Too old for NP school?

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Hi, I’m 45 and I’ve been away from nursing for 2 years. I plan on going back to floor nursing per diem while pursuing an FNP degree. The degree will take 2-3 years. Will I have a hard time finding a job as an older nurse? 

Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

You're going to get older either way, the question is do you want to get older accomplishing what you want, or wondering whether you could have done it? I'll be finished with my degree when I'm 48. Go for it if it's what you want!

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On 12/7/2020 at 6:12 AM, NurseBlaq said:

They'll teach it to you all over again, only this time from a provider's POV. If you're rusty on some things, you can buy an A&P book or find one at a vintage store. The body doesn't change. However, for pharm, no point since there are new meds coming out all the time. You'll learn those in a pharm class and along with the way in advanced patho and when you get to the clinical-based classes.

Meant to include advanced pharm too.

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Definitely not too old. I've had people in my NP courses who had long careers and then went back to school. They have fufiling careers as NPs now and their experience helped them transition. However, ALL of them took a substantial pay cut because they are now "new grads" and get paid an entry level salary. You have to decide if the pay cut is worth it. 

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