Going to Nursing School at an Older Age

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I have been planning to go to nursing school (direct entry MSN) & have been progressing in that direction. The other day I was having a conversation with a coworker (a non-practicing nurse!) and she said, now at your age (I am in my 40s) you have 10, maybe 20 years of nursing, but if a younger candidate gets your seat they can practice nursing for like 40 years, so why should you get a seat? It's more beneficial to train a younger nurse. I was rather tacken aback by the question & said something to the effect the more nurses the better and it is illegal to discriminate based on age, and she said the nursing shortage is a myth and age discrimination happens, no matter what! While I always believe education is throughout one's life and one should pursue one's aspirations, it got me thinking. (In some countries where their are no age discrimination laws this does happen). Is it really socially more desirable to prefer younger candidates? And does this factor into admissions decisions?

Specializes in geriatrics.

I agree with you. And no, I wasn't implying that you need to be an "A" student. That is not true. All of the other factors certainly matter. However, you should still aim for something in the "B" range if you can. In my BSCN program, whether people were academically gifted, or not, they all had no choice but to work for the grade. Anything lower than a "C" meant having to re-do the entire year.

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I agree that straight A's does not necessarily a good nurse make. It is just really frustrating when nursing schools have a ranking criteria that is almost entirely GPA-based. I get A's in almost all of my classes, B's in the sciences. I KNOW I'd be a great nurse, but I will never be ranked high enough to be accepted into a program that uses such a method of evaluating/ranking applicants. I'll have to hope/pray I get chosen from the lottery system used by CC's in my area.

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she said, now at your age (I am in my 40s) you have 10, maybe 20 years of nursing, but if a younger candidate gets your seat they can practice nursing for like 40 years, so why should you get a seat? It's more beneficial to train a younger nurse.

Whatever. Have her look around her workplace, check out younger and older workers in general and report back:

Who calls in sick more often

Who tends to go on maternity leaves

Who gets calls more from children/family etc at work

Who shows up on time

Who participates in office drama

Who shows up hung over/tired more often

Who pays attention during training sessions

Who is more likely to quit or change jobs as soon as the grass seems a bit greener

In my experience, workers in their 20's are *in general* more likely to be headaches than older workers. Of course there are very notable exceptions, but I think the notion that "Younger workers are always better" does not apply - especially in nursing.

I am 43 years old and have been working in health care and going to school (prereqs and nursing school) for three years. I have never missed a class, a lab, or clinical and I have never called in sick in those three years. I am running circles around my younger peers in nursing school and will be very happy to compete against them for jobs after graduation.

PS: I am not just ripping on young people. In my 20's and early 30's, I was definitely missing classes, calling in sick, and goofing off. I was certainly no better and in fact a whole lot worse than my current peers!

.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Geriatrics(LTC), Pediatricts,.

When I went to PN training, there was an age limit of 21 for the school I went to, is that the norm? I know since coming home, I see the CC in my area graduating kids as young as 18. I've worked under those younguns, and they don't have the experiences to settle down and give that calming assurance nurses are noted for. Yes, I agree, that age group has the better academic grades, they are still in the swing of HS studying. But they haven't sown their wild oats yet.

To those trying to get into a school that is GPA based, keep trying, there are schools out there that give us older ones with the not so high averages a chance. And I can say from experience, that going to one school vs another doesn't make the nurse either. I worked with a nurse one time who went to Rutgars, big whoptydo! Her ego of going to that Ivy league school got in the way of her giving good bedside care, and she ended up with so many mistakes she was fired from the job before orientation week was over. Those of us who went to Community College, or Vocational schools were just as good, if not better. The point is, getting into an Ivy league school vs a community college or online program doesn't make the nurse, the person makes the nurse. Young or old, I have seen some young nurses who have that good bedside manner. If you want to be a nurse, realy want to be one, then go for it. All schools have to teach to a standard, and all graduates take the same state board exam, so in the end, obtaining that little piece of paper that says you are an LPN or RN is all that matters.

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Specializes in IMCU.

There is a woman in my class who is over 60. I would rather have her as my nurse than most people in the class. She is wise and kind (pretty smart too). As for the energy -- she has more than me and I am only in my 40's.

So poop to anyone who thinks older new nurses aren't as good as the young ones. They can kiss my soon to be wrinkly behind!:lol2::eek::devil:

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FYI, y'all: there is an article in my local paper today about a UC San Diego study confirming that the elderly really are wiser than younger people. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/03/2931676/seniors-prove-that-wisdom-of-the.html#

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to the OP: AmaurosisFugax, and anyone else wondering...

I am immediately suspicious of the motives and attitude of the person who made that comment to you. I've just passed the NCLEX (YAY!) at 40, 2 years earlier than my mother did. Before I went to nursing school, I had some HR experience, so I took a job in hospital HR for 18 months while I did my pre-reqs. Nurse Directors are the ones that hire nurses. The dozen+ nurse directors that I met during my time there all wanted experienced nurses, of course, and that makes sense. However, it was my understanding from all of them (ALL) that among new grad candidates, at least having some "Life Experience" is preferable.

Hospitals know they're making an investment in your real training to competency, but none are so foolish these days to assume you'll stick around for your 30-year career. For the time they have you, they want someone who is quick to learn, understands policy, understands policy doesn't cover everything, has good judgment, knows how to deal with difficult people, understands chain of command, and as another poster mentioned, doesn't bring drama and loads of family obligations to the job. If you've already raised your kids (mostly), figured out who you are, suffered personal losses, honored commitments, worked with others, etc, then you have experience that the kids just don't have, making you just as appealing, if not more so. The trick as an older worker is to make a point to appear energetic, and always interested to learn the latest technique/equipment/evidence-based-practice - avoid appearing stale or tired.

About grades - Figure it like this: when you're a kid, your brain works faster to retain things because there's less stuff in there. Now that you're older, you have more clutter in there; you have to discipline your mind a little more,and put more effort into retaining the info for recall & use. If you were an A student the last time you were in school, you will find it a little harder to get that A with the same amount of work. This is true no matter what kind of student you were, you will have to put out a little more effort to get the same result when getting started. HOWEVER - aren't you so much more sure this is what you want than you were at 20? Now that you're grown & setting this goal for yourself, your studies will be more meaningful, and you will WANT the info more than you did as a kid. I went to a CC program, finished in 18 months. Some of the A students were the kids, some were in their 30's, some were in their 40's, and my FAVORITE study partner and the safest student practitioner I know, is 53.

Consider - you walk into the patient's room, a 50 YO man with bladder irrigation after a prostate procedure (penile traction!). No matter how sophisticated your 20 YO classmates are, they will still be intimidated, and there will be awkwardness for them and for the patient. But when you walk in at 40, the patient assumes you've been a nurse for years (even though you're wearing a student uniform, uniforms vary so much these days, patients have trouble figuring it out). Your patient is less uncomfortable, so you can be more relaxed while you perform care. Think about it: most patients in hospital are older, and most older people feel they've learned a lot since 20, gained much and lost little. Therefore, patients will be more comfortable with an older nurse, leading to better outcomes.

Truly, it is a tradeoff, but if there is an imbalance, it is probably slightly in your favor. Go forward with confidence!

Yours in service,

Mango!-a-gogo

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to the OP: AmaurosisFugax, and anyone else wondering...

I am immediately suspicious of the motives and attitude of the person who made that comment to you. I've just passed the NCLEX (YAY!) at 40, 2 years earlier than my mother did. Before I went to nursing school, I had some HR experience, so I took a job in hospital HR for 18 months while I did my pre-reqs. Nurse Directors are the ones that hire nurses. The dozen+ nurse directors that I met during my time there all wanted experienced nurses, of course, and that makes sense. However, it was my understanding from all of them (ALL) that among new grad candidates, at least having some "Life Experience" is preferable.

Hospitals know they're making an investment in your real training to competency, but none are so foolish these days to assume you'll stick around for your 30-year career. For the time they have you, they want someone who is quick to learn, understands policy, understands policy doesn't cover everything, has good judgment, knows how to deal with difficult people, understands chain of command, and as another poster mentioned, doesn't bring drama and loads of family obligations to the job. If you've already raised your kids (mostly), figured out who you are, suffered personal losses, honored commitments, worked with others, etc, then you have experience that the kids just don't have, making you just as appealing, if not more so. The trick as an older worker is to make a point to appear energetic, and always interested to learn the latest technique/equipment/evidence-based-practice - avoid appearing stale or tired.

About grades - Figure it like this: when you're a kid, your brain works faster to retain things because there's less stuff in there. Now that you're older, you have more clutter in there; you have to discipline your mind a little more,and put more effort into retaining the info for recall & use. If you were an A student the last time you were in school, you will find it a little harder to get that A with the same amount of work. This is true no matter what kind of student you were, you will have to put out a little more effort to get the same result when getting started. HOWEVER - aren't you so much more sure this is what you want than you were at 20? Now that you're grown & setting this goal for yourself, your studies will be more meaningful, and you will WANT the info more than you did as a kid. I went to a CC program, finished in 18 months. Some of the A students were the kids, some were in their 30's, some were in their 40's, and my FAVORITE study partner and the safest student practitioner I know, is 53.

Consider - you walk into the patient's room, a 50 YO man with bladder irrigation after a prostate procedure (penile traction!). No matter how sophisticated your 20 YO classmates are, they will still be intimidated, and there will be awkwardness for them and for the patient. But when you walk in at 40, the patient assumes you've been a nurse for years (even though you're wearing a student uniform, uniforms vary so much these days, patients have trouble figuring it out). Your patient is less uncomfortable, so you can be more relaxed while you perform care. Think about it: most patients in hospital are older, and most older people feel they've learned a lot since 20, gained much and lost little. Therefore, patients will be more comfortable with an older nurse, leading to better outcomes.

Truly, it is a tradeoff, but if there is an imbalance, it is probably slightly in your favor. Go forward with confidence!

Yours in service,

Mango!-a-gogo

Hi. I am 55 with a Master's degree in Psychology and an planning to get a nursing degree. Your email was so positive! Do you have any encouraging words for me? This is a choice, not a financial necessity, by the way. CMae.

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In November, 2007, I thought I would try to change careers and get into nursing school. The application date was June, 2008. I took some pre-reqs that were necessary for consideration - A&P, Micro. A&P II was online. I had to dissect a pig in my kitchen! :eek: I applied and made it into a very competitive evening program. Perfect, as I had to work full-time along with school and clinicals.

I graduated with honors this past May, took the NCLEX in June - loved seeing that blue screen after 75 questions.

Applied for a local internship program. Had one interview. I start in two weeks in the Surgical Trauma Unit ICU.

What a great 55th birthday present:yeah::yeah:

BTW, my previous job experience included nothing even remotely related to the healthcare field.

Good for you!!!! Congrats on finishing school AND the new job!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Hi!

I'm 33 and start Nursing school this fall. I'm really excited and looking foward to be challenged intellectually!! My class is divided between the kids and the adults. I feel that it is better for older adults to go into Nursing because we have more of an idea as to how the world works and are a little bit more mature mentally and can handle it better. ;)

What a load of crock. I'm 18 and am taking my pre-reqs. I have met some VERY immature older people who complained about how hard the work load was, skipping lectures, and just can't pass the class. How dare you disrespect the younger lot like that!

I may be younger than you, but I bet can handle nursing school JUST as well as you or any other person. So don't pull the age card on me!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Sorry to hear so many of you nurses think that in your 40s & 50s is old! I have been thinking about going back to work myself and I am 57 in Sept. so what? I am probably in better shape physically than most of the overweight 20- whatever age.

If you are overweight, you cut years off of your life! Not to mention the quality of life left.

Also, we as older nurses have so much more life knowledge.

I think if you want it, go after it, its only you holding you back.

Clearly you didn't read my post. I said forty was YOUNG, NOT old. Jeeze louise!

And you may or may not have much more life knowledge, but it is not quantity of life that matters, it is the quality. The young nurse who has had a rough life will bring on FAR more life experience than an older nurse who has been blessed with very few hardships.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Geriatrics(LTC), Pediatricts,.

Hi Princessbride, most of us who are saying young nurses, those in their teens and twenty's, and the perils there of, are speaking from experience, and the perils we've actualy seen with teens who've made it threw a nursing program and come to the floor inexperienced in life. Lets face it, at 18 you've not seen a fraction of what we in our 40's, and 50's, and older have. And speaking again from experience, when an older person is in the hospital, the younger nurse is ok for the back rub, or getting a snack, but older nurses give a certian calmness, and thus for the proceedures, the older nurse is the one pts feel more comfortable with.

That is why some nursing schools require an age minimum of 21 or even older to take their course. It's nothing against you personaly, but in general. Think about this for a moment, if you have an older gentleman for a pt, and he wants to chat about the Korean War, or if any are alive, WWII, what lifes experience do you have to fully understand where he is coming from? Can you honestly say that you can listen intently and still get your work done? In 30 years you'll be able to chat with an Iraqi Veteran, but that will come in time. Are you, at 18, willing to settle down enough to consentrate fully on the task at hand, and not have outside influences? I know we all have outside influences, us older nurses have older parents we are taking care of, same as the younger nurses who have children, but is an 18 year old settled enough to not go out on that party Friday night, staying up till the wee hours of the morning, then go to work Saturday morning, work a 16 hour shift, it's the weekend so the eve nurse called in, and it's your turn to get mandated, then are you willing to willingly say no to your friends on Saturday nights party, and be able to go to work Sunday? What about the demands of the other shifts if you are scheduled to work them?

I know there are some older folks who've not gotten out of the party stage of their lives, and they still burn the candle at both ends, but for the most part, older nurses are a bit more settled. Same as some younger people are settled. If a younger person wants to be a nurse, at 18 or 20, my suggestion is to take a CNA class, and work as a CNA for a few years, then go back to school for LPN, RN. It will make you a more rounded person than taking a weaving class in college just because the advisor thinks that will make one more rounded.

Remember folks, this isn't a bashing session for younger folks, or inexperienced, it's a forum to discuss the question at hand, "suggestions for an older person returning to nursing school." We older nurses have given our experiences, and thoughts, it's an open forum for the younger ones to give their experiences as well. What do you younger nurses feel about working with the older nurses? What are your thoughts on being in school with an older person? Are you able to sit and listen without snyed remarks when an older student is asking a question or relaying an experience? Or do you think we are a waste of your time?

From my experience being in school with younger folks, I was told I'm wasting their time, and was asked to refrain from asking questions in class, if I couldn't grasp the matterial then I shouldn't be in the class, was what I was told by the younger set. So, us older folks have our thoughts based on experience.

A suggestion for older folks who are in this situation, apply for and attend the online schools, they are fantastic for us, we can ask our questions without rebute, we can study at our own pace, lots of advantages.

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