pjgal2000

Go for it!! I did (starting nursing school pre reqs at age 55) and I'm so happy I didn't let anyone persuade me not to!! I was one of the first in my class to be hired (a week BEFORE I graduated : ) and at the job I wanted in the hospital where I wanted to work and doing exactly what I wanted to do my entire life, be a nurse!! You are welcome to contact me anytime. I read an article my third semester of nursing school that convinced me I would NEVER get a job at my age. I hate I ever read that because my age in school or getting a job has never been an issue. If you know in your heart you were meant to be nurse, don't let anything get in your way, especially a "number". I worked hard, graduated with honors and had scholarships along the way. Yes, there are scholarships especially designed for women over 35! I graduated debt free with no student loans from my community college. You CAN do this!! Please don't let the naysayers convince you otherwise!! I'm so proud of you for taking this on, even the idea of it. I hope to follow your journey through nursing school and on to working nurse!!

Please don't let "Debbie Downer" discourage you! I started nursing school at 55! I'm a working nurse now who just graduated with my RN ASN degree in May of this year! I was one of the first in my class to be hired (and by far the oldest) I was offered a job the week before I graduated at the hospital where I wanted to work on the floor that I wanted to be on! I passed my NCLEX on my first try in 75 questions and I'm Loving every day on the job!! I just started volunteering as "Camp Nurse" at Camp Twin Lakes for children with disabilities this past weekend after working three 12 hour shifts in a row Mon, Tues and Wed, then packed and headed right off to camp MDA Walk n' Roll on Thurs staying in the med lodge 24/7 where the kids were amazing!! You can do all this and then some at any age if you take care of yourself and refuse to let a number define you! I plan to have a nice long career! LIVING MY DREAMS!! #liveunlimited

Started nursing school at 55! Working nurse just graduated with my RN ASN degree in May. Got a job a week before I graduated at the hospital where I wanted to work on the floor that I wanted to be on. Passed my NCLEX first try in 75 questions. Loving every day on the job!! Just started volunteering as "Camp Nurse" at Camp Twin Lakes for children with disabilities. Worked three 12 hour shifts in a row last week, packed and headed to camp MDA Walk n' Roll 24/7 where the kids were amazing!! You can do this at any age if you take care of yourself and refuse to let a number define you! LIVING MY DREAMS!! #liveunlimited

I feel EXACTLY the same! Congratulations! Yesterday was my last day of nursing school and I'm so ready to start work as a nurse. Good luck on your NCLEX. We just finished a week of intensive Kaplan training. I will finish their course and practice all the questions I can get my hands on. I've waited so long to be a nurse I want to be ready to pass the NCLEX on the first try. I can't believe my pinning is almost here, April 30th and Graduation May 2nd. It's been quite a ride!! All the best to you!!

Loved your post!! And it's true it's never too late! I started my second career path to nursing school at age 55 (yes!) and I will be PINNED ON APRIL 30th! and GRADUATE MAY 2nd!! It hasn't been easy but I can now say I DID IT!! I am very active too and play on not one but two tennis leagues, ALTA and USTA and we won our division last season! The 13 hr shifts (no such thing as a 12 hr shift) I've just completed 191 hours of were exhausting but I never stopped, it was never "too much" for me and with a good nights sleep I was ready for another shift the next day and then play tennis early mornings on my days off. Those of you in your 40s and up you CAN do this!! I am so excited about my new career. I am already in the job market putting in new grad applications. I will let you know how that goes.

Thank you, love this post and what you said is what I have believed going into this process at age 55. I will graduate next May having just turned 60. I'm healthy, have no kids at home and ready to work!

Thank you SO MUCH for this post!! I started college for the first time at 55 and have worked my butt off to get into my RN program and excel. I am a senior nursing student now and will be 60 when I graduate next May. I knew there would be some ageism to overcome but never let that stop me as I worked to reach by goal of becoming a nurse. All these comments have been so negative. I am a positive person and I plan to work many many years. I am on two tennis teams ALTA and USTA and I am accustomed to playing three sets in the hot Georgia summer sun against opponents half my age, with no problem. I pray that after I graduate, I will find a place where my age and experience will be appreciated. You give me hope!!

Awesome! Thank you for your service! I'm a rising senior in nursing school as a second career "calling" I will graduate May 2016 Nurse On!!

I wish you best of luck in your job hunt! At the hospital where I have just finished my clinicals, they are hiring nursing graduates right out of school so perhaps it depends on the area. I have one year to go and am hopeful this is still the case when i graduate next May.

YAY for you!!

I am so glad you posted this. I am heartbroken over this sad and tragic situation. As a fellow nursing student, also a junior and having just finished carpooling to my last clinical over one hour from my school, this has hit home and hit hard. My prayers go out to you and all your fellow classmates and also to the families and friends of these young ladies. I have been following this tragedy on the news and have shed many tears for all of you. I do think your school is a "class act" in their handling of this situation. From what I understand, the school has added a single tear to your school's eagle logo as a memorial in honor of these students, how fitting! And today, every flag in our state government is at half mast in their honor. One thing I have been lacking in the news coverage is the condition of the other two students injured in the accident. You said they are critical. I know there are privacy laws but would appreciate hearing how they are if you know. God Bless all of you, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers. Pam

Your research sounds amazing! Please keep me posted

Your research sounds amazing! Please keep me posted

Thank you! :) I see your specialty is Geriatrics, dementia and hospice. God Bless you! I worked last summer between semesters as a caretaker for a 98 year old Alzheimer's patient. It was challenging at times but I feel in love with her! Wonderful work, so rewarding and I learned so much from her.

Thank you! That is so encouraging. My husbands favorite nurse in the burn center was 77 working full time with no plans to retire. His admit nurse was 55 like me when he started nursing school so while there it didn't seem what I was choosing to do was too out of the ordinary. In the real world I know it is but there are a couple of grayish heads in my class and my young buddies in their late 20s have been more than accepting of me as an equal. I warned my husband when we married he was stuck with me because women in my family live a long time, my grandmother passed away just before my father and she was 98 living in her own home until a fall and hip break. Mother is 83 and still doing great in her own home. I stay very active. I'm on two tennis teams ALTA and USTA and my ALTA team is in first place right now! I plan on working as many years as I can and hope to make a difference in every life I touch even if it's in a small way like a smile and letting them know I care, patient, family, co worker, etc. I loved my observation time in the OR as it brought my A & P textbooks to life! I loved my clinicals because I'm all about hands on patient care. I loved my time shadowing in the ER and am leaning that way right now. And I'm still entertaining the idea of being a burn nurse but that entails a long commute since I live in such a rural area. My main worry is the application process, will they look at my age and total lack of experience and pass me over, without even an interview? That's a real fear. I won't let it stop me though, I'm all in!!

Love it! I graduate May 2016 also😊 last class of my junior year today. Two finals to go and I'm a senior! All the best to you!

Please don't let ANYONE stop you from following your dreams! I did in my 30s and they were probably right at the time although I'll never know. I had three kids in school then and I had my own business to run, somewhat similar to yours, an antiques shop so I stayed in place, raised my kids who are all very successful now. My oldest daughter in fact is an RN! My youngest daughter a family financial planner and my son a fireman : ) Then in my mid 50s (yes I said IN MY MID 50s!) Due to a life changing event (my husband was badly burned in a house fire and we spent months in a burn clinic 100 miles from our home where I learned to care for him and his burns) and boom! I came home from that hospital experience a changed woman. When I left there the doctors and nurses asked if I had ever wanted to be a nurse and when I said yes, they said I should consider it as they felt I had a real talent for nursing. I had learned among other things, to debride my husbands burns and they said my efforts had saved him from at least two additional surgeries. I told them I would LOVE to be a nurse but I felt I was too old. They assured me I was not and even sent me to their nurse recruiter at the hospital. She told me to find the best nursing school in my area if that was what I wanted to do and that my age would not be a disadvantage with her, that in some ways it might even be an advantage! She said if I wanted to come that far, they would be happy to have me come back and work with them! I tried reopening my antiques shop when I returned home but quickly found my heart was no longer in it, a business I had built and loved but no more. I closed my shop, auctioned off all the contents and after 30 years in business, I was out in a weekend! I did not feel sad to see it go, I felt free!! I asked nurses I knew and trusted what was the best nursing school in our area and one school kept coming up. I was told it was the BEST and the HARDEST and man were they right! I had NO college, I was a first time college student at age 55! I took everything I needed and all my prereqs, it took about two years. In the middle of all that, I lost my father and had to drop out for a few months to help my mom causing me to miss the deadline to apply that first year, but I didn't let anything stop me!! I went right back to one of the most competitive nursing school programs around. After finishing all my pre reqs with a 4.0 and making a 95 on my NLN nursing exam on my first try, I was ready to apply! I only applied at my one school and at my age, that could have been a BIG mistake as not getting in the first time could have cost me another year but I was determined not to let anything get between me and my dream this time! I was one of 47 accepted into my nursing school program on my first try and I have been told 900+ applied! I am now one Exam and two finals away from my senior year in nursing school!! My graduation is scheduled for May 2016. Don't get me wrong, nursing school has been the HARDEST and most challenging thing I have ever attempted. When people tell you it's hard take whatever you think that means and multiply it by 1000!! I have shadowed and done my hospital clinicals and observations and except for nursing care plans and the dreaded paradigms (Ha!) I LOVE nursing!! My rotation in the OR stands out as it brought my A & P text books to life in a way no YouTube video ever could!! Fascinating, but I've found I LOVE hands on patient care the most. When I am in the hospital taking care of my patients, I am in my element. I know the challenges of nursing and there are many, but despite that I know it is what I was meant to do!! I tell you all this just to let you know, it is not too late (yet). Don't wait, I almost let it get "too late" for me but even at age 59, I'm not letting ANYTHING get between me and my dream of becoming an RN!! Get ready, get set and GO FOR IT!! As my key chain reads, "You WILL finish nursing school" and you will!! I wish you all the BEST!!

I started college for the first time with my pre reqs at age 55! My calling finally caught up with me, : ) better late than never! I have finished my pre reqs which took a little longer than I had hoped because my dad passed away in the middle and I had to drop out mid-semester, causing me to miss the deadline to apply for nursing school last year. After helping my mom get through this difficult time, I got right back on track the next semester and applied for nursing school this year. I was one of 48 accepted into my schools RN program and I start my nursing school classes Aug. 25th. I can't wait! I want to say it is never too late and by the way, I will be 60 when I finish and get my RN! I also want to work in the ED. I have been shadowing there and LOVE it!! My biggest fears were A & P, Micro and Algebra. I got through all three and more and ended up with a 3.74 GPA overall which was good enough to get me into my RN program.You CAN DO THIS!! All the best!!

Me too as I don't start nursing school until Aug 25th, can't wait. Trying to get familiar with some of the most common prescribed meds so love this thread!!

I went to my nursing school orientation today and it was AWESOME!! I was so nervous before but am so excited now. I can't wait to order my scrubs : ) I won't let nerves or my age get in the way. I know I can do this!!

Thank you! That is what everyone I know who is already in nursing school has been telling me. I know how the original poster feels, somewhat terrified and feeling like I need to be using the time this summer to review, learn and get ahead. I think we are just so in that mind frame from all the long hard study hours of pre reqs trying to get into nursing school. It is hard to put on the brakes and just RELAX but I am going to try! I'm sure I will know better what to expect after orientation June 3rd. I hope to come out of it more excited and less nervous about starting nursing school in August.

Thank you!!

THANK YOU!! I have the same fears and your reply was great to read!

I was 55 when I started college for the very first time and I will enter nursing school this August! I'm as nervous as I am excited. It's taken me a while to get there but I feel it will be worth it! Best of luck!!

I do NOT have a college degree either and no schooling since high school (I graduated a year ahead of my class in 1972, got married, went to work, had a child, divorced, remarried in 1980, had two more children, started a new business with my husband and ran it for over 30 years) THEN I finally decided to follow my dream of becoming an RN in my mid 50s after my husband was badly burned in a home fire accident and we spent several months in a burn unit where my dream of becoming and RN was reborn. With the hands on training I received there and the encouragement of my husband's doctors and nurses, I came home, closed my business, auctioned off all the contents, found the BEST nursing school program in the area of Georgia where I live and began my "new life" as a FIRST TIME COLLEGE STUDENT! I have faced many challenges, not the least of which was getting my high school records and getting into college. Then made it through my prereqs taking one year longer than I had planned due to the unexpected death of my father during my second year which caused me to leave that semester to take care of my mom and miss the deadline for nursing school last year. I did NOT let that stop me. I went right on with my schooling and just finished my pre reqs with a 3.74 GPA overall. My last two semesters were both rocking 4.0's as I had really gotten into the swing of things. I just got my acceptance letter to nursing school and clinicals this fall and even with this good record behind me, I am sooooo nervous. We have orientation June 3rd and I'm looking forward to that to know more what I will be facing in the fall. It does take much longer to learn. I have to read and reread, take lots of notes and study a LOT but I am hanging in there. If I can do this Greenlee with NO schooling since high school in the 1970s, I know you can! Be encouraged, be strong in your faith and dedicated to your studies and I know, WE can do this!! All the Best to you! Pam