Question about what age Male nurses are retiring

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 2, 2011

I am a guy who is currently really interested in becoming a Male Nurse as a second career - and would like to know what is the average retirement age of Male Nurese - I would think that it would be a little longer than that of Female nurses - but would really like to know what people in the nursing profession is seeing. I would be 54 when i enter college again and would have to take about a year of prerequisite courses before i could enter the 2 year RN Nursing program - that would put me around 57, or maybe 58 when i get out of the RN Nursing program. I am really interested in becoming a nurse for many reasons - but i have to justify the time and money spent with the number of years i could work. I like to work, and i think that i would like to until my late 60's or even until around 72. I need to know if it is going to be possible for me to work as a nurse at my age and as i get older - I am really interested in the Med/Surg, ICU, CCU departments. I think that these would be areas that i could contribute and challenged.
Right now i am i great health - no problems. I am a United States citizen who is slim, walks over two miles a day, and have been working in the computer contracting profession for 12 years, working in the States, Canada and Europe.
I would really like to get some experience at a hospital when i first get out of collage with my RN degree, but then travel around and be able to work in some of the more prestige's hospitals in the United States. Do you know if their is some sort of age limit that hospitals have for traveling nurses -

Since many, probably most of the male nurses I've met are second-career individuals, my suspicion is that the average retirement age for men presently in nursing is higher than for women. That said, I have no information that supports this and I'd expect this will change as more males enter the nursing profession as their initial line of work. Starting your nursing education at 54 may not be ideal but there's no reason not to go ahead with it. In fact, your situation is very similar to my own. In my view, there is no reason why anyone, male or female, could not continue to work as nurse well past the "normal" retirement age of 65. I certainly plan to do so. I'm not aware of any kind of age limitation for travel nurses.

I'd like to suggest that before you fully commit to nursing, you get some experience working with patients to help validate your decision. One way to do this would be to volunteer at a local hospital, nursing home or hospice. Another way is to become an EMT-B - this is a one-semester course offered at most community colleges - and voulunteer with your local fire company or ambulance squad.

It's worth noting that the nominal 2-year nursing programs at community colleges can take quite a bit longer to complete even if you have the luxury of going to school full-time. In addition to the standard college courses (english, math, history) you will need social science courses (sociology, pyschology) and natural sciences (bio, chem, A&P, nutrition). It is difficult enough to juggle a course load of these kinds of classes and their associated labs, it becomes exponentially more difficult when the nursing classes - most of which will have 8 to 16 hours of clinical rotations each week in addition to the classroom time - are thrown into the mix.

As far as working goes, even a quick perusal of this website will give you a strong sense that in many parts of the country the job market for nurses ranges from poor to nearly non-existent. This is certainy true in my area (SE PA) where most of my graduating classe from last May have not been able to find jobs (something like 75%). This is partly due to the area which has a lot of colleges churning out relatively large numbers of new nurses but I also have the sense that the wider nursing job market is also very weak, particularly for new grads.

Finally, I'd advise you to consider a BSN rather than an associate degree program - not because one is inherently superior to the other (that is emphatically not the case) but because it appears to be a bit easier to find employment with a BSN. I mentioned above that something north of 75% of my community college nursing class has been unable to find jobs. This is dramatically different than in past years (although I've heard that more than half of the 2009 class have been unable to find jobs) and in my view is due to large extent on an increasing emphasis on hiring BSNs rather than ADNs. Granted, this is just the Phila area but the overwhelming majority of the nursing jobs posted for new grads are limited to BSNs and applications from ADN-RNs are not accepted. This used to be the case only for magnet hospitals but appears to now have spread considerably. My personal expeience bears this out: I've applied unsuccessfully to about 15 evening/weekend positions at both hospitals and nursing homes. I'm fortunate in that I have a good, well-paying job and so can afford to wait out the poor nursing job market. Even so, I plan to return to school this Fall in an RN-BSN program to help improve my odds.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

ItsTheDude · Feb 2, 2011

there's going to be no written age limit, laws prevent that. it's kind of like you're not going to see any written/verbal race or gender limits/preferences either, but they're there at times.

there aren't a lot of men in nursing, so the oldest (70's) nurses i've seen are women. i have worked with some guys in their late 50's and early 60's.

i plan to work until i can't anymore (die). the job pays good, has it's rewards and it's pretty easy.

anothercareer · Feb 3, 2011

My Computer contract here in Warsaw Poland ended at the first of the year - my company is keeping me here until the end of March thinking that they can find me another international contract. They are paying me so i am staying until the end of March to see what can happen. It does not feel like i will be able to stay in this profession.

When i get back to the states, i want to go to the local hospitals and talk to the HR department, head of Nursing, and some of the nurses that i have seen get awards in 2010. I also want to see if i can shadow some nurses in the departments that i think i would like to work in - both day and night shifts for at least two shifts each shift. I think that will give me some better ideas what i am getting into. I also want to talk to the local community college that offers a AA RN degree program. I need to learn just what percent of their grads are gettng jobs and where, is there a waiting list to get into the RN program. I still have a lot of research to do before i make any decisions.

If i do decide to become a nurse -What i think would be best is to get hired as an CNA and work for the hospital that i would like to be an RN in. This would give me a better idea of what nursing is all about and i would learn the basics, and prove myself as a reliable employee. It would only get me into the hospital and would not guarantee me anything but i would be able to network and get a better idea of what the profession is all about.

Being a CNA would not make me enough money to live on till i retire, but with my savings and the CNA money i could live for longer.

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 3, 2011

. . . If i do decide to become a nurse -What i think would be best is to get hired as an CNA and work for the hospital that i would like to be an RN in. This would give me a better idea of what nursing is all about and i would learn the basics, and prove myself as a reliable employee. It would only get me into the hospital and would not guarantee me anything but i would be able to network and get a better idea of what the profession is all about. . . .

Working as a CNA is a very good idea both because it will allow you to see if you like patient care and because as you note, it should give you a leg up on getting hired later on as an RN. Nearly all of the graduates from my nursing class who've managed to find jobs were CNAs or PCTs at the hospitals that hired them. I'm so convinced that is the only way I'm likely to find nursing position that I've stopped applying for RN jobs and am instead applying for PCT positions (and actually have an interview for one next week).

Just keep in mind that there is a training requirement and an exam for the CNA. You are usually eligible to take the exam after completing your first semester in a CC nursing program but there are career schools that offer the training as well. If you elect to go with career school training, you may even be able to do that on-line from Warszawa.

Trigeminy, RN · Feb 21, 2011

I'll probably retire when they deem me unfit to work anymore. I've been in healthcare since I was 18, 6 years as a CNA and the rest as an RN. I see myself working until at least 65. Most of the male nurses I've worked with are younger than me, but the few older male nurses I've worked with plan on retiring between 60 and 65 depeneding on their finances. Hope this helps a bit