Working while in nursing school?

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I often get discouraged by my mom and other people saying "you don't have it that hard", "I did it, so can you", type deal because I do not currently have a job, and I have not had one at all in nursing school. I commuted my first semester and ended up failing because I could not handle the commuting and having to get up at the crack of dawn for clinicals and classes. I am mainly a night person. My mom went to school for 7 years to obtain her educational degree. Yes, she had me and my brother and a family to take care of.. But she consistently throws up in my face that her getting her educational degree to teach is just as hard as nursing school. I really beg to differ, but I still get upset and cry and feel like a failure since I do not have a job an all. I applied for tons of hospitals and no call back. My mom does not pay a single dime for anything that I have. I use strictly loans. I just want to know if its really doable and worth it? I usually go to school 4 to 5 days a week. I really want something in the medical field, but I feel like the hospitals aren't willing to hire many people right now. I live in an area where there are only two hospitals. I do not have a CNA license either. There is only one hospital in my area that allows you to be a PCT if you have completed your first semester of BSN. My family and my boyfriend live an hour away from me. It's just a struggle to me to sacrifice the little time I have to spend time with them versus having a job.. My mom says that's a sacrifice you have to make.. And I am like really? Do I have to? I go to school with nobody I know.. Not that it matters, but my boyfriend is my best friend.. And the person that helps me get away from reality. It's very important to me to see him atleast every two weeks. I don't know what I need to do.. Any advice?

I haven't started the program yet (september 5th), I have 5 kids 9, 8, 7, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2 and work part time nights 7p-7:30a 2 nights a week. I have no choice. I will create a schedule and stick to it. I'm nervous but I know I want this more than anything and will not give it up no matter what! I work as a PCT on an infant and children's unit at the hospital I plan to apply to once I'm an RN.

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I wish I would have made different choices beforehand as far as saving money but I guess I wasn't sure if I was going ADN or BSN. I worked while taking my pre-reqs (I had a full pell that covered it), and I could have saved money then but didn't. I made about 430 dollars a month, but I had other obligations to pay for. I still could have saved though. I guess in my circumstance it would be nearly impossible to work now and make enough money to pay for school, rent, bills and such. I def should have planned better in that aspect and trust me, I tell my little brother every day! Boy get a job now and save!! Thanks for all the honesty though.. I am still really young.. 22 so I guess I have a lot to learn, but I definitely never have made anything more than a little above minimum wage for pay and that was 7.75. Maybe some miracle will happen and I will get a tech job. I have applied about 10 times over the summer with a completely open schedule with no call back lol[/quote']

I've been applying for & hoping for a tech job too! I literally applied for 26 jobs online for 4 different hospitals. It shows my status as 'no longer under consideration' or 'new' and there's 2 jobs that say 'under consideration'. If that means I get an interview then is wish they called me! Lol good luck to you!!

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I know I can't work during nursing school. I go to school m-f spend my entire weekend doing homework or studying and then repeat the next week. I already have a CCA job and I stayed casual and I will work only on school vacations, no weekends, no long weekends. It is all I can do to go to school, get good grades, and make supper.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I will be working part time during the semesters, and full time during winter and/or summer break. I was accepted into a program at the hospital I work at designed specifically for nursing students to work part time while going to nursing school full time- and still maintaining their full time salary and benefits. Pretty sweet deal. I just don't have the option to quit my job, not to mention the program at my work will set me up with nursing recruitment in two years.

But I have heard the same as others have mentioned- if you don't have to work, that's great! :-)

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Figured I'd throw in my two cents. I got lucky enough to secure a spot in a nights and weekends course; we meet Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights from 4-8PM and I have clinical rotations on Saturday. I currently work M-F 8-5, but I'm fortunate enough to be able to leave 1.5 hours early on TWTh by coming in half an hour early those days and not taking a lunch break. I have a one-hour commute each way for work/school to home, so typically I leave the house around 6:30AM and don't get home until 9PM or after with the exclusion of Monday & Friday, since I only work until 5PM those days. On clinical days (Saturday), I typically leave the house around 5AM and don't get home until 5PM. Fortunately, I do not have any children yet but I do have a wife that I like to keep happy!

I said all that to say this, I maintain A's in all my classes, always get satisfactory grades on clinical paperwork and never miss or show up late to work or school. I work because I absolutely have to, I work because taking out loans was not an option and I certainly couldn't get any grant money, I work because I've worked since I was twelve years old in some aspect or another, I work because no one else is going to help pay the bills and put food on the table. Point being, if you want to do well in school, the choice is yours and yours alone. It is up to you to bust your a$$. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who said this or that, it doesn't matter how this person feels what does matter is this: when the alarm sounds at 4AM even though you were up until midnight you get up and go, it matters that you be the best you can be in clinical rotations, it matters that you form good relationships with your peers and potential employers. If you want to be a nurse bad enough you'll find a way; you'll clean commodes, you'll get by on two hours of sleep, you'll sell stuff you can live without, you'll push until you've got nothing left because life is what we make of it.

I do a steady week of work and classes and yet I still take my wife out on dates, I still make it to church, I still make it to the gym, all because I keep pushing. Don't let present you deter future you from success. Five years from now, don't look back and wish you'd done this or that. I've been there and it sucks. In nursing school, just like life, if you push yourself, you'll be amazed at what the mind and body are capable of. If your dream is to be a nurse, it is only your fault if you don't achieve that dream.

Pardon the extremely long post.. got on a roll, I suppose.

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Specializes in ER trauma, ICU - trauma, neuro surgical.

I'd say don't fall for people telling you that you should be a PCT during school. It doesn't give you some extra edge. PCT's get worked to the bone. Many don't have time to learn a bunch of nifty medical information. Everything that you need to learn will be in nursing school. Working as a PCT for 4 semester isn't going to raise your chances of passing the NCLEX. It may make you more comfortable in the hospital setting or make month one of the first semester easier, but you will dive so deep into nursing that it will not make a difference.

Get any job you want. I knew tons, and I mean tons of people who were waitresses during school. You make your own hours, you can work in the afternoon. Why get your butt handed to you for 12 hrs when you can do something else? I say you get a job that allows you to study and be flexible with hrs. Someone who works part time as a waitress or even a receptionist can get a lot of time to study. I wasn't a PCT and my classmates who were PCT's didn't do better than me. Sure, they were ahead of me when we learned to change bedsheets or position pts, but they weren't ahead during cardiac, ethics, or nursing research. I knew people who preached the importance of being a tech and thought I was an idiot, but they failed nursing school just like everyone else.

Do what's best for you. Whatever makes school the priority. The only real reason to be a PCT is to get your foot in the door for a job since hospitals like to hire from within. But, now-a-days, there are so many nurses out there looking for a job, that many grads have to wait a couple of months to even get hired (depending on the region). The first month of nursing school is technically PCT school. After that, the edge is gone. So, you do what's best for you. Your grades and the amount of time you study is what's most important. Everything else is *******.

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That's not entirely true. I know PCTs that worked while going to LVN or RN school and got nursing positions before finishing nursing school. I know one PCT that got hired for a GN internship without interviewing for the position. Two PCT who are finishing LVN school in early August already have LVN jobs lined up, and the facility they are working at have decreased their LVN positions.

While yes during first semester we all learn PCT duties that still doesn't mean that everyone is at the same level. I've been a PCT for 9 years and let me tell you I can get my pt morning vitals, assessed, bath with linens changed and turned without any issues or assistance before all my other classmates get half their stuff done. Most of the things that I have learned has been because of work because my first clinical experiences where mainly CNA duties no RN duties till nearly the end of the semester.

Of course if you don't have to work then don't. But I'm an example of a PCT that has learned a lot from the department I work at. Being a waitress will give you nothing but a paycheck.

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I'd say don't fall for people telling you that you should be a PCT during school. It doesn't give you some extra edge. PCT's get worked to the bone. Many don't have time to learn a bunch of nifty medical information. Everything that you need to learn will be in nursing school. Working as a PCT for 4 semester isn't going to raise your chances of passing the NCLEX. It may make you more comfortable in the hospital setting or make month one of the first semester easier, but you will dive so deep into nursing that it will not make a difference.

Get any job you want. I knew tons, and I mean tons of people who were waitresses during school. You make your own hours, you can work in the afternoon. Why get your butt handed to you for 12 hrs when you can do something else? I say you get a job that allows you to study and be flexible with hrs. Someone who works part time as a waitress or even a receptionist can get a lot of time to study. I wasn't a PCT and my classmates who were PCT's didn't do better than me. Sure, they were ahead of me when we learned to change bedsheets or position pts, but they weren't ahead during cardiac, ethics, or nursing research. I knew people who preached the importance of being a tech and thought I was an idiot, but they failed nursing school just like everyone else.

Do what's best for you. Whatever makes school the priority. The only real reason to be a PCT is to get your foot in the door for a job since hospitals like to hire from within. But, now-a-days, there are so many nurses out there looking for a job, that many grads have to wait a couple of months to even get hired (depending on the region). The first month of nursing school is technically PCT school. After that, the edge is gone. So, you do what's best for you. Your grades and the amount of time you study is what's most important. Everything else is *******.

I disagree 100%. I work in ICU as a Nursing Assistant & I get amazing experience. The nurses and Intensivists I work with make sure to include me in every bedside procedure. When they are putting n central lines, I get to set up all the CVPs. I insert foleys & rectal tubes, suction ET tubes, insert NG/OGs, and hang tube feedings. I am familiar with mixing & titrating pressers, which most students know very little about. I am active in code situations, have done CPR countless times, and know the procedures for comfort measures and post mortem care. To say I don't have an advantage is completely incorrect.

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I disagree 100%. I work in ICU as a Nursing Assistant & I get amazing experience. The nurses and Intensivists I work with make sure to include me in every bedside procedure. When they are putting n central lines, I get to set up all the CVPs. I insert foleys & rectal tubes, suction ET tubes, insert NG/OGs, and hang tube feedings. I am familiar with mixing & titrating pressers, which most students know very little about. I am active in code situations, have done CPR countless times, and know the procedures for comfort measures and post mortem care. To say I don't have an advantage is completely incorrect.

Well said!

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

Almost all of the nurses that work in my ER were ER Techs (like me) and were hired directly out of nursing school. Each semester an ER Tech graduates from nursing school and is hired as a graduate nurse..

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I'd say don't fall for people telling you that you should be a PCT during school. It doesn't give you some extra edge. PCT's get worked to the bone. Many don't have time to learn a bunch of nifty medical information. Everything that you need to learn will be in nursing school. Working as a PCT for 4 semester isn't going to raise your chances of passing the NCLEX. It may make you more comfortable in the hospital setting or make month one of the first semester easier, but you will dive so deep into nursing that it will not make a difference.

Get any job you want. I knew tons, and I mean tons of people who were waitresses during school. You make your own hours, you can work in the afternoon. Why get your butt handed to you for 12 hrs when you can do something else? I say you get a job that allows you to study and be flexible with hrs. Someone who works part time as a waitress or even a receptionist can get a lot of time to study. I wasn't a PCT and my classmates who were PCT's didn't do better than me. Sure, they were ahead of me when we learned to change bedsheets or position pts, but they weren't ahead during cardiac, ethics, or nursing research. I knew people who preached the importance of being a tech and thought I was an idiot, but they failed nursing school just like everyone else.

Do what's best for you. Whatever makes school the priority. The only real reason to be a PCT is to get your foot in the door for a job since hospitals like to hire from within. But, now-a-days, there are so many nurses out there looking for a job, that many grads have to wait a couple of months to even get hired (depending on the region). The first month of nursing school is technically PCT school. After that, the edge is gone. So, you do what's best for you. Your grades and the amount of time you study is what's most important. Everything else is *******.

I have to agree & disagree with this. I worked as a PCT during nursing school & while I did get worked really hard, I have landed my dream job in a NICU less then 2 months after graduating. I was told in my interview my experience in healthcare (on an adult med surg floor) showed I could handle the busy atmosphere and gave me an edge up on other candidates.

I would say definitely continue to apply and FOLLOW UP! I can't stress how important that is to help managers notice you, just walk in and ask to speak with the manager. Most PCT jobs are PRN and self schedule, you can work as little or as much as you want.

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I certainly wouldn't discredit either side of the coin. You can learn a lot from PCT work but it isn't pivotal to being a good nurse. I work for a software company full-time (so my wife and I can have benefits) but I make sure that when clinical rotations are in full swing I'm being very observant, diligent, and always willing to jump right in there. If I could get a different job that allowed me more time for school or to get some experience, I'd do it, but unfortunately there is no way I'm going to scrape by or walk around with no insurance. I attend clinical rotations with women who work in both hospital and LTC facilities as PCTs that aren't nearly as hands on or willing just because of attitude. Now that may have a leg up on me when it comes to securing a job but hustling my tail off when I'm on site certainly doesn't hurt. I have to make a name for myself through hard work and a positive attitude while I can. You can't assume any one path makes a better nurse, in the end it all revolves around hard work, the willingness of the student and their competency. HodgieRN is right though, it doesn't matter what you do for work as long as you make school your priority.

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