48 Years Old And LPN School?

[WDWisOurHappyPlace]

Your conversations here are very interesting and enlightening to me. Thanks!

(We've been a one income family for 24 years and are very comfortable, we're very blessed in that way. We don't need the extra money, I'm just at a point in life where I want more meaning, more of a purpose. Both of my kids were born developmentally delayed, no diagnosis. Thankfully they have no medical problems and have both exceeded my expectations from when they were young. They are 23-DS and 16-DD. They are independent for the most part. (With alot of hard work, my son achieved a driver's license, which is VERY big to us.) My kids need to learn how to do for themselves with me not around, that day will come eventually. So with me working, they would have to do it. And nursing is something I've been thinking about for a good while. I've got the patience and compassion, at least I think so. )

As for the shift work, my DH works shift work. He works 7 days on/ 7days off. One shift is 7 - 12 hour days, the next shift is 7 - 12 hour nights. We live shift work. We live in a small city with an excellent hospital that is always growing. I could also see myself working at a nursing home, but I know that imagining it is very different than actually doing it. I really need to go to the school and learn more about the details of the different nursing programs, find out about the jobs here after school, and then decide if this would work out for me.

I don't mind more input. Thanks!

 

[minkydog]

Honestly, get your RN, even if you only get the 2 year RN degree. RN's make significantly more money and the schooling isn't all that different. Around here you are talking the difference of about $25K/year for an LPN to $50K a year for an RN for a NEW nurse.

Absolutely agree. My mother went back to school to get her RN the same year I graduated from nursing school. She was in her 40s and still had teenagers at home. It was very hard, but she was very committed. Mother never regretted the time and money she spent to become a nurse and she worked in Labor & Delivery until she retired. She's 75 now and still keeps her license current "just in case."

I say go for it~!

 

[dakcp2001]

[QUOTE
Really ! Perhaps you need to head back to school and re-study statistics and research. The nursing shortage a highly complex national problem.....but your personal experience effortlessly extrapolates to it? I sympathize with your job hunt.....but please, act like the scientist you just studied to become.
QUOTE]

No need to get nasty, and it is not just my personal experience. There is no shortage of new grads that cannot find jobs. Maybe your state is different? Like I said before, I am moving to get a job. My state is not a good place for new nurses to be. I cannot believe how rude your reply was. Have you personally researched new grad RNs recently? Perhaps you should have a look.

And to the OP, the previous poster was correct about most RN programs taking slightly more then 2 years to complete. You can always become an LPN, see how you like it, and then go back for an LPN to RN program if you like. In my area most hospitals have phased out LPNs, but LTC facilities and rehab facilites still hire them.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I third or sixth get your RN! lol I am in school to get my BA in Biomedical( I am 48 also), i got my AS back in 2007, and all my friends were back in school to go from LPN ot RN! so why waste all the time, they are not really using LPN's around here anymore, so they are being forced to get the RN!

after reading another post. I have to agree with above me, with all the slew of people geting there RN's around here, I also have known people NOT being able to graduate with a job! There are hospitals around here that are or have laid people off. I also have know many people have to move to get a job! and I am afraid when my friend graduates, she is gonna be stuck!

so you need to keep this in mind. and yes, I am right in the heart of all this right now. so I feel I have spot on info. I personally had no nursing interest. but this is one reason I am going into BioMedical.

 

[ReneeA]

I just finished my ADN last month, and take the boards on 3/4. I was 36 when I finished, and am so glad I went back. I was hired as a GN on the ICU unit that I worked on throughout school.

The hospital system I work at - St. John in Detroit - is phasing out LPN's. Most are working as nurse's aides now, and only making about $10-12/hr. You can get the same job at my hospital with a 2 week Red Cross training course. I know that some of the nursing homes in our area still hire LPN's, but I see more advertisements for RN's for those positions.

Things are really tight here in this area for new nurses. Out of my class of 28, only 7 of us had RN positions lined up when we graduated (and 2 of those are moving out of state for their jobs). The rest were told that systems aren't hiring without a license and a year experience. That may be because I live in Michigan, and we have a 25% unemployment rate in this area - every business has cut back, medical included.

The very best advice I can give you is to find a job and work contingent while you are in school - even if it's only 1 day (or night!) a week. Actually putting my knowledge to work for me in the clinical setting and getting hands on with patients helped more than my clinicals I had to take in school. Those are great...but it's not the same with an instructor and 7 other students that want to get experiences as well all vying for that chance to put the foley or NG tube in. If you work, and the nurses know you want to do it all...they'll find stuff for you to do. Plus, when you are done, you've got some experience under your belt and will be MUCH more marketable that those that didn't work in hospitals while in school.

 

[Judy from Boise]

[QUOTE
Really ! Perhaps you need to head back to school and re-study statistics and research. The nursing shortage a highly complex national problem.....but your personal experience effortlessly extrapolates to it? I sympathize with your job hunt.....but please, act like the scientist you just studied to become.
QUOTE]

No need to get nasty, and it is not just my personal experience. There is no shortage of new grads that cannot find jobs. Maybe your state is different? Like I said before, I am moving to get a job. My state is not a good place for new nurses to be. I cannot believe how rude your reply was. Have you personally researched new grad RNs recently? Perhaps you should have a look

I'm sorry if you took my comments as rude....but you now carry the same liscense as I do, and your actions as a professional nurse reflect on all of us. For you to take a personal story, and then make the leap that it applies to this entire country , and that the "nursing shortage is a hoax" is embarrassing. It makes people wonder what type of scientific rigor can I expect from nurses?

I study the nursing shortage all the time, most recently yesterday. I sit on a statewide coalition that is busy implementing a year long nursing residency program....

 

[laurie31]

I highly recommend looking into the job market before going into Nursing. I am graduating in May, and very few areas actually hire new grad RN's these days. People are having an awful time finding jobs. A lot of experienced nurses have come back to work (due to the economy, spouses getting laid off etc etc) and it is tough out there. I am going to have to move to another state to get a job. EVen home health and long term care centers are not hiring anyone without a FULL year of experience. No one wants to take the time or expense to train new nurses anymore.

The whole nursing shortage is a myth. There is an overage of new nurses with no jobs. A good place to read up is allnurse.com, it is a great message board where you cna as questions to see if it is better in your area.

You are comparing apples and oranges.

The nursing shortage is VERY real. However, there are no RN jobs right NOW, because there are no jobs ANYWHERE now, in any field.

Where I work we need more RNs but there are virtually no jobs posted because of the economy. In addition, until whatever is going to happen happens with health care reform, the PTB at my work are VERY nervous. Over 60% of our patient population is Medicaid, and any changes for the worse of how we get reimbursed for their care could be a Very Bad Thing for us. So they dare not let us hire anyone. We aren't even hiring aides! Ironically, the fact that new grads are having a hard time finding work now will only exacerbate the nursing shortage in the long term, if people think there are no jobs and choose other fields.

OP, by the time you graduate, things should have turned around. My guess is that in two years, even a new grad RN will be able to get any job they want.

LPNs are being phased out in hospitals because there is so much patient care there that is beyond their license (giving chemo, pushing IV meds, etc) but they are still used in nursing homes and doctor's offices, and in home care. As someone else said, you can get your LPN first, and then do an LPN to RN program, or you may be happy as an LPN. Or you may decide to do a ADN program to start with (associates degree - an RN program).

Good luck with whatever you decide. But don't let the current job market worry you. (any more that it worries anyone!)

 

[dakcp2001]

I'm sorry if you took my comments as rude....but you now carry the same liscense as I do, and your actions as a professional nurse reflect on all of us. For you to take a personal story, and then make the leap that it applies to this entire country , and that the "nursing shortage is a hoax" is embarrassing. It makes people wonder what type of scientific rigor can I expect from nurses?

I study the nursing shortage all the time, most recently yesterday. I sit on a statewide coalition that is busy implementing a year long nursing residency program....

I am not taking just a personal story here, I think perhaps your research is flawed. There is a flood of new grads with no one to hire them. There may be a shortage of "experienced" nurses, there is no shortage of nurses.There are plenty of nurses, but they have no experience. There IS a shortage of people willing to put in the time to train them. Most hospitals in my area have hiring freezes and are not taking anyone. This is not isolated to my area. I think you are in for a shock when you see how many apps you will get for your residency program. They will come from all over the country, in massive numbers.