Pre-reqs and working full time..

[taraer1206]

Hello! I am a 23 year old girl who has been out of high school for 5 years. In that 5 years I have been working full time just supporting myself to live. (Selling cars, so this is a complete 180..)

I have decided to make a change in my life, and go to school for nursing! I have always been absolutely fascinated with the medical field, and anatomy, and the human body, and just the care an compassion for other people, etc. My grandmother was a nurse, so she is certainly happy to hear I am following in her footsteps! :)

I do need to keep supporting myself for a little while to save up some money to carry me throughout nursing school. I was wondering if it is hard or realistic to still work full time just during my pre-reqs. They are just my basic math, english, psych, bio, A and P, etc. I know that I still need to work very hard and keep my grades high in order to even get into the nursing program. Compared to the actual nursing program though, I feel maybe the pre-reqs will be not as challenging. Am I being naive? My plan is to work full time throughout my pre-reqs, then cut it to part time during the actual nursing program and live off my savings and part time income. What do you all think? You're experiences and stories would be a great insight for me! :)

Also one more thing: I am currently applying to volunteer at a hospital part time in order to get my foot in the door at a medical part time position. What are some positions I may be able to do while in school doing my pre-reqs for the nursing program? I want some more medical experience under my belt.. :)

[kgl_2014]

I was able to work full time during all my Pre-reqs. I took 2-3 courses each semester and took most of them at night. One semester for an example: A&P I (T&Th nights), Human Growth & Development (Mon nights), Speech (online). Try not to take 2 difficult classes in the same semester. If that's not possible, see if your school offers tutors for what you would be the most challenged in. Good luck! :)

[prettyladychristi]

I work fulltime as a CNA (7AM to 3PM) shift and I am taking 3 pre-reqs this semester & 3 next semester and the TEAS is April 10th to apply for the LPN Program next Fall (2013)!!!!!!

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

You will be totally fine working full-time while doing pre-reqs! Sometimes it gets crazy, but it's not too-too bad. :) I would recommend pairing a science with a non-science to get two done at a time, and so much the better if one class is online. That's the pattern I followed to get through them, and my grades were good and I learned a lot.

As for volunteering/working, I'm in the middle of a CNA class and am about to slide into a CNA position where I work currently. If you're able to set aside the money for the course (mine is about $1300 ), or if your hospital allows you to train for a nursing assistant position on the job, I would recommend sliding into one of those. That way, you get experience actually doing patient care. If that's not an option, being an administrative assistant or even volunteering is a good start, because at least you'll be in the environment. I volunteered for my hospital's emergency department, and it was a great experience!

You're thinking about all the right stuff, from what I can tell. Good luck!

[star.crush]

Some people work and go to school full- time, which can be hard. I was told by nursing instructors to not work full -time because the classes are very intense. From experience, studying, doing tests, and other stuff in nursing school can be very time-consuming.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

I may be alone on this, but I found the Pre-reqs way more challenging than the nursing courses. My grades actually went up in nursing school. My theory is that i am actually interested in nursing, whereas A&P was just something i had to do to get there.

I am 23. I am about to start my second year of nursing school. I worked full time while doing my Pre-reqs. However, I did them part time. I got a job at a medical office as their patient services rep (receptionist, basicly). I took one class at a time and they paid for it. Since i don't qualify for financial aid, this was a life saver. The whole time, I was putting about 1/3 of my income into savings per paycheck. It took me ~3 years to do all the pre-reqs (Including the pre-reqs of the pre-reqs:)). In that time I built up enough savings that I could realisticly not work through my entire nursing program if I wanted to. I do work per-diem over school breaks and sometimes during a slow week at school with my old office. I don't know how long it will take me to get a job once i graduate, so i want to keep building my savings in case it takes months to get a job.

I think your plan is pretty realistic. It sounds alot like my plan, so of course I like it.

Gosh, I hope you're right! That would surely be a pleasant surprise! :)

I will also add that I think you grow with the challenges you face. Starting out taking two classes at a time was hard (I took A & P I and Nutrition as my first classes while working full-time), and it was majorly difficult to get used to. I had to develop study habits that I didn't have, work on managing my time, and figure out how to study some rather difficult material. I'm now having a much easier go of it since developing all those skills and habits I didn't have before, and I'll take those with me to nursing school. So while a nursing program may not be easier than the pre-reqs, I think most of us will acclimate to it as we get stronger in our work ethic and abilities.

Also, working part-time as a nursing student is a great way to set yourself up for a job after graduating!