mature students vs. young student nurses

I think it depends on the individual and their maturity level..not their age..I have a son in school now taking prereqs for PT..he's not doing so sporty ..not because he's just 19, but because he's a little immature just yet I think and doesn't take things as seriously as "I" would like him to..but other young students seem to be determined and set in their goals @ the same age .

In my experience, I graduated nursing college in my mid 30's. I was far more ready for college in my late twenties and early thirties than I was straight out of high school. For me...It has helped being older than younger when working as a nurse.

The situation would vary depending on the person. I don't think being younger or older classifies everyone's ability to handle being a nurse. It's all in the individual to me.

MENTALLY young or MENTALLY mature?

I don't believe that a person's age is a big factor in how well they do in school. I would say it has more to do with that person's ambition, lifestyle, and their speed of learning new material.

As someone else asked do you mean mentally mature or physically mature?

It goes both ways. Partying hard and nursing school don't mix well and there are probably more of the younger students who try to do that than the older students. On the other hand the younger students are usually more "fresh" in the department of studying and having a retention of the things they've learned in school because they probably haven't been out of school for as long. Of course there are a lot of exceptions in both categories.

To make it in nursing school you need brains, thick skin, and most of all PERSEVERANCE.

OMG...this just reminds me of how horrible nursing school was.

And to think I'm enrolled in a nursing program all over again. Hopefully the road to this set of initials won't be as rough as the one to the first set.:stone

I agree that it doesn't matter how old you are. I was 18 when I got into nursing school I think I was pretty mature but I was also a bit judgmental. Maybe being mature means being less judgmental and thus more accepting of people.

I think the thing that determines how good a nurse is you are (apart from brains, patience and determination) is how accepting you are of people. I don't think it depends so much on your age as on your attitude.

So where do I fall in this thread. I am neither 30 yet nor am I fresh out of high school. I think I am mature, but sometimes you need at least a little immaturity to get through the day. I am 28( will be 29 in 2 weeks), already have a BS degree in CDFR, have 2 children, been married for almost 7 years( been with him for 10). I don't think that I have a ton of life experience, but I think I have enough to be helpful in my future career.