Too old to train as a nurse?

[Springcatkin]

I am 52 and want to change career and train as a mental health nurse to work in hospital wards.
Is this too old given it can be a fairly physical job and on your feet a lot?
Should I train but look to be community based?
All advice / comments welcomed

I'm 49 and want to train as a midwife, so will watch your thread with interest

Never too old!
I'm doing a nursing associate course, some of our cohort are 55+
I say go for it!

I wouldn't say it was too old, would it be a 3 year degree then about 10 years still to work? That seems worth doing.

I couldn't comment on how demanding it would be physically as I'm not a nurse but simply in terms of timing, I don't think it's too late.

Don't know your background but I expect you would bring a lot of valuable maturity and life experience to a role working with vulnerable people.

Hi you are not too old. How are you physically?
In some settings they work 12+ hour shifts..So if you worked 37.5 hours it would be 3 shifts a week.
I am nearly 51 and now do strughle with 2 long days in a row..I feel knackered on 1st day off. You have to be as alert at the end of a shift as you do at the beginning.I am sure you are aware of the stresses and steains and underfunding etc of the Mental Health sector. There are lots of different areas you could work in with different hours though. But you are definitely not too old.

Soz re typos.

I'm a nurse but went into training straight from school-pushing 20 years ago now!

In all honesty I could not now with all good faith recommend that someone goes in to nursing. When I trained the profession wasn't yet degree only, and so it was possible to survive financially because the tuition fees were paid and the bursary was non means tested.

If you're really passionate about it then go for it, but the training for me personally was the hardest 3 years of my life. Nursing is absolute graft and ward nursing is unrelenting. You'll need to be prepared for literal blood sweat and tears, and to be out of pocket at the end of it

Definitely not too old! There were ladies in my cohort in their 50s. I won't lie, hospital wards are very physically demanding but you will get a taste of hospital and community throughout your placements.

I am an admissions tutor for a mental health nursing course. You are absolutely not too old, and there will be other people of the same age on your course. You have at least 10 years of work in front of you. This is a long time to make a difference! You will get as much back as you give in this profession. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me

I've just been accepted to University to study Adult Nursing at 48. At no time was my age questioned negatively anywhere in the interview process, if anything it was referred to very positively (life experience, mature head etc). Am fairly fit - not an athlete by any measure but I think I'm fit enough to cope with the demands of the job.
I don't see that there much real difference between retraining at 48 and 52 so I'd say go for it!!

When I trained years ago I was mid 20s but id say at least half the course were over 50s, much younger intake on the general nursing course, but mental health seems to draw older students. Go for it I'd say

Great, thanks all.
@Restlessinthenorth as I haven't studied for years do you recommend an Access to HE course or just applying straight off?

I found working on a busy a&e very hard work at 52. Physically very demanding, but I lasted until 58! Mental health nursing is not so physically demanding. Most that I saw did a lot of sitting down, so go for it

springcatkin if you have any head on your shoulders don't bother with the access course, instead, go straight for entry based on your 'experiential learning' (my uni - Salford - assessed me on that, life experience basically, with me providing a series of essays to prove I could do it). The access course would be a wasted year of your life imo... Mine was a recently-ish health related BSc degree with A level as my previously highest qual (and that was years prior). Those on my course who had done the access course had found it very basic (except some who were pretty immature and whose prior education has not been particularly good quality), all it does is get you in the habit of essays etc and the formats (referencing etc) you need to be familiar with. But if you are self-motivated, able to apply yourself to a task and halfway bright you will have all that sorted in your mind in no time anyway. So a year doing the access course would bore you to tears and waste time.

@HalloumiSalad that's great, thanks. Salford is one I'm looking at. I'll call them tomorrow [excited]
As they do a Jan start I was thinking of 6 month online access course www.stonebridge.uk.com/category/he-access-nursing starting now then Jan 2021 start.
Another question - so many want some experience but all the jobs as care assistant also want experience or a driving licence - how do people get experience?

My concern would be that mental health nursing is quite physically demanding, and I wonder how that would be starting out for the first time in late 50s.

Also (speaking as a current mental health nurse) I honestly don't recommend it as a career. Levels of violence and stress are high, pay is low, conditions get worse every year.

I agree with Stompythedinosaur
I left mental health nursing 2 years ago after 17 years (I’ll be 50 next year) for the reasons mentioned.I’ve known 2 students who we had with us who were over 50 who both left within a year of qualifying as it was too much for them
I’m not trying to put you off but there isn’t very much patient care involved now it’s all paperwork and tick charts.I missed the days of actually having time to interact with the patients and knowing I’d made a difference just by having the time to sit and have a cuppa and a chat like we used to back in the day.

If experience is an essential criteria, still apply but comment on the situation in the additional information section e.g "Although I do not have formal experience in a mental health care setting I have gained transferable skills during my time running a playgroup/helping at dc school/ caring for unwell relative that I would draw on if appointed to this role. I am a motivated individual who learns quickly etc."