58 years old - Am I too old to start nursing school??

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Specializes in Oncology.

I'm not sure why people keep saying there are other opportunities besides bedside nursing. Not for new grads, there aren't. Does anyone really think a nurse can land a case management job out of school? Reality check, guys. New grads in their 20's can't even get LTC jobs, let alone acute care jobs. The market is saturated. Those non bedside Nursing Jobs almost always require at least a few years of bedside experience.

Specializes in Registered Nurse.
Knute said:
My opinion and experience says nursing school at any chronological age is a personal thing that should be rigorously and honestly self-assessed. That said, I went to nursing school at age 59 and worked 50 plus hours a week and attended FT day school and it was not a challenge for me. I was under-challenged. My Grandmother was a veterinarian surgeon and clinical instructor who performed her last equine surgery at age 87. She stopped when her horse fell over a jump on a hunt course, crushing her hip. While I was in nursing school, I met a nurse who was 74 and had just returned from climbing Mt Hood. She looked like she was 40 and had more energy than an 18 year old. I am 61 and have more energy than I had when I was 30. My cog processes have improved and not declined. In addition I bring years of experience as a CNA and PCT, Phlebo., and so on. The real hands on care. And...because I have observed many years of learning exactly how I will not be as a nurse and exactly how I will be as a nurse I didn't feel a huge transition from being a real bedside nurse into med pass nurse. My work days are much easier physically and less demanding than when I was PCT or CNA. It's a different kind of stress that I refuse to let get inside of me. And....being older and not having children at home....I fill in every shift every parent calls in because of needing to meet the needs of children. And, as many new parents are struggling financially, I often pick them up for shift work as well. And....sad as it is....I also feed CNA's and PCT's on occasion because they are paid an unlivable wage for doing 90% of nursing work. So having an older nurse around is a smart move for thinking management, and a really smart move for those nurses who tend to want to destroy someone's life.

I'd love to know where you work that it is easier than it is as PCT or CNA. Not even close at my place of work. I understand CNA's can do some physical work. I do as a nurse also. But add all the stress of nursing and the responsibility. I run from morning throughout the day and am exhausted. You must be superwoman. Cheers. (Just a little cynical on this one.)

Specializes in Registered Nurse.
qaqueen said:
Dear OP,

Read it all, weigh it all, and remember...many of us go an entire shift without the opportunity to urinate.

LOL...true that

Dear Knute, you are not normal.

Knute said:
My opinion and experience says nursing school at any chronological age is a personal thing that should be rigorously and honestly self-assessed. That said, I went to nursing school at age 59 and worked 50 plus hours a week and attended FT day school and it was not a challenge for me. I was under-challenged. My Grandmother was a veterinarian surgeon and clinical instructor who performed her last equine surgery at age 87. She stopped when her horse fell over a jump on a hunt course, crushing her hip. While I was in nursing school, I met a nurse who was 74 and had just returned from climbing Mt Hood. She looked like she was 40 and had more energy than an 18 year old. I am 61 and have more energy than I had when I was 30. My cog processes have improved and not declined. In addition I bring years of experience as a CNA and PCT, Phlebo., and so on. The real hands on care. And...because I have observed many years of learning exactly how I will not be as a nurse and exactly how I will be as a nurse I didn't feel a huge transition from being a real bedside nurse into med pass nurse. My work days are much easier physically and less demanding than when I was PCT or CNA. It's a different kind of stress that I refuse to let get inside of me. And....being older and not having children at home....I fill in every shift every parent calls in because of needing to meet the needs of children. And, as many new parents are struggling financially, I often pick them up for shift work as well. And....sad as it is....I also feed CNA's and PCT's on occasion because they are paid an unlivable wage for doing 90% of nursing work. So having an older nurse around is a smart move for thinking management, and a really smart move for those nurses who tend to want to destroy someone's life.

Thank you SO MUCH for this post!! I started college for the first time at 55 and have worked my butt off to get into my RN program and excel. I am a senior nursing student now and will be 60 when I graduate next May. I knew there would be some ageism to overcome but never let that stop me as I worked to reach by goal of becoming a nurse. All these comments have been so negative. I am a positive person and I plan to work many many years. I am on two tennis teams ALTA and USTA and I am accustomed to playing three sets in the hot Georgia summer sun against opponents half my age, with no problem. I pray that after I graduate, I will find a place where my age and experience will be appreciated. You give me hope!!

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
tnicnat said:
I totally agree with this entire post. I don't post much as homework for school and working takes all my time away from any of 'my' reading. I'm 53 and finishing my first year of nursing school, I'm a PCT on an extremely hard med-surg floor at one of the trauma hospitals in my state. I will bring 3 years of PCT med-surg hands on experience to the floor once I'm a nurse. I'm lucky as my floor teaches (we are a teaching hospital) so when I go to school I've either had hands on skills (from my PCT school which for my state was very advanced) or I have the ability to follow a nurse and learn what he/she does.

Being a PCT, I don't like it, it's back breaking work and there are some nurses who treat us like crap - but then some are totally appreciative and work with us like we are honored guests. This allows me to learn what kind of nurse I WON'T be.

Anyways, I don't think age has anything to do with it - the younger kids in class (thats anyone under 30 for me and are my daughters ages) scoff at first at my experience and think this old lady will be gone - and when they don't understand whats going on, they come to me for advice or help. They ask me how do you do it? School is my second job, and I have to prioritize and I have to lose things that I want to do (like seeing my boyfriend, visiting my daughters out of state, seeing my grandson) but I will be able to do that after school is done.

I don't know everything, I ask questions all the time, I doubt my knowledge all the time, I doubt I'll be able to make it to the floor all the time - this is all normal - there are days when I think I'll never be able to do it, but I will. I will learn the critical thinking.

So after this long post, is 58 too old? Nope, 58 is young - I look at it this way - my Dad is 84, has his own business, still drives back and forth between LA and San Fran 3x a month - travels the world, walks up to 6 miles a day.....is 84 old? 58 is the new 30 - 84 is the new 50 ?

Your dad had his own job. Of course he loves going to work. Working for someone else is a completely different game - no comparison. I doubt your dad has to lift sacks of potatoes all day. We don't have the time to take a 6 mile pleasure walk every day. These kind of replies are not helpful to someone who is contemplating starting school at 58 in a field which is very crowded and competitive.

Specializes in Orthopedics, Med-Surg.

Here's what I learned in microbiology and A&P:

Micro: Wash your hands. Go back and wash them better.

Anatomy: If you can't see it, you don't need to know it.

Physiology: You don't need to know any of it. It's strictly for jumping through hoops.

I took my A&P from a frustrated wannabe med school lecturer in a state university setting. Every little detail was as important as the last and as the next. As a result, the facts I packed in my head lasted until the test. The people I knew who took A&P at the local community college where they taught it like it was a high school class had *much* better retention of facts. Now, did that deficiency in retention harm me in my practice? Actually, no. I could find elbows, hips, and knees without assistance. Origins and insertions of muscles? What was that to me? I was a nurse; not a surgeon.

Physiology? Are you kidding me? We might as well be discussing macroeconomics or quantum mechanics for the application to my work.

My conclusion was that much of the prerequisites for nursing school exist merely to cull the herd. The most useful non-nursing classes you could take... skills you would use multiple times of every day: basic algebra, psychology, and sociology. Oh, yeah... English can be useful as well.

ConnielCanada said:
WOW is all I can say in regards to the continuation of perpetuating a serious issue. As a practicing midwife I see the same treatment of women having babies after the age of 26 by physicians. You are just too old to have a baby, and yet women are having babies "successfully" after the age of 30 every day.

The only way to change a wrong doing is by stopping the ridiculous rhetoric. I will have a job when I graduate, and I will be successful. I have a lot of life experience, wisdom, greater patience, and no children to keep me out of work, these are all very good marketable qualities. I would turn your statements around and say "Look at all I have to offer, over a 20 something that has no real work experience, doesn't already know how to play in the sand box with her co workers.

Ageism has got to stop, and all those who think they are doing someone a favor by "telling them the truth of the matter" is just feeding the myth. I have more stamina, business sense, and stability than most new graduates. I will be successful, as I already am successful, and I have a LOT of years left for anyone to invest their time in.

Kudos to you. You have a positive attitude and that's why you're a success. The problem with a lot of forums is they perpetrate negativity. The truth is if you BELIEVE you're too old, you probably are. If you BELIEVE you can do it, you will.

CatHair said:
As someone who is 57 and completed RN Licensure last year I can tell you that age is INDEED a factor in the workforce.

When people meet me and hear I am an RN, they think I have 20+ years of experience.

When they find out I am a new grad with no work experience they start questioning why I became an RN at my age. That is what comes up in the few interviews I have been able to get.

As already mentioned, do you think a hospital is going to invest $50-$100K in training for you?

They would not for me.

There always seems to be a "hiring freeze" in effect but they will hire "from within", in other words if you are already working there in another capacity. (as PCT/CNA etc).

I couldn't even get a LTC facility to interview me.

Perhaps they are waiting for me to qualify as a Resident so I can pay THEM for being there? :(

This is similar to the treatment I received when I was only 42. Imagine asking questions during the interview that make it obvious that you discriminate in hiring, based upon age? If I were you, I would think long and hard if this is what you want to do, come heck or high water. If you want to become an RN for the pride and self satisfaction of achieving that goal, fine, but do not do it if you must put food on your table or keep a roof over your head. Warning based on my own experience, I do not pretend to speak for others.

To quiltynurse 56 and Knute thanks for the encouragement, I am currently a cna/pct and the bulk of bedside nursing gets pass on to anyone in my position. I am 57 and my dream is to become a RN who specializes in skin/wound care. I need not go into details of some of the things I've witness in care from RN and LPN alike and it makes me wonder why they are even in the field of giving care. I know there are great nurses out there and I look forward to becoming one.

I think I answered this already and discussed health, etc. Another factor is the cost effectiveness for you. Will this make financial sense for you personally or will it cost you money. If your financial security is not going to be improved don't do it. In the long run we are as responsible for our financial health as our physical. If this will not provide you with a more secure retirement the answer is no.

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
Millionstars1 said:
I to have considered going back to school. I am 58 to just turned 58! Been an LPN for 23 years in LTC. I've always been in management so I make more than the RN's do my employer is paying 100% now for those who want to return to school. I'm an mds coordinator and love doing this kind of work. I do think it will be a requirement for this position soon to be an RN I to wonder if I am to old. I can work circles around most of the other nurses younger than me. I can do 12 hours days with the best of them. The one thing that bothers me is the micro class I think that is my weakness. I am so undecided. I know I will work for at least 9 more years. I have been considering online school. Any suggestions?

I didn't realize that one could even become an RN online.

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