Non-traditional Nursing Students

We all know that the nursing workforce is continuing to age, but how about the age of nursing students? As the economy continues to stay the same and the current job market remains challenging, many people are turning to nursing school as a second career.

According to “The Registered Nurse Population: Findings from the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the age of students graduating from associates and diploma programs in 2004were an average of 31.8 years. Those graduating from bachelor’s degree programs were an average of 26.3 years.

It seems to be the trend that older non-traditional nursing students tend to get the shorter and cheaper associates degree, than nursing students right out of high school who opt for the bachelor’s degree. Perhaps as older nursing students there is a family, job, and finances to consider when going to college for the first, second, or even third time.

In my bachelor’s degree program we seemed to have a very young crowd of nursing students that were right out of high school. We also had several mid-twenties students like me, who were coming to nursing school after choosing a different career path first. We started with a handful of 35+ nursing students, but only graduated with two. While some of the older nursing students on average tended to struggle more with technology and the hectic schedule, the blend of ages was so important to the diversity and culture of our nursing school.

What are your thoughts on this?

As a non-traditional nursing student did you choose an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree and why?

What challenges do you face entering college with a younger crowd?