this is my first time on this forum. i have been reading for a while and enjoy all the questions and comments....it has been very helpful in my quest.
my question to you all is "how old is too old?". i am 52 years old and just working on my pre-requisites. yes, you read that right. this means that i will be about 54 when i apply for nursing school. am i crazy? has my ship sailed and i should just hang it up? i have always wanted to be a nurse. i listened to my mother, who completed 8th grade tell me that i would never be able to go to college. i listened to her and 2 days after graduation from h.s. i was married. eight years and 2 babies later i was divorced. then i was a single mom trying to make ends meet. i finally signed up for some college classes, even though my mom was giving me those mom looks and making me feel it was a stupid thing to do. i made a's in my classes and that only encouraged me more. mom was shocked. i met a man who lived 3 hours from me and was raising his two kids. we were married a few months later and my life has been devoted to raising children. finally, i am to a place in my life where i can do something i want to do.
the community college i attend takes a total of 60 nursing students in their program. forty during the day, twenty at night. most 4 year colleges are the same. the community college had 400 applicants last semester. my chances are very slim at best. this will be a total career change for me. i am so excited to finally do this. i am strong and very encouraged. i am so scared at the same time. i don't want to waste anyone's precious time or money. this is an agonizing decision. you all are nurses, some may be my age. do i stand a chance? do i push on?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i'm late to this discussion, but still wanted to comment. if you're 52 now, will be 54 when you start the nursing portion of your education and will be about 56 when you graduate, how old will you be in four years if you don't go to school? if you think your body can take it, go for it!
Hopefully, OP is still around. I am too old too! Will be 42 when I start the ADN program this fall, 44 when I graduate. I'm hoping to start the BSN bridge soon after that. Who knows how long that will take me! So what? I have a very supportive husband, have enough money (because of my advanced age) to pay for school and will kick the little teeny boppers butts when it comes to work ethic! I am healthy (used to be a personal trainer), have tons of energy, and want to do what I always dreamed of doing. Go for it!
Hi, this is my first time posting on AN. I am 60 years old. I have been a LPN since 1974 and a LPC (licensed professional counselor) since 2002 when I graduated with a masters in counseling. I have decided I feel incomplete without the RN. My memory is not as sharp, however, it is a catch 22 in that, if you challenge your brain it will start to perform better. I am taking pre-requisites now and hope to enter the program by fall of 2014. I do not plan to retire until I am 70 and will get my RN experience in home health where I already work part-time and have extensive (22 years) experience. I say go for it. It will help to keep or rekindle the sharpness of your brain!
Thank you so much for your comment and encouragement BloominViolet. I am still plugging along. Right now I am in A&P. I finally stopped reading comments on this website. Not to make anyone mad, but there are a lot of people here, in nursing, who are very discouraging and I don't need that right now. Every time I read something here, I would second guess myself. I was thinking how absolutely miserable a majority of the people sounded. I didn't need negativity so I stopped coming here. I started to talking to nurses here in my community. Everyone has been so nice and encouraging. In fact my husband had knee surgery a week ago. While waiting, I was studying for a test in A&P. The OR nurse came in, addressed him, gave him an update, answered his questions, then turned to me and said, "Okay, why are you in A&P?" She was an older lady, said that she has been a nurse for 25 years, loves it. Told me some totally encouraging things. Then checked back with me while my husband was in surgery and talked a little bit more to encourage me. The nurse that was watching over my husband before surgery talked to me a lot about nursing, told me some things to do. So nice. I talked with a nurse when my dad had surgery. He was a wealth of info, totally encouraging. I was ready to take the bull by the horns after talking to him. I do not want anyone to come back at me with snide remarks, and hope that doesn't happen. A lot of people were very encouraging to me in this post. It is just across the board, I know the professionals here are trying to keep it real, but it seems like an impossible feat when I read some of the posts. I have to focus on the positives right now.
Thank you so much to those of you in the nursing profession who encourage others to reach for their goal. I will say it again. Some of you whine because nursing doesn't pay much. Spend your life making $11.00 an hour or less and raising 2 kids, or never being able to get above $12 an hour no matter what you do...and you will agree that nursing pay is not that bad. I really hate my job!!
Age is irrelevant in my humble opinion..you may have to make some adjustments but don't assume because someone is younger they are necessarily faster/smarter/etc. Life experience counts for a lot in nursing...you'll never know unless you try and it would be better to try then to always wonder "what if"
Thank you Lucky 724. That is exactly right. After being told all my life that I would never make it as a nurse, by people who knew me and made me believe it. I think they thought I couldn't make it, because they were afraid to try themselves. I know many people who are in the profession, including doctors, who have told me I will be an excellent nurse because I have compassion, the very reason the others thought I would not be able to do it. I have spent the past 25 years thinking I would never be able to do this. In the last 10 I thought my time was past and I would just be wishing I had done it. Now I am trying. If I get in and become a nurse, I will be so happy. If I apply, but do not make it in, at least I can say I tried.
Just wondering how things have gone, Maryea and others. I was in the LVN-RN transition program when I posted in 2012. I finished my BSN this past summer at 57 years of age. Best move I've ever made as I now have a job in management. Hope you are continuing!
Go for it! The best student in our class is in his early 50s. The combination of maturity, life experiences, and true passion make him an excellent nurse.
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
i'm late to this discussion, but still wanted to comment. if you're 52 now, will be 54 when you start the nursing portion of your education and will be about 56 when you graduate, how old will you be in four years if you don't go to school? if you think your body can take it, go for it!