Mature Nurses over 50

aviator411, RN · Oct 20, 2008

I'm 52 and just getting started. I would appreciate any advice for a "mature" student nurse.

Well, at 52 you've got at least a couple of good years left. I just became a nurse this August at 64. In grad school now for FNP & NMW and mean as ever!

You may find it a little difficult to overlook the youthful flaws of some of your classmates. You'll find that some of the younger ones are not very good listeners and that they have not discovered the value of life experience. Can get a bit annoying when you have to do group projects with them but they'll grow up some day. You've probably found, however, that most instructors do recognize the value of life experience.

Good luck with it!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Oct 20, 2008

Well, at 52 you've got at least a couple of good years left. I just became a nurse this August at 64. In grad school now for FNP & NMW and mean as ever!
You may find it a little difficult to overlook the youthful flaws of some of your classmates. You'll find that some of the younger ones are not very good listeners and that they have not discovered the value of life experience. Can get a bit annoying when you have to do group projects with them but they'll grow up some day. You've probably found, however, that most instructors do recognize the value of life experience.
Good luck with it!

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! :yeah: I am so impressed!!! And here I felt 'old' when I graduated at 38---this just goes to prove that as long as we draw breath, it's never too late to live our dreams.

CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to the world of nursing!

Cyn2school · Oct 20, 2008

God love you, VivaLasViejas,

What are the most comfortable shoes you have found so far?

Three weeks into the first semester of an accelerated, 3 semester BS to BSN program, one of my stepkids had a big motorcycle wreck and is recovering in my family room with 2 broken arms, 2 broken legs, a "pinned" hip an:banghead:d an attitude. I stuck the program out another 3 weeks and am on hiatis until the first of the year and he is weightbearing.Thank God for hoists!!!.

I hope to restart again in January...in the mean time the "wreck" is getting first rate home healthcare, I'm getting another crack at the books, and God willing I'll get a BSN and start a Masters ASAP so I can teach healthcare, start a psych masters in straightening out teenagers, gerontology, or find something to do for the next 25 years or so...I come from a loooong line of stubborn old blue eyed ladies who live to useful old ages.

I didnt have any problems with my so called peers in class, since its a BSN program most everyone is over 25.

Thanks for the encouragement.

un otra vieja...con experiencia de vida

annie

azmimi · Nov 20, 2008

Hi, Over 50 and still working........I am 66 and still working as a pool nurse in an outpatient surgery center part time. I work recovering endoscopy patients most of the time, but still recover surgical patients as well when needed. We have a pretty rapid turnover patient-wise, at a very busy city center and as long as my body holds up and I can contribute, why not?

I like what I do, find it to be rewarding, and I have the ability to say yes or no to an invitation to work, which allows me to have a life at home with a semi-retired husband and a granddaughter.

I like learning new things, relating to my patients and co-workers and it keeps the old brain cells firing. What other career but nursing allows you the flexibility to work as much or as little as you like, whatever hours of the day you like, or in so many different specialties--technical, teaching, bedside, research, choices go on and on.

I encourage young people interested in healthcare to consider nursing, and further encourage nurses unhappy in their current jobs to simply change to something else as a nurse--there are so many opportunities. Admittedly, it does take a little courage to change, but it is better in the long run to move on when you first realize that things aren't going well, instead of hoping that things will get magically better--they probably won't....

So, for today, here I stay at the bedside, loving my patients. Best wishes to all of you out there wondering if you could do this for 45 years.

azmimi:nurse:

walk6miles · Nov 20, 2008

I loved your comments. I turn 60 in less than 3 weeks and have no intention of leaving nursing (bedside, especially). My presence is validated every day by my coordinator ( I work central staffing - critical care). I am wanted and needed by the hospital and I am receiving compensation that I consider equitable and fair.

I truly admire your genuine tenacity and determination. I applaud your ability and skills.

God bless!

azmimi · Nov 20, 2008

Thank you for reading my little note. You deserve accolades for doing intensive care nursing--the intensity of it was more for me when I was younger--see how different we all are, you still love it even as you approach seniordom--awesome and amazing!!

I, too, applaud your ability and skills--keep doing what you love--you truly are needed and valued, let's keep on embracing the new ones entering the field and teach them what we know, they can teach us, too.

Carry on, NURSE

oneLoneNurse · Jan 2, 2009

I work Psychiatry, three 12 hour night shifts per week and am 52.

My 401 took a six figure cut, last year. But, I sold my house in July and put the money in the bank; realizing a 100% profit.

This month I graduated with a second Masters Degree in library science. I expect a pay cut for changing fields, but I also expect less stress. My plan is to find day work as a medical librarian. I think I might work it till I am 75. I think it's a good plan and have had a few bites already, but no offers.

athena55, BSN, RN · Jan 2, 2009

Graduated in 1975 from a 24 month nursing diploma program and have always worked.....

Let's see....Became a Commissioned Officer in the US Army Reserve Nurse Corps at the ripe young age of 50

Went to the Active Duty side of the house when I was thisclose to 53

Recently went TDY and return to Fort Lewis, WA for an intense, extremely challenging Army critical care nurse course and was able to get up @ 0430 every morning and do one hour of PT beside the mid-20 year olds

Still working at the bedside at an Army MEDCEN (Medical Center) combined ICU 12 hour nights but, sad to say, as one advances up the ranks you are taken further and further away from the bedside.

What is that saying? "Age ain't nothin' but a number" While at Madigan Army Medical Center I met a NP in pain management who went to Officers Basic Course ("boot camp" for Officers) when she was 55, has been deployed and is still working as an NP at the age of 70. "Age ain't nuthin' but a number"

I hope 2009 is a healthy, happy, safe year for us all

athena

fancyme50 · Jan 2, 2009

Hi 51 here,just finished school 3 months ago, I am working in a LTC facility, I am enjoying it so far and us older woman can out do the young ones any day, I would like to get into oncology, but afraid I will need more education and not sure if I am up to it, being that retirement is right around the corner, but still might go for it.

pforte · May 1, 2009

]Fascinating forum...

]I'm 57 and in my final year of a post-masters FNP certification. I just finished wound certification this year. If the FNP goes well, I intend to also pick up a psych-mental health credential -- all this before I turn 60.

]

]My plan is to be like that 70 year old NP described earlier -- she was working in pain management -- I suspect I'll be working in family nursing (helping families make sense of the health conditions, disabiltities and tragedies they encounter).

]

]Right now, I am a clinical practice specialist. I wrote our hospital's Magnet document in 2007 and we were awarded Magnet designation in 2008. My job is largely a "desk job" but I get out on the units with some frequency, even though I don't have a patient assignment.

]

]This summer, with clinical hours required for school, I've offered myself to the nurse managers for about 10 weekends (two of them are holiday weekends). I'm also dropping to 0.8 FTE appointment for those 5 pay periods, just to be able to juggle work and school.

]

]I wrote an article recently for Sigma Theta Tau's newsletter for retired or retiring nurses. In it I said about the strategies I'm using to prepare for old-age...

]

]- ]I've decided I like working, so I'm going to keep working (as long as they'll have me!). To that end, I'm back in school to finish a post-master's FNP certification and also pick up wound care certification. My own organization will likely put these skills to good use when I graduate, so that is one way to enhance my value to the organization, and meet my own needs.

]- ]I've begun broadening my horizons for the work I want to do after I retire. For me, that is writing. I've started picking up a few classes in the community, joined a group for writers' and begun submitting morificecripts to popular publications.

]- ]I've increased my own savings for retirement and will continue to do so until I reach 6% of my gross earnings which my employer will match to 4% so, a total of 10% should continue to flow into my 401 K until I leave this employer. Using one of the retirement calculators, that should net over $200,000 more into my account if the money-market gods are kind.

]- ]I've started looking for ways to accelerate my mortgage payments. Just one extra payment a year can cut a decade off a 30-year conventional, fixed-rate mortgage. And, since I started this purchase late in life, I need to accelerate it all I can. Owning my home can provide not only housing but also an asset with clear opportunity for capital gains and sufficient equity to pursue a reverse mortgage if that should prove useful in my 80s.

]- ]I've also been busy pursuing friendships among young people. Many of them are nurses, since in my work I have easy access to bright, young, committed colleagues. Expanding my conversations by discussing ideas outside of my age cohort has been enlarging and enlightening. I like to think it keeps me young. That may not be true, but I know it keeps my thinking more contemporary.

]- ]I've had a dexa-scan to determine my bone health, a colonoscopy to assure my gut health, and a yearly mammogram to be sure any cancer there is detected early. I've completed advanced directives and, I'm thinking of having DNR/DNI tatooed over my left breast, just to reinforce my wishes.

]- ]I've joined an exercise club where I can work out with relative privacy and not have to expose my matronly pudginess to the world of young, fit 30-somethings. But, by working out, I hope to regain a healthier weight, buy a few more years before having my knees replaced and extend the life of my brain since the research on Alzheimer's is now showing exercise to be somewhat preventative.

]

]Is it enough? Who knows? But what I do know from a career-long appreciation for locus of control, is that by taking action I reinforce my own responsibility rather than feeling like a victim of my circumstances. We're all getting older - it beats the alternative. What we do with our retiring years is either up to us or will be left to someone else to manage for us. For me, self-determination has always been the easier choice.

]

]Hope others will continue to write here.

]--p

walk6miles · May 1, 2009

You sound like my clone. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you have done and/or planned.

Until, that is, all my vegetarian lifestyle/run 6 miles a day - marathon/bike/skate, etc. fell away when I was diagnosed with Parkinson's. I went into a free fall but have now started back up the hill (albeit slowly and with a definite shift to the right side of my body - eeks!).

I am now looking into finishing my degree and going on to law school. I could use any helpful suggestions with regard to financing for school and/or different approaches to a long-term degree.

I love my job and cannot imagine sitting home and going to rust and ruin. God bless!!

Grace Oz · May 2, 2009

Being retired and at home does not equate to going to rust and ruin.

Quite the opposite in fact.

Life takes on a whole new dimention and for those of us fortunate enough to be able to retire early, the horizions are broadened in a way unimaginable before.