Starting Nursing at 52 and Nervous

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Hi All! I just graduated in May and turned 52 in July. I've been offered a job on a telemetry floor and am very glad about it. I am also nervous about what to expect...I know the first year can be a devil for any new nurse but I have the added worry that I am an older nurse and just beginning. I'd love to hear advice from any and all but especially nurses who entered the profession at an older age about weathering the first year. I'm in good health but the twelve hour shifts scare me a bit in terms of the physical toll. I'd love to hear advice and any management/coping skills you could share that were helpful to you in being successful. Thanks!

Specializes in LTC, Med-Surg, Hospice.

Great advice - you're absolutely right - use one's age to the maximum as there's one ingredient we have the younger ones do not - "a healthy balance of life's seasonings"~! :)

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Started a little older, too, like you. The primary problem at my beginning facility was the patient load of 1:10, not people--now at a wonderful facility that is 1:5, and a great group to work with, too. Nurses are great to work with! I've got practical advice. Get a really comfortable pair of shoes; get plenty of rest on your days off and do things that you really enjoy; leave work at work; do your own work first; be helpful to others to the extent that it doesn't put your own work in jeopardy as each nurse if responsible for his/her own work first, and there are always extra hands around, including the charge nurse; triple check your work; check your own orders again before you go off shift; NEVER open your meds in the med room but take them all unopened to the room and check them again after you have the patient recite name and DOB, because they often want to know what the purple pill is--they don't take a purple pill at home, the patient will sometimes say. Annouce (your fourth med check) each med to the patient as you open so they can see, because often they'll look in the cup and ask, "What's that one/those?" And if for some reason you can give them then, the pills are still in the package. We draw our IV narcotics in the med room, label them and take them with the vials to the room (because most of the time they are PRN so the patient has just asked for it/them.)

DO WALKING ROUNDS *** IN THE ROOM *** AT THE BEGINNING OF SHIFT AND END OF SHIFT--even though some nurses won't be as cooperative, some will say, "Go ahead," and stand at the door. Take the previous shift along with ou up the hallway to each door and open the door and look in--step in to make sure the patient is ABC OK. If the patient is sleeping you can at least hear/see the breathing, view the IV, check to make sure the Foley bag isn't about to burst. To see that the IV site is patent and not dripping or swollwn.

DON'T TAKE REPORT AT THE DESK even if most of the other nurses do!!! INSIST on walking rounds. Walking rounds will give you a good start and ending to the day--and the patient will be more at ease and cued in (if awake). You only need ONCE to have a dead patient at shift change (oh yeah, it happens if the patient is not a telemetry patient); TABS/bed alarms not on fall risk patients and a fall occurs; maybe the previous shift hung but did not push start on the secondary IV medication at 0500 or 1700; or the IV is bad and blood is dripping down the arm; rather than discover something by going into the rooms 15 minutes after report when the previous shift is usually gone. Checks that the TABS and bed alarms are on after aides give baths for fall risk patient, as they sometimes forget. I used them even if the family is in the room because sometimes they WON'T tell you when they leave even though they said they would. If your patient has a Foley catheter be sure to check it yourself every few hours if good output because sometimes the bag is football size if the aides don't empty it. MAKE SURE YOU TURN EVERY TWO HOURS patients who are total care/can't turn themselves, and at some facilities they actually turn the patient at start of each shift to check totals for skin breakdown. Previous shifts sometimes (often) overlook. If the wherever-it's-located wound hasn't been caught before and documented, your facility owns it per Medicare. Look after your patients and you will be looking after yourself, and improve the standing of your facility. If I've assumed anything above that you have already considered as part of your work plan, then sorry for being preumptious, ignore it; but I am just trying to make your work life easiest by covering your bases.

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I finished my LPN when I was 57 and am currently working toward my RN. I will be 60 when I complete that. I am so glad I switched careers to nursing. I am learning a lot, I guess it depends on who is teaching you and remember that you will encounter some nurses more willing than others to take you under their wing. Good luck to you, I also am working with a nurse that had difficulty finding a job for a year. No one wanted a new grad. So I guess you are fortunate to have a place to practice and learn new skills.

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Specializes in ltc,ms,rehab.

Congratulations! I graduated at 40 from LPN training and went into transition for ADN 4 years later,would have been two years earlier but I fractured my ankle in 5 places and was out i year because of NWB status. Anyway ay age 56 I decided to become a travel nurse after 15 years in LTC and it!! Again congratulations and choose your road in nursing wisely. You will do fine! Wahini

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Specializes in LTC, Med-Surg, Hospice.

Hi Wahini - that's wonderful you decided to do~!

I know the feeling - tore my rotator cuff - having surgery soon

and know it will be a bit of time before I can return - will say never

gave it a thought that I'd injure myself in the course of duties -

ah well, is what it is - we move on~! :)

Best wishes and happy travels~!!

Nansea

:redbeathe

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Hi Eyeball! Congratulations! I'm so glad I saw your message! I am in the same situation as you. I am 52 years old and attending a vocational school for LPN. Sometimes I do feel insecure and question my abilities to make it. I am a somewhat slow learner but when I catch on, I do very well. You have motivated me along with all the kind nurses who have responded. I know we will both do well and I have faith in you! Us older girls are pretty reliable and have great work ethics. Please make sure you keep in touch and let us know how well things are going for you!

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:pcongratulations and getting your degrees. i am 34years-old and just started a lpn course i will be done may 2011, i know is very hard out there because i see it all the time in clinical, some of the nurses don't want to help you or teach you anything. :eek:one day one of the nurses told us that she will not teach us because one day we may take her job. i think that was very unprofessional.

for me we nurses need to focus more in patient care that to focus in how much more the other person knows. it all boils down in patient care, but right now out their in real life is all about the business and not really about the patient care.

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Congrats on becoming a nurse. However, I have a major question. I too, graduated from nursing school in May of 2009 and, I have yet to find full-time employment. The per diem position I did find soon after getting licensed and which I have been at for nine months doesn't coming near using the nursing skills I learned while in school (I am a blood drive nurse). Soooooo, I am quite interested in knowing where all you 50+ year olds such as myself (55) live and are gaining employment soon after graduating (I live in the northeast of USA). Appreciate your response.:crying2:

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Specializes in Acute Medical, ICU.
Hey 52 and Nervous,

Speaking to another job career change person. I 've been working as an RN for past five years. What I have found.....

3. The younger nurses seemed to be self-centered in their lives(meaning they have no other responsibilities except to go out and socialize). Older RN's have families and additional responsibilities like elderly parents. We are focused for the most part. Use your previous experiences to help with uprising situations.

4. Bedside care in large hospitals are about getting into the room, performing the task, recording the task, and leaving to go onto the next patient. They say that they want you to "CARE" for the patient in holistic manner, but when they assign 6+ patients per RN and more at night, you can't. You will go into survival mood, and feel guilty because you don't have time to get to know your patients. (Forifice: Patients DO NOT sleep at night, but night RN's get more patient assignments 10+ patients).

5. Get your Masters in Nursing right away.....if not, you will find others with numerous years of experience will be compliance in their jobs and not open to new ideas or ways of doing things...you want to be able to advance past these people with experience and education.:nurse::redpinkhe

I agree with these comments. I also became a RN when I was 42, I am now 47, and I am going to do my Masters next year in order to open up my opportunities. I have worked both on a Medical ward as a graduate nurse and moved onto ICU. I do find that people assume I have been nursing for many years. Do the best you can, and be kind to yourself, nursing is 24hr care.

I have also experience nurses who have been around a long time and who are not open to the latest practice, and who are not open to any input I might have to give. But I have found others that who have been excellent examples of what I would like to emulate in my nursing practice. So look for these people and learn from them.

When I was a student I was told by my facilitator, that I owned my own practice, and that is what I now say to students who I am buddied with. I also feel that although I have not been nursing for my whole working life, I have life experience that combined with my training I believe makes me a good nurse, giving me empathy for those I am responsible for when I am working.

Good luck, and congratulations, nursing has been an excellent experience for me, challenging, emotionally draining, funny, and stimulating. Enjoy the experience and see difficulties as challenges to be overcome. You can always find advice on allnurses, which I have found useful at times.

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Specializes in Nursing home.

I am 56 years old and have been an LPN since January in a long term care facility. I had no desire to work in a hospital..too fast paced for me...I love to get to know the residents as my family. I was a CNA for over 25 years. Yes when I first started I was very nervous and asked a whole lot of questions.I was in a brand new nursing class with teachers who were brand new in teaching. It was rough but I graduated with a 4.0. But I felt that I didn't get enough experience with some procedures so my self confidence was low. However I was willing to trying anything with someone watching me and eventually my self confidence improved. I give kudo's for anyone working in a hospital but nursing homes can be enormously rough too. I have to admit that I could handly stress easier when I was younger but I seem to have more patience and compassion with the older residents, since I am more their age ( LOL), than I did when I was younger. Regardless it is a rough professon and I admire anyone who decides to become a part of it in their older years!!! :yeah:

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Congrats on your new job, eyeball! (btw that is my favorite username of all time:)) You have gotten excellent advice! Though I'm not a new grad I left for quite a while and returned. Every time I switched from one type of nursing to another I had to re-acclimate to the strains of that particular job on my body no matter what age I was, so don't assume that it's all due to age, and if you don't have a particular health issue and are healthy and in shape-- after a few weeks you will feel much better! So hang in there!!

A while back someone posted a semi-humorous list of things for the older new grad not to do. . . wish I remembered where it is. . . but all of them suggested avoiding doing or saying things associated with stereotypes of older people- like landing hard in your chair saying "oooof, it feels good to sit down" and proceeding to take off your shoe and rub the bunions on your feet, lol.

Resist pointing out to younger nurses (even if true) that you don't see the point of xyz new-fangled contraption when the other low-tech thing worked just fine for you. Realize that tattoos and piercings are no longer associated with "fringe" elements. . . etc. There are probably many more, but I did get a kick out of the list, anyway. All the best in your new career!

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Hi.. Congrads! I am in my forties and graduated in December. I just got a job on a Medical/ Telemetry unit in July. One thing I notice about being OLDER is the patients automatically think I'm experienced.. so use that to your advantage. Seriously It can be extremely overwhelming, all the charting and patient care, but WOW it is worth it. The staff I work with are amazing and they all experienced and newbies all help each other. If you dont know something>>> ask! Trust me they dont expect you to remember everything from school (because trust me I have forgotten ALOT ) :lol2: The patients appreciate your honesty and you will learn something along the way...... Hang in there... this is what all those long nights studying was all about!! :coollook:

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