Youngest age of a nurse

I couldn't find anything when I searched and I've seen some discussions about the oldest age of a nurse. I hear all the time about how young I am, yet I'm a traditional college student. It's strange that the traditional student at my college is almost 27 years old. What is the youngest anyone here was starting out as a nurse, or have you heard of anyone in your classes or at work starting out at young ages?

Daisey_may

[DEB52]

I was 20 yrs old when I became an RN. I could pass narcotics but could not buy a beer.:rotfl:

[southern rn]

I graduated from nursing school and worked as a "GN" when I was still 19-this was back when we could work while waiting to take boards. I was 20 when I started working as a bonafide RN

[purple_rose_3]

I started working as a nurse at age 19 and I was a CNA at age 16. I've realized that people respect your young age if you are mature, knowledgeable, and caring. I have never had a problem being very young. I usually get compliments along the lines of "you may be young, but you are a great nurse!"

[WahooRN08]

I was 19 when I completed my LPN....barely 19. I will be 22 when I complete my RN. God help me.

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

We had 3 that were under 21 when they graduated. I had to laugh because 2 got married right before graduation and they couldn't have alcohol at their wedding but 2 weeks later they could pass narcs?????

I would let any of the 3 take care of me at any time. They were awesome classmates and awesome nurses.

I get asked all the time if I'm in my early 20's because I look young and I'll be 33 next week.....in fact I still get carded for alcohol on a regluar basis and one store threatened to call the cops because they thought I had a fake ID one time......

[j_dee]

I started college at 17 and will have my BSN at 21 (hopefully!). I'm 20 now, I think I look really young and ridiculous at clinical, but its never been commented on.

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

I do think it's strange when people are shocked at how young nurses are. I mean, if you go to college straight out of high school, it's totally normal to have an ASN at 19 or 20, and a BSN at 21 or 22. Nothing crazy about that - we just knew what we wanted to do and had the means to get our eduction right away. I know when I was in college, at least 75% of the students were right out of high school like me, and we all got our BSN degrees at 21 or 22.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

While I was attending an LVN program, one of my classmates was 17 years of age when she started school. She completed the LVN program at age 18, and was the youngest person in the class.

[arizonanurse]

I graduated nursing school and first worked as an RN at 19. I was charge nurse for the first time a few weeks after my 20th birthday. I never got any negativity from patients, doctors, or coworkers, although that was one of my fears when I graduated. But everybody cares more about whether you can do your job well than about your age.