Accelerated Program or Traditional with young children?

[bakingem]

I have three young kids (3 year old twins and a 1 year old) and I am thinking about going back to school to become a BSN, RN with the hope of becoming a nurse practitioner eventually. I have a very supportive husband who knows it will be pretty awful while I'm in nursing school but will help however he can (he works a 8-5 type job).

I'm seeking feedback about which type of program will be the least difficult overall for my family. I have a bachelor's degree and a law degree. I know how to study hard for long periods of time, but I was single with no kids when I was in law school, so doing this at this stage of my life is a whole new ball game.

I have some prerequisites to get, so in the traditional program (I would have two years of nursing classes), I would start in Fall 2017 (kids would be 4 and 2) or the accelerated program (1 year of classes after prereqs) would start Spring 2018 (kids would be almost 5 and 3).

I get that the accelerated program will be more intense and a lot more hours, but it will also be a year less total time in nursing school and I get the impression that nursing school is going to be really challenging and stressful regardless of which program I do. I'm thinking maybe it's better to do the accelerated program and "get it over with" quickly, so to speak.

I would really appreciate any words of wisdom regarding the feasibility of an accelerated program with young children or experiences that might help me evaluate what is best for our family. Thank you!

[MsBruiser]

The most challenging part of nursing school for a lot of folks is getting your personal life in order. Pick whichever program puts the least amount of stress on your family. I would seriously consider a more intense year rather than a lingering 2 year experience. But that is probably a decision best left for you and your spouse. Nursing school is a time consuming experience - not too academically challenging for someone who has been through graduate school. So long as you have somewhat of a support system for child care and studying, you can have this all done fairly quickly.