Hi all, my name is Maggie and I am new to this forum with today being my first day.
I will be 54 years old in July, and I am seriously considering entering a Pre Nursing Degree Education Program in the Fall of 2014 here in San Diego, CA.
My most recent experience in Health Care is that of a Certified Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor, AKA CADC II. (Though, our licensure/certification is changing soon to reflect Licensed Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors - LAADAC/LADC) I have worked in the field from 1992 - 2005.
In my early/mid 20's I was a Certified Nurses Aid, working in the County Nursing Homes (Yellowstone County-Billings, MT), and as a Home Health Care Aid to young adults with spinal cord injuries, primarily Quadriplegics, and in Respit Care with older teens with MS and their parents here in San Diego.
I am now interested in returning to work, though my "work" dream now is to work with Hospice, Cancer Patients, and in Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Treatment as a Nurse!!
My age could be a drawback in a hospital setting, or even a Doctor's Office, though I feel it would fit right in in Hospice, Cancer Treatment, etc..
*I once read that you'll still get older in the coming years whether you're pursuing your dream or not,
*YEP!!!! "colda, woulda shoulda!!"... I figure that, even IF I have to do it slow..as long as I do it..I am moving forward!!! Hey, if I happen to slip a step back,..I can still step back forward..at my age,.. it's called the "Chacha!".. :)
Hi Maggie - So many great answers and good advice here. I was 57 when I finished my full-time LPN course - a grueling year of 14-hour days (full-time nursing classes & clinicals after teaching Spanish in the mornings, my career for the prior 13 years). Let your age be your motivator to take good care of yourself. You do need to be in good physical condition to do this work, so make sure you exercise and stay strong. Deal with any chronic problems you have; I have plantar fasciitis and occasional back problems, but I make time to take care of myself. All that exercise is great for your brain too! I worked with developmentally disabled adults for a year and have worked nights in LTC for the past year, and also volunteer with my local hospice. I am planning to move soon and hope to work in home health care and hospice. I am so happy I opened this door in my life. Whatever else comes, I think I will always be able to find a job and be a useful and productive person. Good luck!
I do NOT have a College Degree,..so.. I am starting from 'ground zero',..THOUGH my Coun seling School and Certification was exactly how you describe your Nursing School..except it was an 8-5 PM 5 days a week accelerated school program.. 5 mo of classroom with a Module test weekly!! Studying every day an fitting in my husband and kids (1 pre teen 1 teen).. all 3 of us studied together, and bed time for me was 8 PM..LOL.. up at 4 to study some more and be there for the family, drop off the kids and get to school myself!!! .. My Practicum turned into me getting a full time job through a new staff member..(his previous employer) hired me to replace him!!)
Over the past 22 years, my field has evolved and NEEDS Medical Staff, ergo..why I have decided to go into Nursing, after having taken off some years to help my daughter raise my #1 grand daughter.
My #1 grand daughter will be 12 next week, my daughter will be 32 Saturday AND she also is a Substance Abuse Counselor..and has a 10 month old daughter, whom I have been bb sitting.
She will be not to happy when I tell her I am going back to school, and she will actually have to pay someone to bb sit some day..haha..
I have some health issues, BUT..activity is GOOD MEDICINE!!
Thank you. Your post brought tears to my eyes, yet..you have also encouraged me too!!
I do NOT have a college degree either and no schooling since high school (I graduated a year ahead of my class in 1972, got married, went to work, had a child, divorced, remarried in 1980, had two more children, started a new business with my husband and ran it for over 30 years) THEN I finally decided to follow my dream of becoming an RN in my mid 50s after my husband was badly burned in a home fire accident and we spent several months in a burn unit where my dream of becoming and RN was reborn. With the hands on training I received there and the encouragement of my husband's doctors and nurses, I came home, closed my business, auctioned off all the contents, found the BEST nursing school program in the area of Georgia where I live and began my "new life" as a FIRST TIME COLLEGE STUDENT! I have faced many challenges, not the least of which was getting my high school records and getting into college. Then made it through my prereqs taking one year longer than I had planned due to the unexpected death of my father during my second year which caused me to leave that semester to take care of my mom and miss the deadline for nursing school last year. I did NOT let that stop me. I went right on with my schooling and just finished my pre reqs with a 3.74 GPA overall. My last two semesters were both rocking 4.0's as I had really gotten into the swing of things. I just got my acceptance letter to nursing school and clinicals this fall and even with this good record behind me, I am sooooo nervous. We have orientation June 3rd and I'm looking forward to that to know more what I will be facing in the fall. It does take much longer to learn. I have to read and reread, take lots of notes and study a LOT but I am hanging in there. If I can do this Greenlee with NO schooling since high school in the 1970s, I know you can! Be encouraged, be strong in your faith and dedicated to your studies and I know, WE can do this!! All the Best to you! Pam
oh please... you are only as old as you feel. i have been an LPN for the last 27 years and I am still going back to school for my RN. Up until last year, I worked in a Pediatric Trach/ Vent facility. I worked there for 17 years before moved down to Florida. I worked with a 58 year old Respiratory therapist that could wipe the floors with most of those youngsters they hired. We used to yell at them that we were'nt the only ones that can answer the alarms. They had the nerve to complain (on night shift...which we have been doing for years) that they were "soooo tired." Heh we would just go in and get busy.... so don't fret. There's life in these old bones yet.
I was 52 when I started, with 2 college degrees and a 20-year career behind me. I elected to drop out of RN school because nursing wasn't for me. The one and ONLY "physical demand" that gave me any problem was all of the sitting. Sitting through 6 hours of lectures and the chair made my bum numb and my back sore. If you wear the right shoes for you, walking around won't be an issue. Nurses DO get to sit down every so often. Stomping concrete in say, a factory or a big box retail store is far, far harder on one's body. If you have always worked jobs that didn't wear out your body, and you don't have preexisting back, shoulder, or other injures or physical limitations, then starting RN school in your 50s or even 60s should not be a problem. People vary, and one person could be physically older at 40 than another is a 80. Keeping your body weight down is a very good idea, too. Hoofing it around with 30-50 extra pounds is harder than doing it at ideal body weight. Some of my classmates were diabetics and they had a more difficult time with the demands of clinicals. I'd be cleaning up patient bathrooms if I had lags in the day. I am just compulsive motion. LOL
The forced sedentary lifestlye of sit and study all the time got on my nerves. Infuriated me, truly. I am not a "sitter." I've always had jobs that let me get up and move around. RN school started to give me frozen shoulder and other annoyances that I know were just from the forced inactivity. I think that's a huge part of why I quit. After a day in class, I'd be practically bouncing off the walls and I preferred to go clean house or anything except sit and study, because I had so much pent-up energy. RN school just didn't work for me. But that's okay.
Follow your dreams. It's never too late to be what you might have been. After graduating from high school in the 70's, I attended a 3 year diploma nursing program but foolishly dropped out in my senior year to get married. I worked 30+ years in the insurance industry as a disability claims representative before being laid off from my job in January 2009 at the start of the recession. Even though I was 54 years old, I decided to return to school in March 2009 to complete my nursing degree. I started out by taking 1 pre-req course (Anatomy and Physiology I) my 1st quarter to see if I could handle it. When I earned an A, I knew I could handle it ,so took a full load the next quarter. I completed all of my pre req's in one year with a 4.0 GPA, applied for enterance into the clinical portion of the nursing program in October 2010, was accepted, and started in December 2010. While in school, I supported myself by working full time double weekend shifts as a C.N.A and my C.M.A. I also cleaned houses and commercial office buildings part time, pawned all of my jewelry, sold my blood plasma, and begged/ borrowed/stealed from friends and family to support myself. Although I was the oldest person in my class, my classmates embrassed me so I never felt like I was the odd man out. It wasn't easy by any means, but I'm happy to say that I graduated with my ASN degree in November 2012 with a 3.38 GPA, passed the NCLEX exam on my 1st attempt, and just celebrated my 1 year anniversary at my place of employment. My student loan balance is daunting and I'll probably die before I ever pay it all back but it was so worth it to finally achieve my goal.
I sympathize with you. Even though I'm 26, I'll be 28 when I hopefully start my LPN program, and will be 29 or 30 when I finish. It makes me sad to think of the time I wasted, I could have been done with school by now and working. I guess the only good thing is that I don't plan on getting my RN so when I finish my LPN I'll be done with school, nursing-wise at least.
I live in Connecticut and I was 54 when I graduated from my LPN program.
Yes, Maggie, you will have a core curriculum of prerequisite courses to complete before you can do your clinicals. My suggestion to find your program ASAP and make an appointment to talk to an advisor. There are grants and financial aid available for qualifying applicants.
Some types of federal loans can be repaid partially or in total by working for the Federal government for a specified number of years. However, this is NOT TRUE for ALL Federal loans so if you go this route, be sure what type you get.
To get through the clinicals, I actually quit my regular job because my supervisor would not allow me to change my work shift so I could do my clinicals. I then worked at Taco Bell, used my savings and took out a loan to pay for that portion of my schooling.
I love being a nurse and hope to be able to continue for many, many more years.
I am writing to Thank you all so very very much for your comments regarding my starting a Nursing Career/School at age 54!! Your input has been so encouraging!!
Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be able to go into a Nursing Program, due to an ongoing / chronic health issue that I have, that is not responding (yet) to the treatments I have been given.
I have a form of Vasculitis that usually has very few complications or limitations when it is treated with the standard protocol. Un fortunately, after 2 years of the initial flare up, I am still experiencing a complicated array of symptoms that I had hoped would be under control by now.
I Thank all of you for your support and encouragement. I will not be entering a school/program this year.
Greenlee
11 Posts
FAITH!!!! .. I can only find out by following my dream and to keep asking "THY WILL BE DONE",..NOT MINE!!!! Thanks!!