Being a full time tech and nursing school

[RunnerD1987]

Hi, started a new job as a tech, but was originally offered part time. Now was offered three 12 hour shifts 7p to 7a. The good thing is the nursing school is at the community college right across the street from the hospital. The program is an evening program 5p to 11p three days a week with one Saturday a month. The program is a year 1/2 long. Question is it doable? Anyone work full time while going through nursing school? Be better off working 24 hour's instead of 36 hour's?

Appreciate the feedback.

[IHeartPeds87]

Whether it is doable or not is dependent on a lot of things - how efficient of a studier you are, how tired you are after your shifts, and how much of a financial burden you/your family are in.

I have seen people work full time as techs in nursing school, and I have a lot of respect for them.

I started off nursing school working 24 hours a week....and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Towards the end of my first year after doing not so great in a particular course I emailed my manager and requested to go down to contingent status. My manager told me that she would not do contingent status but would allow me to go part time to 12 1/2 hours a week. That was much more doable. I financially needed to work atleast 1 day a week in order to not feel completely stressed out about every dollar I spent. So for me, the peace of mind that gave me freed my mind up to study.

A lot of it depends. If I could have financially afforded it, I would have worked much less.

In reality though, nursing school is hard and takes up a lot of time constraints. You need to prioritize school over work, and a lot of employers don't like this.

Good luck to you. If you have the option, I would highly reccomend fewer hours (if you have a choice between 24 and 36, I would do 24). most places that I know don't have any issues if you pick up extra shifts so if you need the money/want to you can pick up extra.

[LV3677]

I have worked full time as an ER tech while going to nursing school, and maintained a 3.85 GPA. My schedule is a 7 days on, 7 days off, combination of 8 and 12 hour shifts. It's not easy, but I think that it is completely possible to work full time and go to school.

However, I should mention that I do not have any other constraints, i.e., family/significant other, which does make a huge difference.

If you are going to work during nursing school, plan out your time. I cannot stress that enough. I usually plan out my time in how many hours I think it will take for me to complete a paper/study/etc. I also worked on projects and assignments months in advance, whenever I had spare time.