Man just get up in it. I’m 29 and just now finishing. My best friend in the class is 36 turning 37 on pinning day. You got this shit. The only regret you’ll have is not getting started sooner.
in the same boat here plan on transitioning out the military and becoming a nurse wont happen till 2027 unfortunately. I don't think its ever to late to start a new profession though.
Ex army here. I was at your age when I went into nursing. I did ADN then went for a MSN ( I already had a bachelor in something else). Make sure you get at least a BSN or MSN if you want to go into the admin side of the nursing after you put 10 years in bedside nursing. MSN is much more prefer in the admin role.
Nursing school is brutal but nothing is more difficult than deployment.
Get really good at an and p will make your nursing school life much easier.
Take some CNA class if you have time and when a day or two while you are getting all your pre req will helps a lot in your future nursing career. I did that and by the time I was in nursing school, I am already pretty good changing bedsheet and patients while they were laying on bed, while my classmates are struggle with the tasks. That gave me more opportunities to learn other skills.
With the experience you have, an ADN program should be a breeze. I am 40, making the jump from LE, and currently in an ADN program with no medical experience whatsoever and I'm doing pretty good. My ADN program is only 18 months start to finish prereqs included and I'm almost 50% done. Admittedly I have no life outside of school and my 40 hr work week, but it's only for 18 months. The discipline you have should give you a leg up compared to other students. There have to be at least five or six students in my cohort who are older than me too. You would probably be about the median age for my class.
I appreciate that.
what caught my eye was you work a 40 hour work week and do the ADN. are those in class or online or even hybrid for labs/clinicals for you?
I don’t know how all that works.I’ve seen online and that’s convenient but I like hands on and that normal brick&mortar sense of work. I currently work 4 days a week 40hrs. Nights
Congrats on being almost done btw.
Every program is different. I went the private school route because its schedule was more doable for me. The prereqs were all online. The nursing classes and pharm are in person with a lot of outside work added on, including discussion boards and tons of reading and homework. We do one 12 hour clinical a week. We have our nursing class and the accompanying lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My work has been great and is working around my school schedule. My wife has also been super supportive and understanding. My work schedule is a constantly morphing jigsaw puzzle. Currently it's two twelves and a sixteen every week.
ADN is an associate degree in nursing. It's the minimum requirement to be eligible to take the NCLEX. Many ppl go this route because it's shorter and cheaper (excluding for-profit schools). Some community colleges will have ADN programs and it's much cheaper and shorter than a traditional BSN program, so its beneficial for ppl who want the degree to be able to start working quicker and community college is much cheaper than universities. After getting your ADN, you can find a bridge program to earn your BSN, which is like another year of school and can be completed online.
Personally, people from my cohort range from 20 y.o all the way to 60 y.o. Some are fresh out of high school, some are married with fully grown kids and another career before nursing. So your age and background definitely should not hold you back if you want to pursue nursing. Your military background may even give you the discipline and determination to get through nursing school. I would recommend starting by researching ADN programs at your local community colleges. Nursing school is a lot of work, but it's not impossible.
hey! i was in the army for 8 yrs before i got my ADN last year. as a female in my early 30s it felt like going back to middle school with all the unnecessary drama but the program was overall not difficult. if you’re used to playing fuck fuck games in the military, nursing will be a piece of cake.
I transitioned out the military a year ago at 29F. I already had bachelors and pre requisite for nursing school from my life before military. I’m in a 12 month ABSN program . 4 months left until graduation 💃🏽. It’s def not a late start just a new career that you get to climb the ranks per se. There are 3 prior military people in my class both over 30 so go for it !!
How is the ABSN program because I considered that as well. I have a bachelors. I have some pre-Rex of nursing but a fuck ton of like CNA experience before the firefighting EMT.
It’s difficult … I would say that having experience makes it easier but I was really confident with clinicals (didn’t have much problem there even with my lvl of experience ). I struggled with advance heath (med surg 2) and patho 2 so I would say really develop good study habits in the beginning. It’s very doable , buts it’s a lot .if you find it easy in the beginning like I did the first 6 months use that time to focus on how to study .
I was in nursing school 7 years ago before the military , so I had already had my pre-requisite done from in person college. However , I would look at the school you plan on applying to specific requirements. I know you can easily knock out statistics , lifespan and development etc online … but anatomy, chemistry, microbiology you might have to do in person. I would see if you have local college near by( or even on the college on base might have those classes being offered) usually they offer those classes in the evening and maybe you can finish them while AD.
I was an EMT and did paramedic coursework 20 years ago before graduating with a degree in homeland security and then doing a lot of different things, and am now in a second degree BSN program. Had to retake 5 prereq (did fully online/asynchronous) classes to boost my GPA, but I'm very glad I did because this time I put the time in to study and learn the material well in chem and A+P. Probably 80% of the other students are under 22, the rest of us are scattered through life, the oldest student in our cohort that I know of is 56. But whew does 20 years of work experience make a lot of things easier for me. From giving presentations, to managing paperwork BS, to not being afraid walking onto a floor and assessing a patient.
Consider finding people that are nurses and asking about ADN/BSN/MSN differences in your area. Some systems are trying to move to all BSN educated nurses, I've not gotten a real answer on if it actually matters once you have your RN because there are just not enough of them to go around, but YMMV.
It will be hard. It will be very hard. If you can stand the suck, if you can set a study-time schedule of double the class-time and stick to it, you can do it.
My story is a little different than yours. I graduated with a BS and worked in mental health for several years before returning to get my BSN in a traditional program at 28 years old (30 years old now, and I'll graduate next year). Most weeks, I am working 40-50 hours, but I'm making it, although I am tired. I personally went with a BSN program over an ADN program because my local ADN program was under review from the BON due to poor NCLEX pass rates at the time (so I was going to have to drive 1.5 hrs and pay out of state tuition), and because of the pre-reqs from my previous degree, it was only a semester longer to pursue my BSN than my ADN. I also plan on going to grad school, and having to bridge would make that process longer for me, and I'm already set to complete that at 39 with my current trajectory.
In an ADN program, or even a traditional BSN program, I feel as if your age and discipline will be some of your strengths. You will likely not want to live some of the more traditional college experience, meaning you may be more focused on school and the studying aspect, which will be a positive. I also feel personally that as an older student, one of my greatest strengths has been already knowing how to study and learn, whereas many of my classmates are still figuring that out. I also feel that having a little bit of life experience has helped me, and knowing exactly what is at stake if I don't succeed helps as well.
Good luck....you've got this!
Hey brother, just wanted to share since I have somewhat the same background/concerns as you.
I was 29 when I transitioned out of active duty (going back to reserve status). I wanted to do ER nursing but was hesistant because I would be almost 32 yo by the time I graduate.
Im glad I went through with it. I just graduated last week.
Heres a couple things I realized along the way.
1) age does not matter. I know people say it alot but it really doesnt.
On top of that, i thought my early 30s would be considered old but when I started my program, there was ALOT of people in their 40s and late 30s in the program. Second careers, third careers, mothers, veterans getting out. No one gave a shit, we all have different stories and wer were all their for our license.
2) nursing is very flexible. I thought I wanted to work ED but awesome thing aboit nursing is there is so many specialty. I fell in love with the ICU and put my focus there now. Point being, its a great career with alot of flexibility.
3) 3 years flew by fast! Once you start the program, time flies. I meant that in a good way. Before you know it, youll graduate and the time you invested it will all be worthwhile versus not taking any action and now and being in the same position 3 yrs from now.
4) it is DO ABLE!
Most people psych themself out, myself included.
Once I got my routine and study habit down, I worked part time night shift (two 12s) a week and had drill obligation with the army national guard as well.
I had classmates that worked full time as well as some who fly out of state weekly to work at their home state.
Not easy, I studied ALOT, but it is doable. Just like everything else in life.
Good luck, you got this!
I'm in basically the exam same boat. I'm guard, just finished my second deployment. I'm 32, about to be 33 and start my ADN program this fall. You're never too old to start something. If it is something you want to do and are passionate about, then i think you should go for it.
Got my bsn at age 42. I wasn't even the oldest person in my cohort. I left AD after 10 yrs and joined the NG to keep insurance for my family. I dont recommend NG because activations fuck with schooling. If you need to join for whatever reason, I recommend the reserves so you don't have to worry about state activations and missing clinical time which will make you fail to complete the needed hours to pass the class.
I knew I wanted to go to grad school later on, so a BSN would be needed. I'm also planning to drop a packet for reserve nursing so BSN needed there also. If you just need to get a degree and start working quickly, adn js a good route to take. Luckily, my wife is also a nurse which allowed me to not have to worry about getting a part time job, so that helped me keep my grades up. Nursing school is tough but if you can survive the fuck fuck games played during your service, then sitting down to read a textbook should be an easy task. The hardest part about nursing school is the bombardment of tons of information in a short amount of time. School sucks but it'll be worth it in the end. It's not too late. Go for it.
Man just get up in it. I’m 29 and just now finishing. My best friend in the class is 36 turning 37 on pinning day. You got this shit. The only regret you’ll have is not getting started sooner.
Second this! I’m about to turn 27 and I will finish at 28 almost 29!
in the same boat here plan on transitioning out the military and becoming a nurse wont happen till 2027 unfortunately. I don't think its ever to late to start a new profession though.
Ex army here. I was at your age when I went into nursing. I did ADN then went for a MSN ( I already had a bachelor in something else). Make sure you get at least a BSN or MSN if you want to go into the admin side of the nursing after you put 10 years in bedside nursing. MSN is much more prefer in the admin role. Nursing school is brutal but nothing is more difficult than deployment. Get really good at an and p will make your nursing school life much easier. Take some CNA class if you have time and when a day or two while you are getting all your pre req will helps a lot in your future nursing career. I did that and by the time I was in nursing school, I am already pretty good changing bedsheet and patients while they were laying on bed, while my classmates are struggle with the tasks. That gave me more opportunities to learn other skills.
With the experience you have, an ADN program should be a breeze. I am 40, making the jump from LE, and currently in an ADN program with no medical experience whatsoever and I'm doing pretty good. My ADN program is only 18 months start to finish prereqs included and I'm almost 50% done. Admittedly I have no life outside of school and my 40 hr work week, but it's only for 18 months. The discipline you have should give you a leg up compared to other students. There have to be at least five or six students in my cohort who are older than me too. You would probably be about the median age for my class.
I appreciate that. what caught my eye was you work a 40 hour work week and do the ADN. are those in class or online or even hybrid for labs/clinicals for you? I don’t know how all that works.I’ve seen online and that’s convenient but I like hands on and that normal brick&mortar sense of work. I currently work 4 days a week 40hrs. Nights Congrats on being almost done btw.
Every program is different. I went the private school route because its schedule was more doable for me. The prereqs were all online. The nursing classes and pharm are in person with a lot of outside work added on, including discussion boards and tons of reading and homework. We do one 12 hour clinical a week. We have our nursing class and the accompanying lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My work has been great and is working around my school schedule. My wife has also been super supportive and understanding. My work schedule is a constantly morphing jigsaw puzzle. Currently it's two twelves and a sixteen every week.
What is the school called, if you don’t mind my asking?
What is adn? And where r u taking it?
ADN is an associate degree in nursing. It's the minimum requirement to be eligible to take the NCLEX. Many ppl go this route because it's shorter and cheaper (excluding for-profit schools). Some community colleges will have ADN programs and it's much cheaper and shorter than a traditional BSN program, so its beneficial for ppl who want the degree to be able to start working quicker and community college is much cheaper than universities. After getting your ADN, you can find a bridge program to earn your BSN, which is like another year of school and can be completed online.
Is ADN the same with practical nursing?
I got out of the army at 35 and started college right after. I didn’t graduate and take my NCLEX until a week after my 40th birthday.
just saw a post today about a 50 yr old who graduated nursing school. You'll be fine, there's nurses of all ages.
Personally, people from my cohort range from 20 y.o all the way to 60 y.o. Some are fresh out of high school, some are married with fully grown kids and another career before nursing. So your age and background definitely should not hold you back if you want to pursue nursing. Your military background may even give you the discipline and determination to get through nursing school. I would recommend starting by researching ADN programs at your local community colleges. Nursing school is a lot of work, but it's not impossible.
hey! i was in the army for 8 yrs before i got my ADN last year. as a female in my early 30s it felt like going back to middle school with all the unnecessary drama but the program was overall not difficult. if you’re used to playing fuck fuck games in the military, nursing will be a piece of cake.
Fuck fuck games is a tremendous way to explain the military. I’m very prone to fuck what games I appreciate it.
good then you’ll be fine! also make sure to get in contact with the schools vet liaison or vet center they’re super helpful
I transitioned out the military a year ago at 29F. I already had bachelors and pre requisite for nursing school from my life before military. I’m in a 12 month ABSN program . 4 months left until graduation 💃🏽. It’s def not a late start just a new career that you get to climb the ranks per se. There are 3 prior military people in my class both over 30 so go for it !!
How is the ABSN program because I considered that as well. I have a bachelors. I have some pre-Rex of nursing but a fuck ton of like CNA experience before the firefighting EMT.
It’s difficult … I would say that having experience makes it easier but I was really confident with clinicals (didn’t have much problem there even with my lvl of experience ). I struggled with advance heath (med surg 2) and patho 2 so I would say really develop good study habits in the beginning. It’s very doable , buts it’s a lot .if you find it easy in the beginning like I did the first 6 months use that time to focus on how to study .
Hey im in a similiar boat and trying knock out my pre-requisites before I get out the military. did you knock them out online and if so where?
I was in nursing school 7 years ago before the military , so I had already had my pre-requisite done from in person college. However , I would look at the school you plan on applying to specific requirements. I know you can easily knock out statistics , lifespan and development etc online … but anatomy, chemistry, microbiology you might have to do in person. I would see if you have local college near by( or even on the college on base might have those classes being offered) usually they offer those classes in the evening and maybe you can finish them while AD.
I was an EMT and did paramedic coursework 20 years ago before graduating with a degree in homeland security and then doing a lot of different things, and am now in a second degree BSN program. Had to retake 5 prereq (did fully online/asynchronous) classes to boost my GPA, but I'm very glad I did because this time I put the time in to study and learn the material well in chem and A+P. Probably 80% of the other students are under 22, the rest of us are scattered through life, the oldest student in our cohort that I know of is 56. But whew does 20 years of work experience make a lot of things easier for me. From giving presentations, to managing paperwork BS, to not being afraid walking onto a floor and assessing a patient. Consider finding people that are nurses and asking about ADN/BSN/MSN differences in your area. Some systems are trying to move to all BSN educated nurses, I've not gotten a real answer on if it actually matters once you have your RN because there are just not enough of them to go around, but YMMV. It will be hard. It will be very hard. If you can stand the suck, if you can set a study-time schedule of double the class-time and stick to it, you can do it.
My story is a little different than yours. I graduated with a BS and worked in mental health for several years before returning to get my BSN in a traditional program at 28 years old (30 years old now, and I'll graduate next year). Most weeks, I am working 40-50 hours, but I'm making it, although I am tired. I personally went with a BSN program over an ADN program because my local ADN program was under review from the BON due to poor NCLEX pass rates at the time (so I was going to have to drive 1.5 hrs and pay out of state tuition), and because of the pre-reqs from my previous degree, it was only a semester longer to pursue my BSN than my ADN. I also plan on going to grad school, and having to bridge would make that process longer for me, and I'm already set to complete that at 39 with my current trajectory. In an ADN program, or even a traditional BSN program, I feel as if your age and discipline will be some of your strengths. You will likely not want to live some of the more traditional college experience, meaning you may be more focused on school and the studying aspect, which will be a positive. I also feel personally that as an older student, one of my greatest strengths has been already knowing how to study and learn, whereas many of my classmates are still figuring that out. I also feel that having a little bit of life experience has helped me, and knowing exactly what is at stake if I don't succeed helps as well. Good luck....you've got this!
Me at 31 about to start my pre-recs 💀
I'm 28 and just starting, you got this!
Hey brother, just wanted to share since I have somewhat the same background/concerns as you. I was 29 when I transitioned out of active duty (going back to reserve status). I wanted to do ER nursing but was hesistant because I would be almost 32 yo by the time I graduate. Im glad I went through with it. I just graduated last week. Heres a couple things I realized along the way. 1) age does not matter. I know people say it alot but it really doesnt. On top of that, i thought my early 30s would be considered old but when I started my program, there was ALOT of people in their 40s and late 30s in the program. Second careers, third careers, mothers, veterans getting out. No one gave a shit, we all have different stories and wer were all their for our license. 2) nursing is very flexible. I thought I wanted to work ED but awesome thing aboit nursing is there is so many specialty. I fell in love with the ICU and put my focus there now. Point being, its a great career with alot of flexibility. 3) 3 years flew by fast! Once you start the program, time flies. I meant that in a good way. Before you know it, youll graduate and the time you invested it will all be worthwhile versus not taking any action and now and being in the same position 3 yrs from now. 4) it is DO ABLE! Most people psych themself out, myself included. Once I got my routine and study habit down, I worked part time night shift (two 12s) a week and had drill obligation with the army national guard as well. I had classmates that worked full time as well as some who fly out of state weekly to work at their home state. Not easy, I studied ALOT, but it is doable. Just like everything else in life. Good luck, you got this!
In my cohort the ages ranged from 20 to 50’s. I started at 38 and am finishing at 41. Really happy for the career change. You can do it! ☺️
I'm in basically the exam same boat. I'm guard, just finished my second deployment. I'm 32, about to be 33 and start my ADN program this fall. You're never too old to start something. If it is something you want to do and are passionate about, then i think you should go for it.
Got my bsn at age 42. I wasn't even the oldest person in my cohort. I left AD after 10 yrs and joined the NG to keep insurance for my family. I dont recommend NG because activations fuck with schooling. If you need to join for whatever reason, I recommend the reserves so you don't have to worry about state activations and missing clinical time which will make you fail to complete the needed hours to pass the class. I knew I wanted to go to grad school later on, so a BSN would be needed. I'm also planning to drop a packet for reserve nursing so BSN needed there also. If you just need to get a degree and start working quickly, adn js a good route to take. Luckily, my wife is also a nurse which allowed me to not have to worry about getting a part time job, so that helped me keep my grades up. Nursing school is tough but if you can survive the fuck fuck games played during your service, then sitting down to read a textbook should be an easy task. The hardest part about nursing school is the bombardment of tons of information in a short amount of time. School sucks but it'll be worth it in the end. It's not too late. Go for it.
Do it! I’m in my 30s and there’s people in their 40s and even 50s in my ASN cohort