Good time to be finished with nursing school

AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 9, 2010

I have an older friend who is always stressing out about the fact that she will be 29 when she finish nursing school.

I'd give anything to be finished with nursing school at age 29. Alas, I will be 42. Tell her to put her big girl pants on and get to work!

ShantheRN, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2010

I found it funny that that 29 year old is referred to as "older." I'm not picking on you, OP - one of my classmates turned 25 last week and she was grumbling about getting old. It just made me laugh because I remember turning 26 and being seriously upset with the "zomg I've spent all of my twenties wallowing in self pity and now I'm almost 30 with nothing to show for it!" It's funny how perspective changes

Age ain't nothing but a number. You can work in many aspects of nursing well into your "old" years. I'll be 2 months from 34 when I graduate, and I dare someone to have a problem with it! I took me till I was 29 to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up....and I still can't say "I'm going to be a peds/oncology/detox/pick your specialty nurse!" with conviction. Hey at least I nailed down the occupation :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2010

I found it funny that that 29 year old is referred to as "older."

Me, too. I am currently 29 years old and completed an RN/associates degree program earlier this year. I completed an LPN/LVN program five years ago, when I was a few months shy of turning 25. I do not think that 29 is "old."

I sat through a miserable job interview last year when I was 28 years old. One of the interviewers also referred to me as "older." Even though they offered me the job, I decided to not accept it.

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2010

I'd love to see some stats pertaining to age-at-graduation and new-grad hiring. Somehow I'm guessing that the 31-year-old new grad gets hired before the 21-year-old new grad.[/quote']
Really, its that easy? An employer goes down the age list and simply picks the older candidate? Ah, I'm screwed! I might as well drop out & enroll 10 years later

Bob_N_VA · Dec 9, 2010

Wow, people think 29 is old, and maybe too old? I'll be 56 when I graduate, starting on a third career. This all really sounds like a very silly and naive outlook from my perspective. I guess when you youngsters have another 25-30 years under your belts you might feel a bit different about what is "OLD".

anon695 · Dec 9, 2010

I don't think 29 is old. I'll be 32 when I graduate. I had a summer externship this year and being 31 didn't preclude me from being hired for the externship so I don't think 32 will hurt me for a real job.

guavaturtle · Dec 9, 2010

I'm 27 right now, and will be 29 when I graduate with a AA degree. I graduated in 06 with 3 B.S degrees and none of them were what I was interested in, lol.

As for hiring candidates, at least if I was hiring, and I had a choice between someone who was 23, 28, or 40+, I would hire either the 23 or 40+ year old. Why? Because the young ones are willing to do a lot of things, and they're mostly not married and are flexible with weird hours. 40 year olds have the life experience and more maturity. 28 year olds? They seem their youth still, and more maturity compared to 23 year olds... but they're in the marriage/ having kids time frame, which I can see being potentially frustrating for staffing.

They say you can't discriminate age when hiring, but come on, how do we really know that?

cobee · Dec 9, 2010

I also dislike thinking about my age when I graduate. I will be 23 and a half when I graduate so I'll be around 24 when I get a job. It annoys me because I spent a year waiting to get into nursing school so I'll have spent 5 years getting an ADN. Although I'm thankful that I'm not still waiting to get in, I understand how she feels. It's like I'm waiting for my adult life to start as I've never had a real job before and I haven't needed to take care of myself financially, and that will start when I graduate.

On the other hand, maybe 98% of my class are over 25 and they all seem pretty content with where they are.

guavaturtle · Dec 9, 2010

just remember that a lot of us would kill to be finished and get a job at 24 =)

Music in My Heart · Dec 9, 2010

I'd love to see some stats pertaining to age-at-graduation and new-grad hiring. Somehow I'm guessing that the 31-year-old new grad gets hired before the 21-year-old new grad.[/quote']
Really, its that easy? An employer goes down the age list and simply picks the older candidate? Ah, I'm screwed! I might as well drop out & enroll 10 years later
I don't know about "that easy" but I've met very few 21-year-olds who present themselves nearly so well in an interview as do those a bit more seasoned. They also have precious little outside of academia to demonstrate their work ethic, maturity, and ability to work within a team.
When I was in nursing school, both faculty and hospital staff would routinely comment on the quality and maturity of our students. This was due, I think, to the fact that almost all of us were older and coming out of other careers. By and large, we were treated as peers.

morningland · Dec 9, 2010

I think it's all in how you spent your 20's...

I'll be 28 when I get my license in may 2011 but I can look back and really appreciate how I spent my very young years. I traveled, moved all across the country, got involved in some worthy causes and went to nursing school. I worry about my body breaking down but I will never have to look back and think I didn't make the most of my youth.

HyperSaurus, RN, BSN · Dec 11, 2010

Some how this reminds me of a friend who was upset because she turned 21 and still wasn't married. Perspective is an interesting thing.