and 2003, 70% were age 50 or above, says linda d. norman"

how come the rate of students "nearly 50" in our school is about 10-15% or so, certainly nowhere near 70%.

does anyone believe this statistic?

sunnyjohn · Mar 24, 2006

I'm 33 and will be starting nursing school this year. There is no such thing as "too old"! :lol:

I love school and have been enrolled in one college class or another since I was 16. My grandmother lived to be 105 years old. Since I'll probably live that long, I expect to be studying for MANY, MANY,MANY more years...

NephroBSN, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2006

I understand what this article says about nurses age's, but I found this opening statement hard to beleive and I would have to ask her how she came up with this statistic.
"of the 185,000 nurses who joined the workforce in 2002 and 2003, 70% were age 50 or above, says Linda D. Norman"
how come the rate of students "nearly 50" in our school is about 10-15% or so, certainly nowhere near 70%.
Does anyone believe this statistic?[/quote}
I don't think it means only "new grads" I believe it might be counting some older nurses who've returned to the field.

clee1 · Mar 24, 2006

I understand what this article says about nurses age's, but I found this opening statement hard to beleive and I would have to ask her how she came up with this statistic.
"of the 185,000 nurses who joined the workforce in 2002 and 2003, 70% were age 50 or above, says Linda D. Norman"
how come the rate of students "nearly 50" in our school is about 10-15% or so, certainly nowhere near 70%.
Does anyone believe this statistic?

I don't know about 70%, but better than 60% 0f my class is above 45 y/o.

BamaBound2bRN · Mar 24, 2006

I am 39+ and just got accepted to the RN Program for this Fall! The toughest part for me is trying to hold conversations with students who don't remember Reagan or the Challenger or are too young to drink- depressing sometimes.

RN_2005 · Mar 24, 2006

Well, I dislike saying this but .. I feel your wife is wrong to not support you on this, but give her time....

I spent years of my life raising kids, being a wife, and working sometimes full-time and sometimes part-time - mainly just to have extra money to enhance my hubby's already comfortable income from self-employment as a general contractor. I probably went to college off and on 3 times - sometimes for several quarters, sometimes just a class or two in one or two quarters - since I graduated from high school with nothing ever culminating into an actual degree. Don't get me wrong, I loved my life ... it's been a good one but, something was still missing. When I was 5 y/o I sat in Easter Straker's Birthday Chair (she had a noon show on a local TV channel back in the day!) with my hand in the penny jar and my goody bag on my lap and, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I said, "I want to be a nurse". When I was young I was fascinated by my dad's copy of Gray's Anatomy, and the plastic, layered, see-through pages of the human body in the World Book Encyclopedia. I always had a love of biological sciences, especially those related to anatomy & physiology, and would read medical non-fiction while everyone around me was reading Danielle Steele and other novel fiction. Throughout my adult life people would always ask me, "Are you a nurse?" or "Are you a teacher?" I guess the turning point for me was when I saw my mother through her battle metastatic ovarian cancer which culminated in her death @ 63 y/o, and then 6 mo. later my hubby was in a near fatal motorcycle accident - careflighted as level II head trauma, 2 wks. inpatient, 2 mo. outpatient therapy. That was the year I decided to switch off the "autopilot" mode that had been governing my life and really decided to take control instead of letting my life control me. It all became crystal clear to me: "Life is short", "In a New York minute, everything can change", "Happiness is in wanting what you have, not having what you want", "Just Do It", etc., etc. All cliches but oh, so true! Where had the past 20 years gone? Where were the next 20 going? Scary stuff sometimes to finally wake up and "smell the roses". I entered college again a year after my hubby's accident to work on the pre-requisite courses for an ADN while waiting on a 2-year list for a seat in the program. It took one quarter short of 2 yrs. to enter the program. It wasn't a piece of cake by any means - very challenging course content mixed in with starting first quarter of the nursing program exactly 2 mo. after having a TAH BSO, 25 mi. drive one-way in all kinds of weather, family adjustments, deaths of my father-in-law and step mother, oldest son's high school graduation and transition to college, youngest son's struggles with school, maintaining my job as a STNA. I graduated in Dec. 2005. Honestly, this degree means so much more to me than just a means to employment in an ever booming industry through a passion I had as a little girl and beyond. I proved to myself that I have the power to overcome obstacles, perservere when the odds are against me, obtain my dreams, control my destiny. I also formed friendships that I will enjoy for a lifetime. And best of all, I serve as a wonderful example to everyone, young and old, that it is NEVER too late to realize a dream - N-E-V-E-R!!

Sorry this turned out to be so long! I just kept typing and typing and..... Anyway, trust your intuitions. You know what's best for you, and what is realistic for your current situation. When your wife sees how your following your passion brings to the surface the best qualities you possess, she will want to support your efforts. My hubby wasn't a great supporter in the beginning either. Some people just like to have concrete evidence before they commit; this will be inspiration for you in itself! I know an old saying is, "If momma ain't happy, then nobody's happy". I think it works both ways.

Good luck to you in whatever path you decide to follow. And remember ... no education you receive - degree or no degree - is EVER a waste of time or money.

BTW: I am 48 y/o ... 44 when I returned to the classroom in spring of 2002. I plan on going back at some point and getting my BSN ... I'm beginning to realize I need it to get into the areas of nursing I want to explore.

Faeriewand, ASN, RN · Mar 24, 2006

I will be 45 this summer and hopefully will enter LVN program. Looking to bridge to RN when I am 47 if the wait list isn't too long. So I will be 48 when I become an RN. :)

What does your wife say now? Did she read this thread? What are you going to do?

rn/writer, RN · Mar 24, 2006

Jeeze, I hated to put that "older" word in there, but I have a few questions...
How old were you when you decided to go to nursing school? The reason I ask is that I am 39 right now and have decided to go back to school for nursing. There is a supposed two year wait for the school (which is more like a year once they weed out the ones that arent coming). The school will take me two years to finish. That means I could be a 43 year old recent graduate. Is this going to be a problem? My wife says it will.
She actually doesnt want me to go back to school because she says I went back once and quit and she "knows" I will just quit again. It is true that I went and didnt finish, but dammit, this is something I want to do. I WILL finish this.
Any thoughts on this from the "older" crowd?

Seems like age is going to be a lesser barrier to you than the rift between you and your wife.

Nursing school is hard enough WITH family unity. Without it, you could end up having to choose between your spouse and your career goals. That might sound overly dramatic but there are several old threads on this board where posters shared their stories about just that. More than a few were in the last year of school and were counting down the weeks until they could find good jobs and file for divorce. In about half the cases, the partners were clueless.

Even if you feel you marriage is stronger than that, it would be a good idea--as well as a show of respect--to give your wife the opportunity to express her fears and frustrations. If you find you have amends to make, by all means, make them. If she needs reassurance about your determination this time, find ways to demonstrate your commitment (set aside a time-consuming hobby that will tempt you away from studying, map out a realistic schedule, take a second job while you're on the waiting list and bank the money for school, etc.). If the two of you need to come together on priorities and long-range goals, now is the time for both of you to put your thoughts and feelings on the table.

Besides the two individuals in a marriage, there should also be a third entity called the "us." Anything that affects either one of you influences the health and well-being of that us. When taking on a challenging and long-lasting committment like schooling, it's especially important to nurture the us so that your relationship will still be alive and well when you come out on the other side.

You have the opportunity, while you're on the waiting list, to strengthen your marriage and the unity between the two of you. Think of it as an investment you can draw upon during the stressful times to come.

I wish you well.