Nursing School as an Older Student

Editorial Team / Moderator · May 29, 2013

I moved your post to its own thread in a more applicable forum (vs. the Gov/Military Nursing forum). Best of luck!

Rlee1 · May 29, 2013

Well I can't help with advice from the older lady department- but being about the same age I can tell ya to have faith. I truly believe that the wisdom of your years and experience in raising children will help compensate for the slight slowing we both are showing! In many ways I am sure you do not have the distractions that come with youth, but in ways you have responsibilities that also the young don't share. So stay positive, enjoy the journey, and god luck in both of our new endeavors.

JerseyBSN · May 29, 2013

You'll do fine. There are a lot of adults (50'ish) going back to school and studying nursing. You have the advantage of maturity. I earned my ASN when I was 46.

alysonp · May 29, 2013

I am also 50 and starting the ADN program in August. I agree that we have life experience on our side. We will do great!!!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 29, 2013

My late dad went back to college on the GI bill when he was 45 with three kids at home and one in the military. One of those kids was under the age of five (me - I was three!) and my sister was about 13.

He did fine.

He told me in later years, when I went back to school, that before he started, he worried about keeping up with 'the kids'. He said after a few weeks, he started wondering how they were going to keep up with him!

I went to an accelerated BSN program. Two of our students were over the age of 50. They did great - and so will you. :) Congrats on your acceptance!

Edited late to add: I went back at 34.

Katie71275 · May 29, 2013

I think you will do fine! I went back at almost 30 with 4 kids at home, and did also feel that my brain had slowed down from my early 20's(plus with kids!). I did fine and made some of the top grades in my class.

Chinook2 · May 29, 2013

I`ve found that as an older student my prior learning, life experience and ability to keep things in perspective give me a distinct advantage over most of my younger classmates. It sounds like you know that nursing is what you want to do so go for it!

pmabraham, BSN, RN · May 29, 2013

Good day, Jonelrob:

I just turned 50 a few short weeks ago. I will be starting my pre nursing prerequisites starting July 1st; I'm just taking two classes in the summer before going full steam with 15 credits this coming fall.

In terms of planning, I first took a big picture -- a minimum of two hours of study for every one hour in class. Then I narrowed down the picture on the calendar to plan out each day from the time I would wake up, the time I would leave for school, study time, etc.

While I'm still nervous; I'm looking forward for the challenges ahead.

My wife and I both take care of the house; and we have an empty nest.

Thank you.

mclennan, BSN, RN · May 29, 2013

Having been classmates with women in their 50s in nursing school and having family/friends that age now, the most important advice I have for you is to stay KEEN on TECHNOLOGY. I think the pace of the program, the academics & overall work are the least of your worries. That stuff will be a piece of cake for you.

I don't want to generalize but SO many people your age, particularly women, tend to be phobic and resistant to technology. PLEASE don't do yourself and your classmates the disservice of holding up the train while you scramble to learn the EMR, e-books, how to work an iPad/Kindle/Nook/iPhone/Android, or use a Pyxis or text paging. At my last job I saw a 58 year old nurse, who'd been in the department for 15 years, & was 2 years away from qualifying for retirement, get canned by a 38-year old nurse manager because she would not stop using old carbon forms she hoarded in a drawer for ordering referrals. We had the EMR for that for over a year and she just refused to get on board. POOF went her job, her income, and potential to be hired anywhere else.

My own mother refuses to try Skype, or learn how to view digital photos. Then she whines & gets mad when she doesn't paper pictures of the grandkids. We all got rid of our film cameras long ago. Her stubbornness about technology has caused a lot of family conflict. We have sent CDs of pictures and digital photo frames loaded with pix and she STILL refuses to even try.

In school, the 50-somethings in my class didn't have smartphones & struggled with even a simple program like Blackboard. They lacked confidence, pecking at the keyboard then squinting at the screen to see if they "broke something." One lady broke down in tears at clinical because she couldn't grasp how to use tabs in Epic charts. She would jump in alarm, "oh! What I was looking at just disappeared!" No. It didn't 'disappear.' It's just BEHIND what you're looking at now, genius. She held up the whole group. After a while I just lost all sympathy for her and she flunked out.

So don't be that guy. The fact you've posted here is a good sign. Good luck and godspeed.

Rlee1 · May 30, 2013

Having been classmates with women in their 50s in nursing school and having family/friends that age now, the most important advice I have for you is to stay KEEN on TECHNOLOGY. I think the pace of the program, the academics & overall work are the least of your worries. That stuff will be a piece of cake for you.
I don't want to generalize but SO many people your age, particularly women, tend to be phobic and resistant to technology. PLEASE don't do yourself and your classmates the disservice of holding up the train while you scramble to learn the EMR, e-books, how to work an iPad/Kindle/Nook/iPhone/Android, or use a Pyxis or text paging. At my last job I saw a 58 year old nurse, who'd been in the department for 15 years, & was 2 years away from qualifying for retirement, get canned by a 38-year old nurse manager because she would not stop using old carbon forms she hoarded in a drawer for ordering referrals. We had the EMR for that for over a year and she just refused to get on board. POOF went her job, her income, and potential to be hired anywhere else.
My own mother refuses to try Skype, or learn how to view digital photos. Then she whines & gets mad when she doesn't paper pictures of the grandkids. We all got rid of our film cameras long ago. Her stubbornness about technology has caused a lot of family conflict. We have sent CDs of pictures and digital photo frames loaded with pix and she STILL refuses to even try.
In school, the 50-somethings in my class didn't have smartphones & struggled with even a simple program like Blackboard. They lacked confidence, pecking at the keyboard then squinting at the screen to see if they "broke something." One lady broke down in tears at clinical because she couldn't grasp how to use tabs in Epic charts. She would jump in alarm, "oh! What I was looking at just disappeared!" No. It didn't 'disappear.' It's just BEHIND what you're looking at now, genius. She held up the whole group. After a while I just lost all sympathy for her and she flunked out.
So don't be that guy. The fact you've posted here is a good sign. Good luck and godspeed.

I sure can't argue with this advice! As a 50 pluser myself that is one of my tougher hurdles. Our kids grew up with this technology and we must grow into it. I have a 3 year old grandson who can navigate my iphone and ipad quite handily. I, in the meantime marvel at my fellow students that produce dazzling powerpoint presentations in less than half the time it takes me. Heed Mclennans advice and stay up on the techno. I practice it almost as much as I study!

RamblingSN · May 30, 2013

I am almost 30. I have 3 kids and a husband. My son has Asperger's syndrome. I can honestly say that I am crazy busy. But it is manageable if you want it and put your mind to it. It is a lot of studying and hard work. But it is possible. =)