Good general health?

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I am a 50-year-old woman who wants to enroll in nursing school in the fall of 2010. (I hope I'm not too old for this! :chuckle) In reading the web site for the community college I want to attend, one of the qualifications for entering nursing school is "good general health." I have hypertension and chronic pancreatitis, of which I was diagnosed with this year, as well as just generally getting old. (Disclaimer: The pancreatitis is a result of taking HCTZ for my BP, not alcohol related.) My question is, would my pancreatitis keep me from qualifying for nursing school? :confused:

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I guess the questions should be to you...

How often are you hospitalized for your conditions? How often are you sick enough to stay in bed for your conditions?

I am 39 and I have had several older classmates. One was 55. As long as you show up to class and clinicals and don't make excuses using your illness then you should be fine. If you are sick enough at home for it to interfere in your daily life on a regular basis then I would say this isn't the career for you.

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thanks for the quick reply! i guess i'm just a little nervous about the prospect of going back to school at my age. :p

i have only been hospitalized twice for the pancreatitis, once for the initial acute attack and once for an attack brought on by an ercp performed to help determine the cause of it. i haven't had any more real problems like that with it, although it does cause minimal pain from time to time.....nothing incapacitating or anything like that. however, i don't know when or if it will ever flare again in a big way. i think as long as i eat properly and take my nexium.....which i need to get refilled.....i should be okay.

just want to add that i really like this forum. everyone here is so nice and so happy to share information. i'm glad i stumbled onto it in my quest for more information about nursing.

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I was so worried about going back to school also. Once that first class is out of the way, you will feel so good about yourself! I was sure that I was the oldest student at school and it was a sweet suprise to see how many people are going back for a change of career. There are many, many older students! As far as your health goes, we could all have some sort of attack out of no where but you deal with it as it comes. If you think about it, most people have something they deal with in life that could affect school in one way or another. My mom almost died the year I took anatomy and physiology! I had to rush home to TX twice (once each semester) and missed a weeks worth of work. I had to bust hump to catch up but not one of those teachers gave me a hard time. You show up on day one and present yourself as a serious student and that is how they see you. Good luck and go for it!

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The school you're attending should have a disability service that might be able to help you out should your condition interfere with your schooling etc. Obviously they can't just make it easy as one two three, but they should be able to organize accommodations for you.

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thanks everyone! you are all so encouraging!

this is a kind of change of career for me as well. i am and have been a medical transcriptionist for the past almost 20 years now. this field is slowly circling the drain with the onset of voice recognition software and electronic medical records. i am hoping that my background in medical terminology will be beneficial to me and help make nursing school a bit easier. i also worked for several years in physician offices as an unofficial medical assistant before the trend toward having certified mas or nurses in the office (we could be had a lot cheaper than credentialled professionals, lol). i guess we will find out! hahaha

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