Would I be a fool to try and become a nurse at 31?

[TitsalinaBumSquash]

I'm currently an unqualified community care worker for a private company working with elderly people with dementia. I have a long history of caring at home for my son and before him my mother.
Caring and nursing to a degree is all I know.
Would I be an idiot to take an access course I try and get into uni to do nursing?
I know the NHS is on its arse and this isn't a money thing, I'm not interested in the wage.

The course is 16 hours a week so I think I could fit it in with work and 4 kids, it would be hard but I'm quite a tough cookie in terms on having a lot to deal with.

The only thing I think I'd struggle with is math, I'm awful at it, can that be overcome?

What does everyone think? Am I being unrealistic to do this at 31?

I'm 41 and in 2nd year of uni. You will be fine. There are older students than me in my cohort.

In 18 months time I will qualify and I feel both excited and terrified. I don't know anywhere near enough but then I go on placement and realise that I do.

I had to do a course before university as I was 20 years out of education.

Do it!

I have a friend who finally decided on starting her nursing degree when she was forty. She was a sole parent SAHM with a teen daughter. It was such a struggle at times, but she stuck it out and has now graduated, has employment, loves the work, and has a disposable income that has improved the quality of their life.

Another friend was fifty and needed a career change. He also loved it. Enjoyed the study and now works as a nurse.

Just give it a try, you're not too old at all! Good luck!

Absolutely not! An amazing thing to do and if anything there needs to be more folks like you! Go for it x

"I do the physio, I do the central line care and usage, I do the gastrostomy care and diet, I do the sputum collections and analysing and I can read an X-ray and listen to a chest and hear the crackles and put I together with the obs to make an accurate request with a dr to say this is what is needed etc a can more than go,d my own in a medical discussion with the consultants I spend time with, I'm aware it won't be the same for other patients and there is a hell of a lot more too it than that but it gives me such energy and joy to be hands on caring and helping people."

In that context, my biggest caution would be that you will have your wings seriously clipped as a nursing student and that, sadly, there will be nurses that will want to put you back in your box. As a student nurse, you will find that on regular wards, even starting oxygen or adjusting oxygen levels can be seen as an intervention, and technically (legally) oxygen should be prescribed, although it rarely is. With the standardisation of observation protocols such as NEWS/MEWS/PEWS, many ward nurses are not learning more advanced assessment skills because they have to escalate when a patient gets unwell, and so they have someone who arrives and assess, then gives a treatment plan.

I don't say any of this to put you off, I think you'll be great, but the best way to get along in nursing training is to dive in with the team player nursing care, then let them realise you know your stuff by stealth. Any hint of knowing your stuff before you've shown you're willing to get your hands dirty will be stamped on from a great height, ime.

Not at all, I started my nursing degree at 30 and pregnant with dc2

Since then I have gone on to a pgdip and MSc

Do it

Ps I also did the access first and it was great preparation

Pm me if you want any info

I'm a 3rd year and 39!

My cousin started nurse training at 44, worked on wards, then theatre. Is now a district nurse.
You are not too old.

No it! I have 5 children 15,13 twins 8 and a 6 year old. four years ago went back into education. I did 2 years on acess level 2 along side my English and maths gcse. Then access level 3 nursing, midwifery and allied professions diploma. I'm now currently on my 2nd year of a foundation degree graduate this year. I also have a place on a mentail health nursing degree starting in September. I'm 31 now it's hard but so much more rewarding being an older student

My friend is due to qualify this year at 48. Go for it

When you think that our generation will be working till we're 70....I think it's a smart thing to do 😀

Do it! You sound like you would be a fantastic nurse.

Also, please stop saying you 'dropped out' of school. Your family circumstances meant you had to care for your mum. Today, you would be classed as a young carer and (if you lived in my LA area) you would have been entitled to, and encouraged to access, practical support which would have helped you to stay in school. Being a young carer has allowed you to develop many other skills which you shouldn't underestimate and which you should emphasise on your application. Good luck!