PreNursing at 30+

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  1. What's Your Situation?

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      Just starting-married and working.
    • 11
      Going strong-married and working.
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      Just starting- single and working.
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      Going strong-single and working.
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      Other

51 members have participated

Hello fellow PreNurses! I am 30 years old and attending college for the first time. I've just completed my first class on the path to becoming a nurse. I have a full time job, a family and mortgage. I would love to hear from someone else in the 30+ age range. I've got friends who've gone down this path before but they've all either not worked or worked part time. Is anyone else in the same boat? I'd love to hear about it. How are you managing? Do you have any tips or tricks? How do YOU balance starting over mid-life with your current career and personal life?

Specializes in Hospice.

I hope 30 isn't midlife or I'm about 8 years from the grave, and I just passed NCLEX RN and am working as a nurse in LTC. Wish I'd done it when I was 30 or younger!

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Specializes in Med-surg, home care.

I am 35, married with 3 kids (11, 6, and almost 5), and work full time. I too have a mortgage. I already have a degree but want to change careers. I started taking prerequisites over 3 years ago which seems like a long time but I can only handle 1 class at a time with family and f/t work (1 course in Spring, 1 in Fall). I have taken all my pre req to date online but will take at least 1 on campus at my choice school (probably on weekend), where I will apply to both the accelerated and generic program. It isn't easy because after I leave work I have to tend to the kids before they go to bed but doable if you try to have a schedule. Most of my reading/assignments is done at night or on weekends. I do meals or prep foods in advance during semester so I do not waste all my time in the kitchen cooking dinner. I am also planning to save as much money as I can now while I am working because I would have to stop working once I go to nursing school and all financial burden would be on hubby. I do not know what it would be like once I start nursing school but I would imagine that I would be a lunatic!

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I'm currently in a junior college with a unique nursing program. When I complete it I will have my LPN plus everything I need for my BSN. Then all I'll need to do is complete a bridge and I'll have a bachelors. The program offers night classes and weekend clinicals which is why it works perfectly for me. I would've been dead at the starting line if I would have to go M-F days!

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

I just graduated from nursing school in May. I am 46 years old. I do have kids, but fortunately, one is over 21 and the other just got a drivers license, so they were self-sufficient enough to not need constant attention, like younger children would need. However, there are always extra-curricular activities & sporting events going on. And, of course, they want Mom to be there :)

You can definitely strike a positive school/life balance by staying organized. You will have to realize that you cannot possibly do EVERYTHING yourself. Will you miss some of your kids' school functions? Yes. Will your house be messier than usual? Yes. But you can do your best to schedule time to go to as much as reasonably possible. Nursing school really does take up a lot of your free time, but it doesn't have to consume your life. Trust me, I scheduled enough sanity breaks so I wouldn't get burned out and I still graduated summa cum laude. It's definitely do-able :D

You're 30, so you're young to me :) You'll get through it. Nursing school goes by faster than you know it :up:

Best of luck to you :D

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I'm 37 and am a bit over a year out of my BSN. I worked 35+ hours a week during school and have three children currently 13,10, & 9. I volunteered a lot during school as well. It's possible. The most important factor is your level of commitment. It can be done, but sacrifices will have to be made.

BSN GCU 2014.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

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Specializes in Short Term/Skilled.

I started my pre-reqs when I was 28, I just finished and was accepted to nursing school at 33. Life happens. Someone here on AN said something I'll never forget regarding the age thing, and it was "How old will you be in 4 years if you don't go to school". Made SO much sense to me.

I started with South University, knowing absolutely nothing about the college process or even that tuition at an in-state CC was WAY affordable. I allowed them to charge me 10k for that year and NONE of my classes transferred like they said they would.

Lesson learned.

So, I started over at my CC while working full time as a CNA. 1-2 classes per semester, with the intention of taking around 2 years to finish the pre-reqs and start school.

Well, pre req's have pre-reqs,, and before I could take API, I had to take Biology. Before I could take contemporary math, I had to take a remedial course, etc. (Don't judge, I never learned it like I should have. I'm good at it now ;-) )

Then, I had not one, but three surgeries - and each time had to withdraw from my classes since I didn't know before hand that I would need another surgery. (Lost that CNA job, too but that's another story)

So, here I am 5 years later in my first semester of nursing school and with an associates degree I never intended on getting. Those two years actually took 5, and by the time I have by BSN, I will probably be close to 8 years into my education with a degree that should only take 4 years to get, but I'm ok with it because nurses are life-long learners and life happens. As long as I don't give up, I'm doing ok. Everyone has their own set of circumstances that guide their path. I'll probably have many more things that delay my end goal, (ahem...babies) but that's OK too, I'm not stopping.

The way I look at it, tomorrow is promised to no one. How ever many years I get to work as a nurse will be that many more than if I never do it.

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I'm 46. I have 4 kids and started my prereqs at 36 right after my 4th child was born. Worked full time as a CNA at the hospital I currently work at now as an RN.

I found a night and weekend program which enabled me to continue to work. Classes were 2 nights a week from 6pm to 10 pm and clinical was every other weekend. I worked full time up until my last semester then dropped to part time.

Graduated when I was 43, passed NCLEX a month later and landed my current RN position a week after that. :)

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oh wow!...what kind of program is that??? Where is it?

Whats the name/ title of that kind of program?

how long is the LPN part of it, and then how long do you have to go in addition to that to then get your BSN????

I've never heard of such a thing, but I REALLY want to know all about it, please share with me :-)

Im in the middle of choosing the best, most practical, FASTEST steps, to get to where I want to get to (in the nursing, and mental health field), and I really want to do it quickly because I want to still be younger to be able to ENJOY it all while im younger, and be able to enjoy it all LONGER, if that makes sense.......

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Lone Star Kingwood has an evening program

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.
I'm currently in a junior college with a unique nursing program. When I complete it I will have my LPN plus everything I need for my BSN. Then all I'll need to do is complete a bridge and I'll have a bachelors. The program offers night classes and weekend clinicals which is why it works perfectly for me. I would've been dead at the starting line if I would have to go M-F days!

I hope this is a public community college and not one of those fly by night schools. Anyways, if you just starting out and you said an entry level position won't pay the bills...what exactly are your goals in nursing then? You plan to work and do nursing part-time or what? or will the spouse pickup for that loss of income.

Prereqs are definitely doable on a fulltime job, its want I did, but can't say it was easy...something has to give, don't come into nursing thinking its all a piece of cake, its a lot of work. Many prereqs need A's to be competitive.

My route was I completed Prereqs part-time while I worked full-time, then I got my AA, then I applied and transferred to a BSN program. Front that point I had to quit my job, completed BSN at 38. I was and still am sole earner in the family married with 2 kids and adopted 20,000 kids in student loans :) not bad, cause some people in my cohort had like 40,000 to 60,000 in loans.

If you going the LPN to BSN route note that some of those programs will require you work as an LPN for 1 year before you are eligible to apply.

30's is not midlife so relax.

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You and I have the same situation! I am 35 years old, married with 3 kids ages 12, 8 and 21 months.(also still breastfeeding) LOL!

I am working on my 4 prereqs for the practical nursing program and am getting good grades. :) I plan to start the program in September 2016 when I am 36 years old. I am almost finished my prereqs (so far I finished Math, Chemistry, Biology and soon I will be starting English) I also plan on taking Developmental Psychology and Sociology online prior to the program to lighten my workload.) :) We also have a mortgage and making car payments but I plan to maybe work part time to pay for my schooling. Take care and best of luck!

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I'm 33 and just beginning nursing course with Excelsior. I have a wife that is super supportive and stays home with our 2 kids. I already have a Bachelors so I do not have many pre-reqs to do, but plan on going onto Nurse Practitioner ASAP. I have been a Paramedic for 15 years and work around 48-60 hours a week at a hospital. I worked full time through my first Bachelors also! It can be done for sure, it's all just a matter of how bad a person wants it.

Good Luck!!!!!!!

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