I'll try to make it short. I'll be 40 this December. I got my GED when I was 18 and I've been a hairstylist/salon owner since I was 20. Looking for a career change and nursing has always been the field I wanted to pursue.
But boy to I have some Debbie downers around. From family to even my perspective counselor. Family days I'm too old and the counselor said basically that because of the time frame since I got my GED until now that it would be extremely hard & time consuming for me. She wasn't the nicest person while communicating this to me as well. I left out in tears.
So I was hoping there were some nurses/students here with similar situations like mine that can motivate me and hopefully can share any advice. I appreciate you guys.
I am 43 and am starting an ADN program in less than 2 weeks!! I also received my GED at age 18. I decided that it was time to finally apply. I took all of the prerequisite courses in my 30s while my kids were in school. Now that my youngest has joined the Air Force, I am taking the plunge and moving towards my dream. I plan to get my ADN and then BSN. I am not sure where you are located, but in my area (Texas) there are a lot of options and a lot of programs at the local community colleges. Tuition is much cheaper to get your RN degree at a community college. Luckily the college I applied to does not have an age limit on science and math courses like some colleges do. If this is something you truly want to do, you can make it happen. Follow your dreams. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!!
I was going to say the same thing... take the prereqs for an ADN program through your local community college, get your BSN online and go from there :).
I am an LVN going for my BSN eventually to a NP. I am 43. I graduated nursing school in 2011. The last grade I finished was the 6th grade. I went on to take and pass GED in 2000. There is hope. Don't let anyone detour you.
You can do I. 2 licensed cosmetologists in my family said part of their studies included anatomy classes so you're no stranger to what you might see, just more of it. And older students tend to fall into what they're doing with more heart - so go get it.
I am 46 years old now, starting nursing school at 38 got my BSN at 41. I am currently pursing my MSN, as a FNP student. So take my advice, don't listen to naysayers! " She believed she could, so she did." that's what I say!
You can absolutely do it! I am 41- I had a teenage pregnancy and I didn't get my GED until I was 20 years old and then after marrying and having 2 more kids I took one semester 1/2 time at a state college in my mid-twenties and then I just raised my 3 kids and had a 4th. Finally, at 36 I started school for my BSN and just graduated last month! I'm scheduled for the NCLEX next week and I already have a job waiting on me to pass! In a few years I may consider going for my masters (recommended by my instructor) and will likely do that online instead of attending full time school. It was hard and often stressful but it was my dream so I got through it. Don't listen to any naysayers - this is your life! Nurses work well into their 60's and 70's and even later sometimes. You are not old- you have a lot of life ahead of you and I say go for it!!! And good luck!
Based on some comments, I thought you might want to hear about what your first semesters in school and clinical might be like! I just finished up my first year. Semester 1 was all about health assessment. What does this entail? Well it's about communication, head to toe assessing, having a solid foundation of anatomy and physiology, learning how to take manual blood pressures, using critical thinking. Besides that, clinical consisted of changing linen, giving bed baths, ambulating patients, getting bedpans, emptying bedpans, measuring urine in bedpans, looking closely at stool, taking a stool sample, wiping butts, transporting patients to other areas of the hospital. Semester 2 concentrated on medication administration including injections and hanging/priming IV's and setting the drip rate (But as a student I am not allowed to do a venipuncture). I inserted Foleys, and did everything else I did in semester 1, plus observed in the cath lab, endoscopy, and OR.
So as you can see, there is a lot of basic nursing care you will be doing for quite a while and probably for the rest of your career even at MSN level, if you remain in a field with patient contact. I just thought that should be made clear.
You yourself are the only one who knows if you are capable and/or willing to undertake this journey! Know the facts, but some people will always be downers or pessimistic, imo I think those kind of people are either jealous or dislike something in their own life so it's easy to brush them off and feel sorry for them instead to me. Good luck with your decision!
I'm sorry your family members and counselor have been so unsupportive. I'm a pre-nursing student, well over 40, I might add. Look, you are going to be in your mid-40s and early 50s at some point anyway, right? You might as well be what you want to be at that point. Sure, it may take a few years, and yes it will be quite a challenge, even incredibly difficult at times. But if you set your mind to it, you can do anything you want to do.
I went the route of doing my pre-requisites (one left to go for the RN program), which can take quite a while, then doing the CNA program, which is part of the requirement for the nursing program at my community college. It was a long program (17 weeks) but well respected in my community and it provided a decent amount of clinical hours at local long-term care facilities and hospitals. It gave me a good feel for these various situations and allowed me to fully realize that this is what I want to do and I am on the right path.
I am now signed up for the LVN program, with a long waiting list. Once that is completed, I will move straight into the RN program at my CC. After that I plan to bridge to the BSN and MSN online. The nice part about this is that it allows me to work part-time while going to school, although those hours will most likely have to drop/change drastically once I am in the LVN program.
Yes, anything is possible;especially in today's society. When I was in nursing school, I had students in my class who were around your age and older who wanted to switch careers and do nursing. I was impressed with their dedication and loyalty. In fact, it inspired me to be a great nurse when I graduated from nursing and health science school. My advice to you is to trust your heart. If you want to go to nursing school, you should do it and pursue your nursing career. I would ask people that you know who are nursing students so that you could get more information. I wish you the best. Marcy
Specializes in Critical Care; Evidence-based practice.
I would say it is possible, anything you put your mind to you can do. I went through Chamberlain college of Nursing and just finished my MSN in February. Chamberlain is a bit expensive but a worthy investment. It would be hard not to succeed as they provide so much student support services from 24-7 access to instructors and librarians to tutoring and extras like webinars on resume writing. Chamberlain is an accredited school, created for nurses by nurses. I like how the semesters are set up in sessions so you take 2 classes a semester but each one alone as a 6 week course. Being able to take one class for 6 weeks before moving to the next one made it very managable- and its still full time. Good luck!
My best friend who is starting nursing school with me in the fall is 38, divorced, single mom. We have taken almost all our prerequisites together and are currently TA's for Anatomy and Physiology 1&2. I myself am a single mom, but I am 21. A lot of people told us we couldn't do it, but they kind of gave us the drive to do it! All I can say is take it slow, start out with 2 courses a semester and work your way up. Work as a CNA for awhile too-- that definitely taught me some humility and how to be self-sufficient. Good luck to you and don't commit to anything if you don't have the confidence in yourself. I know it sounds cheesy, but you will have way better results if you believe you can do it!
You can do it for sure. Actually, there's a YouTube channel you can subscribe to called Nurse Awesome. I believe the lady who does all the videos is 40, and chronicles her journey through her degree path while offering tons of helpful advice. Others ha e done it and you can too!
Ill be 24 in a few months. I dropped out of college the first time for a completely unrelated major, thank god. Now I'm back and I'm dead set on completing my ASN, then bridging to BSN. The same school I want to go to offers a FNP program and I want to do that too. It will be a mess complete with lots of roadblocks along the way, and I'll have to put dating and having children on hold for a while, but at least I'm moving. I seem to have always thrived in chaos anyway. Like others have said, this entire process is hard and emotionally taxing. But it's doable. It comes down to how much are you willing to sacrifice for this.
Here is a link to a thread of us over-40 nursing hopefuls here on AN:
farmgirlstudent
3 Posts
I am 43 and am starting an ADN program in less than 2 weeks!! I also received my GED at age 18. I decided that it was time to finally apply. I took all of the prerequisite courses in my 30s while my kids were in school. Now that my youngest has joined the Air Force, I am taking the plunge and moving towards my dream. I plan to get my ADN and then BSN. I am not sure where you are located, but in my area (Texas) there are a lot of options and a lot of programs at the local community colleges. Tuition is much cheaper to get your RN degree at a community college. Luckily the college I applied to does not have an age limit on science and math courses like some colleges do. If this is something you truly want to do, you can make it happen. Follow your dreams. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!!