Nursing school in my 30s

[mirem]

I've really been wanting a career change for a while now. i have been considering nursing for sometime now and am beginning to think about it more seriously. The catch? I am 33 years old. I do subscribe to the belief that it is never too late to go back to school, so that's not the issue, but I am in a place in my life where things will soon be busy and expensive. My boyfriend and I want to get married, have kids, and get a bigger house in the next few years. All these things seem daunting if I were to add nursing school to the mix, not to mention costly both monetarily as well as time-wise. I envision 3 options: 1) If I start school now, I will be 37 by the time I finish, and I worry about putting off having kids so late. 2) Have kids during my education. The idea of having kids during school seems overwhelming. 3) If I go the family route solely, I worry I may have regret for not following my nursing dream.

Any tips from people who have faced a similar situation?

[Tucker8603]

I too am a second career Nursing student, but not at 30, I'm 45. I have a husband and a 6 year old; when I started school she was 3. Nursing is something I had always wanted to do, but I waited until my daughter was in preschool. I started doing my prerequisites at a local community college, just taking 2 classes at first, to ensure I could handle the demand and my life. Because I had no prior degree I had to take everything; English, Math, Science, Humanities, all of it. It took me 3 years to get these done because I wanted to make sure I could handle my life and the classes and get good grades. But, now I am finally done with all of the prereqs and going into Nursing School to get my BSN. It was not easy because you need to get good grades in all of your prereqs, especially math/science, as the nursing schools are very competitive. But, it is so worth it. I am proud of myself for doing it, my family is proud of me for doing it, and its a career I know I'll love. My advice to you is to at least start your prereqs if this is something you really want to do, take a class or 2 to start making your way towards the goal. If you get pregnant, you can still handle a class or 2 and slowly inch your way towards where you want to be. Where I live universities will only accept science courses taken within the last 5 years, some 10 years, so keep that in mind and maybe research your area for requirements.

[Timi]

You can do accomplish anything you set out to do. Your only limitation is yourself. I started Nursing school in my 20's left and came back to it in my mid 50's. Go for it and good luck. Do great things.

[emergenceRN17, ASN, BSN, RN]

If this is what you really want, GO FOR IT!! I am 39 years old and just graduated ASN a few weeks ago. Waiting to take NCLEX and then moving onto BSN. My husband, a paramedic, who is 45 years old is just beginning his road to RN. It is tough and seems like never ending at times but if you truly want it .... you can do it. I wish you all the best!!

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

Well, you can go back to school with kids but what if there are complications with your pregnancy or some issues with your children that require you to be around them more, will you be able to handle the stress of having to juggle both? I would get school out of the way first. You never know what will happen after you have kids. At-least if you go to school first, you will have the time and money to care for them. You can get help getting pregnant (fertility doctor), or adopt. For as many women as I have seen juggling school with kids, I have seen many more not able to go back to school because of the kids, and cost to raise them. Who will watch your children while you are going back to school, and working. The BSN and MSN (non-NP degree) are a lot easier to get if you have an associates degree because you can go online, no clinical needed. You can just go straight for the BSN. If you set your mind to it saying is true in a way but at the same time, life can get in the way. Getting in school is one thing, finishing is another. Get in and get it done as quickly as possible. Regardless if you have kids or not, you still need to make a decent living for yourself .

[mirem]

Thanks so much for the advice and different perspectives. Some very inspiring stories here too - I loved reading them. I have lots of thinking to do, but I think a good start would be getting a couple of prereqs completed that I still need to do, and then taking it one step at a time as I see what comes my way!