New to this site

The good nursing programs are not always near a large city. The school that has the highest passrate near me, is in the most remote location.

As far as being middle aged, I'd say have the students in my LVN program were over 40, and several of them did very well.

I think any nursing program you go to will make you feel ill-prepared. I know when I got my first job I was VERY scared and felt totall unprepared. Many things you just learn on the job, and you'll remember and feel like you know more than you realized as time goes by.

http://www.ncbon.com/LicStat-PassRates.asp

That website will tell you all the passrates for north carolina, hopefully a good one is near you.

Good luck and welcome to the site!

didn't see your reply until today, thanks for the tip.

Brenda

As far as starting nursing when you are middle-aged goes... my mom started her RN program at age 48. She got better grades in her classes, both because she realized how truly important it was to her, and because she was able to use life experiences to gain a different perspective. When she graduated she got a great job at Mass General, and was a valued employee because she already knew how to deal w "work politics" and was not afraid to ask questions. Many patients felt more comfortable w/ her because, unless she told them, they assumed that she'd been a nurse for years. If they asked how long she'd been nursing she was truthful, and got even more respect for having the guts to start later in life.

She's always liked administrative work, so she went back and got a Masters in Nursing Admin and Business Admin. Now approaching 60, she works for a major Boston hospital doing cost/benefit analysis for the supply dept. She still does shifts at the General to keep her skills fresh. Don't know what her salary is, but it's close to 6 figures. She loves both jobs. Incidentally, it was cool to be in school (different ones) at the same time. She passed the NCLEX a year before me.

Don't think of your age as a negative thing... it has only been positive for my mom. And it was great to see a woman who never thought she had the brains to even go to college end up w/ a double Masters degree.