Flexible RN programs?

U.S.A. Utah

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I am a mom of two boys, almost 2 years old and 2 months old. I'm looking to get my RN but need to be able to stay at home with the kiddos as my husband works during the day. Does anyone know of an RN program that does classes at night or weekends? Any info would be appreciated... I'm getting so discouraged.

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Utah Career College advertises themselves as having the only RN program in the state that can be completed through night courses. Not sure about clinicals though. I'm also not sure about their accreditation either. You definately want to look into that. Plus schools like that tend to be unholy expensive. You'd probably be better off taking day classes at whatever state school is closest to you and paying for daycare than paying out for one of those private/tech schools.

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From my experience...flexible and RN program don't really go together. I don't want to sound negative, just realistic. I completed a program (another state) and they were constantly throwing things at us "oh, you need to be at the lab to do these skills" and "next week we are going to do extra clinical hours at..." and at the time, I hadn't had my kiddos yet. I now have a 2.5 year old and a 10 month old and I'll be honest, there is no way I would have finished the program if I didn't have someone to watch them not only for class and clinicals, but also when I needed to study. It was hard enough just taking care of myself and my husband during that time. Now, to be fair, there were other classmates with kids and FT jobs and finished the program just fine...I don't know how they did it, but evidently it's not impossible. But, as redessa mentioned, you better be sure that where you go is accredited.

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Specializes in ICU.

As already mentioned, even if the classes are held at nights or weekends, the clinicals may not be. I am in a program right now and have two children who go to daycare while I am in class. I could probably get away with part time childcare except for that my clinical days are at least 8 hrs long, I've heard of others who go for 12 hour shifts.

Perhaps it would be worth while to wait a couple of years before actually applying to a nursing program? You'll have quite a few pre-req classes that need to be completed and if you take only one a semester, you can devote as much time as you need to each one and get better grades. When your kids are a bit older (perhaps when the oldest is in kindergarten?) you'll be done with the pre-reqs and have good enough grades to have a shot at the more competitive university programs. Good luck either way! Don't get discouraged.

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Have you thought about Excelsior College, online? I am considering it.

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