Older Woman Plans on Being a New RN

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My husband and I plan on moving to Central Florida in approximately 2 years (we already have the building lot). I'm planning on making my dream happen and go for my ADN.

Question: I know no one has a crystal ball, but does it make any sense for a "mature woman" (I'm talking late 50's) to embark on a second career as an RN? Are there hiring possibilities for a newly-hatched RN who remembers growing up in the 1950's and 1960's (when mini-skirts and the Beatles were considered radical) :bugeyes: ? I'm not looking for huge bucks and am not looking to be in charge of a hospital or anything.

I figure since I've spent most of my working career slaving for lawyers, anything's possible :chuckle

Oh, and we'll be living in Lake County, Florida about 45 minutes from Orlando.

Thanks in advance :yeah:

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We had a wonderful, accomplished, confident lady in our class who turned 60 right before our ADN graduation.

She was an inspiration to us all!

There was another lady not too far behind her and now my mom, who watched me go through all the craziness of nursing school and was a nurse herself before I was born got inspired and is presently in a refresher course to earn her license back and get back to work. She's in her late 50s.

Most of my class was over 30, so I think it's a great idea!

Good luck and dont get discouraged! Make your dream come true! :yeah:

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WELCOME to the wonderful world of nursing school!

I would like to say that 09 classes of nursing students have graduated before me at my school, ALL of them had at least 1 student who was over 50. ALL of them PASSED! The trend is, at least here, the young uns are the ones who tend to be excused from the program, for a multitude of nursing school sins.

My nursing instructor did say this regarding older students, when you, as a older student, graduate (yes I said When!), patients will look at you and "assume" you have been a nurse for years and have an immediate comfort in you. Whereas, new grads who are young, have obviously not been nurses for an extended period of time, and patients (in general) tend to be more guarded until the young un shows they are competent.

So, you are ahead of the game in those regards. I TOTALLY encourage you, as a 34 year old nursing student myself, to GO FOR IT! You only live once, you have a choice to make about fulfilling your dreams!!!!!

WELCOME

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Thanks for the encouragement :yeah:

And nurz2be, I hadn't considered before what you said here:

My nursing instructor did say this regarding older students, when you, as a older student, graduate (yes I said When!), patients will look at you and "assume" you have been a nurse for years and have an immediate comfort in you.

So maybe there is an advantage to being a "mature woman" after all :lol2:

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Specializes in Tele.

why not?!

my grandmother was 60 years old when she became a lawyer. before that she was a stay at home wife.

she died 2 years later from breast cancer.

but she always said she wanted to become a lawyer, and that's what she did. she accomplished her dream. I was very proud of her. (I don't remember her much, because I was a young kid when she died).

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:redbeathe

WELCOME to the wonderful world of nursing school!

I would like to say that 09 classes of nursing students have graduated before me at my school, ALL of them had at least 1 student who was over 50. ALL of them PASSED! The trend is, at least here, the young uns are the ones who tend to be excused from the program, for a multitude of nursing school sins.

My nursing instructor did say this regarding older students, when you, as a older student, graduate (yes I said When!), patients will look at you and "assume" you have been a nurse for years and have an immediate comfort in you. Whereas, new grads who are young, have obviously not been nurses for an extended period of time, and patients (in general) tend to be more guarded until the young un shows they are competent.

So, you are ahead of the game in those regards. I TOTALLY encourage you, as a 34 year old nursing student myself, to GO FOR IT! You only live once, you have a choice to make about fulfilling your dreams!!!!!

That was so encouraging!! I will be sixty-one in July and am awaiting my acceptance notification from CCAC for the fall semester of their nursing program. I returned to school last January with a 30 year old associate degree from CCAC. They accepted all my electives, English, Math and Psychology credits. I completed Human Growth and Development, Intro to Biology, Intro to Chemistry,A&P1, Physical Conditioning and Weight Training1. I also chose to repeat Intro to Algebra and Intermediate Algebra(even though I had passed with a's 30+years ago). Since I only needed 1 credit in CIT, I decided to take a 2-day intro course as a refresher. I earned a "B" in Biology and the rest were "A's. Currently, I am taking A&P2, Medical Terminology and part 2 of Physical Conditioning and Weight Training. So far, I have a "B" in A&P2 and "A's" in the others. I said all this to say-- age does not matter. It is easier this time around--I am not working, my baby is 37years old and working on her PhD and my husband doesn't fuss about dinner time.

WELCOME

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

Definitely go for it. I graduated nursing school in 2006 at the age of 53.

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Specializes in Intensive medical care.

Go for it babe! My aunt graduated as an RN in 2003 at 51 and she's still kicking. Waiting for me to finish school and get some expirence so we can travel together. Age isn't anything but a number.

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I had a classmate who was 56 graduate with me. That was 20 years ago but she was an asset to the whole class. What she lacked in the vigor of youth department she more than made up for with maturity, focus, and good judgement. I am glad I graduated when I did. I don't think I have the energy or brain power left at 50 to do it now, but if you feel up to the task go for it. I don't see age being a big factor in employment opportunities. It's not like hospitals are offering that much in pension or health benifits anymore anyway. They can look at it this way- you will be going onto medicare/ social security long before they have to pay you top scale or provide you with many weeks of vacation.

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, neuro,research.

that is part of what is so wonderful about nursing. it is an ideal second or third career. i myself am on my second career and divorced, (marriage can seem like a career all its own). your age, makes you wise and then hopefully you have acquired a sense of humor where other younger folks may panic and take things to heart. hopefully you will join the proud and share your wisdom and what life has taught to those who may be just starting out in life where you are only starting out in a second career. studies show that now days, folks change careers an average of three times over their working years. so, don't worry, just wait.

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Hi all,

I am a 51 year old, been an LPN in LTC for 1 year, am enrolled to become an RN (already have a BS in another field). I will be moving to Bradenton in 3 years when my son graduates high school. My parents are in Bradenton and are getting older. So I will be a new RN at age 54!!

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

Go for it! I'm in NS right now and my class includes a number of moms in their 40s and one guy in his late 50s. They're among the top students in our class- they have dedication and life experience that we younger students can't touch.

FWIW ex's mom started nursing school in her forties (after her kids left home) and wound up with a very successful career, ultimately making it to upper management. From what I've seen, there's career opportunity in nursing at any age.

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