juggling motherhood and nursing

I work a baylor shift. Every weekend 12 hours both days so I work 24 hours but get paid for 36. But I am off Mon-Fri.

no advice as mine were grown when I started nursing. But I want to say I admire and appreciate your hard work.

I work one day a week and every other weekend on call for hospice. On purpose. To be available for my son.

He stays at my inlaws' ranch after school if I need to see a patient after he gets home from school or I take him with me.

I'm not a fan of day care. I love that he gets to spend time with his grandparents doing "farm stuff".

steph

Take it one day at a time. Try 5 kids, Full time job, going to school for master program and in the Navy Reserve. Yes, I have time with my kids and husband.

good for you for switching to part time so you can take your son out of daycare! that is awesome. you'll be so glad you did that later on in life. he's learning and changing every single day, and needs the people that matter most around him during that time. awesome, awesome, awesome!

you do the best you can according to your family needs. if money isn't a big issue, i think part time or casual work is the best. alot of nurses i work with do baylor, so that they don't have to worry about who is going to take the kids to and from school. yes you give up the weekends, but for some mothers its worth it.

Despite weekends and holidays nursing is a lot more flexible than other profession. Most professions that pay well it is full time or nothing.

Ever since I had kids I worked the evening shift. I started 3 shifts a week and gradually cut down. Once the kids got heavy into homework and after school activities I worked every other weekend and one evening a week. Fortunate to have a mother in law who watched my kids the 1-2 afternoons a week til my husband got home. Now they are both teens and I still just work 1-2 evening a week but per diem. I set my schedule.

I started nursing school when my children were 3 and 7. It wasn't easy. I did have a husband at that time and for a couple years while I worked, but always had to work full time. The key to juggling both being a mom and a nurse, is to make the time you spend with your kids quality time. Yeah.. that sounds very Dr. Phil, but it's true. Be grateful that you can work just part time and also know that you are showing your son that work is important and necessary and valuable to you as a person. Kids adapt. They are incredibly resiliant little things. I've been divorced now for years and have done the juggling thing totally alone. My kids have not suffered for my career. They are great teens who understand work happens and that work is important for us to live and for mom to be sane. When I started nursing, my facility was still working 8 hour shifts and I worked afternoons. Once we went to 12 hour shifts it was much better. Even if I picked up an extra day now and then I still usually had 4 days a week at home. So my advice is this...if it works for you, work a job that is 12 hours so you are home more full days. Don't feel guilty for having your child in day care, it is often necessary, just pick a good one and be vigilant. And finally take time for yourself as well.. that is the best gift you can give your son and the best way you can be a good mom.

Kudos to you for wanting to be home with your son as much as you can. Like a PP, I have 5 kids, I work part-time in a PICU, I'm working on my PNP and I homeschool my middle 3 kids. (the youngest is 3) Nursing is the greatest profession in the world for mothers because of its flexibility! My friends are often envious that I can work a day or two a week and make such good $$.

There are so many different ways you can make it work. The weekend option is one thing, currently I do 3-11p shifts during the week and day shifts when it's my weekend. I've worked night shifts and tried to stay awake with them (don't do that, I think that's pure insanity). At one point, I was even a manager of our PICU working 30 hrs/week thanks to a very understanding director who was willing to let me be flexible.

It's not always easy, but I think it's definitely worth it to get to be home with the kids as much as possible and still have a very rewarding career. GL to you!