Greenlee

Good Morning All!!! I am writing to Thank you all so very very much for your comments regarding my starting a Nursing Career/School at age 54!! Your input has been so encouraging!! Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be able to go into a Nursing Program, due to an ongoing / chronic health issue that I have, that is not responding (yet) to the treatments I have been given. I have a form of Vasculitis that usually has very few complications or limitations when it is treated with the standard protocol. Un fortunately, after 2 years of the initial flare up, I am still experiencing a complicated array of symptoms that I had hoped would be under control by now. I Thank all of you for your support and encouragement. I will not be entering a school/program this year. Blessings, Maggie

*I once read that you'll still get older in the coming years whether you're pursuing your dream or not, *YEP!!!! "colda, woulda shoulda!!"... I figure that, even IF I have to do it slow..as long as I do it..I am moving forward!!! Hey, if I happen to slip a step back,..I can still step back forward..at my age,.. it's called the "Chacha!".. :)

Thank you!!! I love the "Question...do you want to be 64 and look back and wish you had pursued this dream?" !!! .. EXACTLY!!!!

FAITH!!!! .. I can only find out by following my dream and to keep asking "THY WILL BE DONE",..NOT MINE!!!! Thanks!!

Thank you!! What an amazing story!!! I do NOT have a College Degree,..so.. I am starting from 'ground zero',..THOUGH my Coun seling School and Certification was exactly how you describe your Nursing School..except it was an 8-5 PM 5 days a week accelerated school program.. 5 mo of classroom with a Module test weekly!! Studying every day an fitting in my husband and kids (1 pre teen 1 teen).. all 3 of us studied together, and bed time for me was 8 PM..LOL.. up at 4 to study some more and be there for the family, drop off the kids and get to school myself!!! .. My Practicum turned into me getting a full time job through a new staff member..(his previous employer) hired me to replace him!!) Over the past 22 years, my field has evolved and NEEDS Medical Staff, ergo..why I have decided to go into Nursing, after having taken off some years to help my daughter raise my #1 grand daughter. My #1 grand daughter will be 12 next week, my daughter will be 32 Saturday AND she also is a Substance Abuse Counselor..and has a 10 month old daughter, whom I have been bb sitting. She will be not to happy when I tell her I am going back to school, and she will actually have to pay someone to bb sit some day..haha.. I have some health issues, BUT..activity is GOOD MEDICINE!! Thank you. Your post brought tears to my eyes, yet..you have also encouraged me too!!

Oh wow!! I have a right shoulder injury (a compound fracture that broke my clavicle into a piece about 3/4" long, it's even visable) that can bother me at times. I am able to lift up to #100 when needed. It. I did home health care fore my husband's grand mother for over a year and found that my lifting skills were far more convenient than using the Hoyer Lift.

Today is May 2, 2014...so??... Have you heard anything?? I suggest that not only do you apologize to your school, but that you make an amends in person to the Technician @ the Facility AND the person supervising you as a student there. These are the folks you owe an amends to, and who you NEED in "your corner".

Just recently someone was "Banned For Life" -(from the NBA)- over negative comments, a racial and prejudiced phone conversation that was recorded (and he knew he was being recorded). It's an extremely public issue. Now, what you think about someone is your business, but when you expose that thought on social media, in an email, a text, a voice mail, a recorded conversation, etc.. it becomes EVERYONE'S business and you can't "unring that bell". Review your school's policies, and I mean EVERYTHING that you signed and agreed to. I am pretty sure that you will find that the school can withhold your graduation for what you did, under a policy or agreement that you signed "way back when". You will probably graduate, just not "walk" with your class. You see "this" in High School Graduations as well OFTEN. Social behavior is just as important as your academic achievements. Schools base their admissions often on your community service, and "Community" transfers to how you "behave" in school. It is an indicator of how you may present yourself in your professional placement. Good Luck!!! I am an "older" student, as a matter of fact, I will be entering school at the age of 54. You have learned a painful lesson. I do hope that your school recognizes that, and that you demonstrate remorse, and make amends. Just saying "I'm sorry" and deleting the post is NOT a sufficiant "amends Action. Take action and approach the Technician and personally offer your amends. The school may or may not take that into consideration, but..it's not about the school,..it's about YOU.

Thank you all!! I am "pretty sure" I can do the physical work, though it is something I have to be 100% aware of, as I start to search for LVN program near me. I live in a rural area of San Diego. I am inland from downtown approximately 40 miles, and north of the Mexican border about 15 miles. --Physical-- I am beginning Yoga, "Hatha" Yoga, to address my personal health, and to strengthen my body to do the physical tasks an LVN in those settings needs to be able to do. I believe that "more will be revealed" as I participate in living my dream!! .. I would LOVE to hear from Nurses who began their education in their mid 50's!! I have NO COLLEGE DEGREE, so, I would have pre med requirements,..right? Even though I graduated at the very top of my class in Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counseling, it was a Vocational School, and I entered the school in the Fall of 1993, graduating in the Winter of 1994. I had an amazing Practicum, and through a staff member there, I was directed to a position as the Mental Health Case Worker in a Residential Facility. From there I worked "overnights" as a "counselor" in a (combination of 3) Detox, Parolee Residential, and a Perinatal Residential Treatment Facility for a few months and then I was hired as a full time Counselor in the Perinatal Program. The Perinatal Program was a long term residential program for women with children, and we had a lot of pregnant women on methadone, with whom we worked with postpartum also..with the client and her newborn. The NURSES that worked with the clients were LVN's with the County. I have worked many different recovery models in my 14 years active in Substance Abuse/Addiction Treatment, and I have always admired the Medical staff that worked with the clients/patients. It was my admiration for the counselors I met when I was in treatment, that encouraged me to get an education and work in the field myself. Now, after not working full time for 10 years, I am excited, nervous, I question my motives,....yet...my motivation is to give back what has been so freely given to me, AND to provide services to a client/patient base whom NEED social interaction, as well as medical intervention(s). Financially, I am scared...Re: Paying for School and Licensure , though, I am hoping that "You" all can give me some suggestions in that area too!!! ~Maggie

Thank you. I feel the same way,..as far as my age and choice of 'venue' to 'practice'. I now need to find a program!!!

Hi all, my name is Maggie and I am new to this forum with today being my first day. I will be 54 years old in July, and I am seriously considering entering a Pre Nursing Degree Education Program in the Fall of 2014 here in San Diego, CA. My most recent experience in Health Care is that of a Certified Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor, AKA CADC II. (Though, our licensure/certification is changing soon to reflect Licensed Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors - LAADAC/LADC) I have worked in the field from 1992 - 2005. In my early/mid 20's I was a Certified Nurses Aid, working in the County Nursing Homes (Yellowstone County-Billings, MT), and as a Home Health Care Aid to young adults with spinal cord injuries, primarily Quadriplegics, and in Respit Care with older teens with MS and their parents here in San Diego. I am now interested in returning to work, though my "work" dream now is to work with Hospice, Cancer Patients, and in Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Treatment as a Nurse!! My age could be a drawback in a hospital setting, or even a Doctor's Office, though I feel it would fit right in in Hospice, Cancer Treatment, etc.. I have no idea where to start!!! I would LOVE to hear from folks. Thank you, Maggie