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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I'm not too old

28 replies

Sparklypants · 18/08/2014 20:49

To retrain as a nurse. I'm 36 so I would be around 40 when I finish training and would have 20 odd years of working ahead of me.

I'm so sick of doing minimum wage jobs that I hate and mean nothing.

Am I too old to consider this?

OP posts:
Lepaskilf · 18/08/2014 20:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ColinFirthsGirth · 18/08/2014 20:51

No you are not to old to consider it at all! When I did my nursing training we had people that were older than you.

LividofLondon · 18/08/2014 20:52

No! I'm just about to go back to higher education and hopefully have a complete change of career. I'll be 50 when I graduate. My friend is doing the same and he'll be 52. Of course there's no guarantee of a job at the end but I think it's important to go with your heart and have a go.

Godcreatedcricket · 18/08/2014 20:54

No!
When I did my nursing degree there was a woman in her 50s on the course. Go for it!

zeezeek · 18/08/2014 20:54

Not, not at all. The NHS needs more nurses. Go for it and good luck!!!

frames · 18/08/2014 20:55

No. do it.

frames · 18/08/2014 20:55

No. do it.

dairylea4brains · 18/08/2014 20:55

I'm 34 and planning on training when ds2 goes to school in 2 years. I completed my first year in 2003 then fell pregnant with ds1 and had to leave course due to lack of support and child care. Oldest in my intake was 52.

thatniceperson · 18/08/2014 20:55

My MIL is 53 and she's just finished her second year of training, I'm planning on training when my kids are a bit older and in school so I'll be about 30. We'll always need nurses and ' older' people bring so many important skills to the profession!

1sneezecakesmum · 18/08/2014 20:56

No do it. By the time you are fed up with nursing it'll be time to retire Grin

Original poster
Sparklypants · 18/08/2014 20:59

Thanks Smile

This is something I really want but I've had a few comments along the lines of "is it really worth it at your age?" Because apparently 36 ( would be 37 when I started as waiting for DS so start school) is really old!

OP posts:
mumtosome61 · 18/08/2014 20:59

Nope - do it - I am doing it in March (and will be 30). I recently had a job interview for a carers position and the home manager told me his wife did it at 45 and has never looked back - she's pretty high up now. I should be starting at the Nursing Home and beginning my degree whilst working - I can't wait! Grin

CombineBananaFister · 18/08/2014 21:00

Not too old at all. Without sounding cheesy life experience counts a lot or at least just as much as academic badges (which you may have?!?), I know this personally from not thinking I was good enough to retrain and now love it. Do it!! Grin

badasahatter · 18/08/2014 21:00

I'm 49 and am about to start a degree so I can go into education. I know, to some degree, I'm past my prime, but I can't go back into the past and do it then. If I could, I would. If I could do it when I was 36 I'd turn back the clocks tomorrow. You're a mere whippersnapper :) Don't do what I did and leave it just til next year, then the next then the next....time has a habit to keep slipping away.

itiswhatitiswhatitis · 18/08/2014 21:03

Not at all. I'm the same age and will qualify when I am forty. It's either train if another 25 years of jobs you hate for hardly any money.

AddToBasket · 18/08/2014 21:07

Definitely go for it!

I retrained and I've noticed that people in their 'second career' (not that I had an actual 'career' before, more like 'jobs that paid the bills') are more prone to seize opportunity and to enjoy the work they've chosen.

Original poster
Sparklypants · 18/08/2014 21:08

badasahatter, yes exactly! Time does seem to be slipping away at a terrifying rate. I was thinking about this years ago when my dd (17) was younger but I then had DS (3).
I'm a single mother so the thought of juggling it all alone is a bit daunting but being that bit older, it doesn't feel insurmountable.

OP posts:
Andallmyhopeisgone · 18/08/2014 21:13

No, you are still young, go for it!

Ragwort · 18/08/2014 21:14

Of course not, I am 56 and have just returned to work, and a new career, after a 14 year break, I intend to work for at least another 10 years unless I win the lottery.

I know this will be seen as a huge generalisation but in my profession older employees are hugely more motivated and enthusiastic about their work than younger people.

Good luck.

SackAndCrack · 18/08/2014 21:19

Yanbu Im applying this year, its not an easy degree to get into through.

2kidsintow · 18/08/2014 21:23

Def not too old. My friend started training at 41 and has just got her first job within a year of qualifying.

SackAndCrack · 18/08/2014 21:24

OP presumably your dc will be starting school in 2015? Which means you need to apply this month.

SackAndCrack · 18/08/2014 21:24

No, next month I mean.

lorriehearts · 18/08/2014 21:28

Not at all! My mother retrained as a nurse after years as a care assistant - she was in her mid-thirties with a husband, two kids and a full-time job. Afaik, she's never regretted the decision, and she's 57 now.

Good luck!

loveheart45 · 18/08/2014 21:34

Not at all

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