What is the average age of people entering nursing?

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Specializes in Med Surg/Ortho.

Another thread got me thinking about age when it comes to nursing. Is there such a thing as too young to handle the awesome responsibilites of nursing? I know it depends on the individual, and people mature differently....but it seems that most people don't get into nursing right out of high school. Many do it after years of working in other fields, gaining life experience, maybe setting down and having kids. Is there a reason for that? Do most people need to "grow up" a little before they become nurses? I am 31, will be mid-thirties when I get out of nursing school. I never once thought about nursing in my 20's. My mom had been a nurse since I was a kid, and I just kept thinking "nope, not me." I had always been a good kid, never got in trouble, had excellent grades. But I know at 20 or 22, I would never have been able to handle it. I was too immature and could barely take care of myself. Emotionally I was far from ready. But the life experiences I have had in the past 10 years has changed me in so many ways. I needed those in order to get to this place in my life where I felt that nursing is where I need to be. Who else feels this way? If you are going (or have gone into) nursing later in life, do you feel you could have done it right out of high school?

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Im 42 and getting ready to start LPN classes. I envy the younger nurses in their 20s, they have their whole career ahead of them, and will know so much more than I do in the end. But in retrospect, I dont think I would have been ready to do it in my 20s. I am just not the same person I was back then. I have matured of course, and I have learned to handle people a whole lot differently than I used to.

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Well I am 34 and just starting nursing school. I was in the banking industry for 14 years first. Nursing was always a close second in career choice and given the state of the economy I felt now was the time for change. I think having experienced life first will make me a better nurse. I sure know it has made me a better student too. The 20 somethings are still partying and not doing as well as the older students in my classes. I think patients feel a little more secure with an older nurse anyway.....

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I'm 35 and starting nursing school this January. I would have been able to deal with nursing school right out of high school. I think lumping people together by age group is a mistake. I have seen some 20 year olds that were really on the ball while some 50 year olds I know I wouldn't trust to watch my dog.

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Most of my classmates in my ADN program were college grads in their 20's. I suspect most of them were well educated, but their degree didn't have many job possibilities.

There were about 3 students 19 years old entering right out of high school.

Another group were the older students who were changing careers.

I suspect that that many people are not well informed about career choices when they are young. What did I know about nursing in high school? I had never heard about jobs such as respiratory therapists, drug reps, occupational therapists, etc.

The push and focus was on "going to college" not on careers and work.

In college the focus was on finding a "major you are interested in" not on careers and work.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

My classmates run the gamut from 19 years old to mid 50's. I'm 23 and halfway through a BSN program. I feel that it's a great age to be doing what I'm doing, because I have a little bit of life experience already (albeit, not as much as some of the other students).

From my observations, though, maturity level has more of an effect in school than age does.

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well, I am 20 and I think I am as ready as ever to enter nursing school. I'm not much of a partier, and pretty much all of my days revolve around school and work. I work and go to school full time. I usually take 17-18 unit semesters. I have a boyfriend that lives 90 miles away that comes down every weekend, so I try to get everything done on the weekdays. A few semesters ago I didn't even know how to study. Then I took biology and somehow figured it out. Since then I have gotten mostly A's and a few B's. I'm a hard worker. I know that everyone is constantly maturing, and sometimes I think randomly that it is interesting how different I am from the person I was when I graduated high school. I was afraid of sticking up for myself back then and I didn't care about school at all. So maybe it's just different for everyone. I feel ready for nursing school. But then again maybe I'll look back a few years from now and decide that it was too early for me.

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:saint: I went to nursing school at age 20 with my best friend, but didn't have any clues at the time. Now that I'm 26, I'm re-thinking nursing with confidence. I'm sure that this is definitely a career I'm embracing.
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Specializes in ICU.

guess i was the baby....i went to nursing school at 17 :smokin:

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

Florence Nightengale was 31 when she became a nurse.

That is also how old I was when I began nursing school. I wish I would have gone in my 20s but instead I got married and had babies, I didnt think I could afford to go to school or was even smart enough.

Thank God for a dear friend of mine who showed me you could be a wife/mother and nursing student.

I graduated at 36 and the day I got my official RN lic number was one of the happiest days of my life!!

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Florence Nightengale was 31 when she became a nurse.

!

Someone told me that in her writings she mentioned that she thought a person should be at least 25 before entering nursing. I was not quite 18 when I started to LPN school. It was a shock but it helped me grow up.

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In answer to your title question, the average age of those entering nursing is 27.

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