full time msn and full time job

meandragonbrett · Nov 21, 2009

9 graduate hours and working full time is probably too much.

UVA Grad Nursing · Nov 21, 2009

I have had a small handful of students who have been full-time students and full-time workers. All were unmarried, no children, no nearby family and no social life. All they did for two years was work and study. They got through it because they had no other obligations. It was a period of high stress however. They had 20 hours of practica a week (M-W), didactic classes Thurs/Fri am, and then did three 12s on Fri, Sat, Sun.

I do not recommend this however for 90% of nurses though. Remember that graduate school will be more rigorous than undergraduate programs (more reading, more writing, more analysis/synthesis). The passing grade for graduate programs is also higher (a B now).

youknowho · Nov 21, 2009

If it comes down to school and work, I would go with work. You said it yourself, its hard out there now. Hard to get a good job. You can always try to do both and if it doesn't work out then do a different program where it doesn't have to be done in a certain time frame or go part time even if it mean the scholarships. Good luck!!

jollygirl098 · Nov 22, 2009

Thanks youknowwho,

I think it would be better if I can start with both and if later it becomes difficult then I can reduce the hours for my program. I completed my BSN in one and a half year with 69 units and GPA good enough to be member of Sigma theta tau honors society.

I will try my best and will leave the rest to GOD.

This forum rocks ! :cool:

allnurses Guide · Nov 29, 2009

I did it fulltime for 2 semesters, now have dropped school back to P/T because it's not sustainable once the clinicals start. I work 50-ish hours/wk Mon-Fri plus on-call, it just was really hard doing 9 credits as well.

Edit: And as per UVA Nursing's post, I have no kids, no husband and no life!

RunningRNBSN · Dec 9, 2009

I do not recommend doing a full-time job and full-time MSN. I am working on my masters degree in nursing education and work full-time. I am taking 2 classes a semester (6-7 credit hours) and I can assure you that these classes require a lot of work. I worked almost full-time during my undergrad accelerated BSN program and did well; however, a masters program requires a lot of reading and writing. I have written three 15-page papers, three 8-page, and one 5-page paper this semester. All of them required heavy research and I can assure you that I have been stressed during this program while working.

While I am sure it is entirely possible to work full-time and do a full-time graduate program, I can imagine that it is very stressful and difficult.

Christen, ANP · Dec 14, 2009

I've one semester left before graduation for my ANP. I worked full time (3 12's Friday, Saturday, & Sunday) and went to school full time for the first year and a half of my program. Now that I am to graduate in May, about a month ago I cut back my hours at work to 2 12 hour shifts. This was due to the fact that I've just worn myself out between school and work and to maintain my sanity!

Working full time and going to school full time is HARD. You have no life outside of school and work. Seriously. If you've got the willpower and few ties (ie - family, etc), you can do it. It's doable, but you risk missing out on a lot, especially once clinicals start up. You end up "working" a 60 - 80 work week, between the 36 hours at work + the 16 - 20 hours of clinical a week + homework / papers / projects / master's project / studying.

vincejojo · Dec 14, 2009

Thanks youknowwho,
I think it would be better if I can start with both and if later it becomes difficult then I can reduce the hours for my program. I completed my BSN in one and a half year with 69 units and GPA good enough to be member of Sigma theta tau honors society.
I will try my best and will leave the rest to GOD.
This forum rocks !

you just gave yourself the best advice. Good luck and God's blessing