Being a mom in school

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Honestly, how hard is it to be a nursing student and a single mom? When I enter the ASN program, my kids will 4 and 6yrs old. What can I expect? And how are you handling it all? I am scared to death.

I will be working part time as a CNA as well. whew.

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Specializes in ED.

It depends on how much support you have with your ex, your parents, friends, etc. I am a single parent too and I could not study and go to classes w/o a good support system.

I do work as a tech a few shifts per month but not much. My dd is a very busy kiddo and I learned very early on that I cannot possibly do it all.

Honestly, I had to make some huge sacrifices these past 2 years but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I know it has been completely worth it.

meredith

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How much support do you have? Do you have flexible child care available? Do you have a back up plan and a back up plan for that? If you have a good support system, you'll be just fine. At 4 and 6, they should be able to entertain themselves for periods of time when you're all home. I am not a single parent, but my husband was deployed for the whole 2nd/ final yr of nursing school, and not living near any family complicated things. My kids were 1, 3 and 4 when I started school, but it all worked out with a little planning and coordination.

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Specializes in None.
Honestly, how hard is it to be a nursing student and a single mom? When I enter the ASN program, my kids will 4 and 6yrs old. What can I expect? And how are you handling it all? I am scared to death.

I will be working part time as a CNA as well. whew.

I'm not a single mom, but sometimes I feel like one. I try to study as much as I can on campus. Between classes, after classes, etc. When I'm home, not much studying happens. I do record the lectures so that I can listen to them while I'm at home. I also try to do most of my stuff after the kids go to bed. It may mean a late night here or there. Our school recommends not working more than 20 hours a week. Will your work let you bring your stuff to work and study between patients?

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Well I'm a dad and work fulltime in an unrelated field (finance dept at the home office of a large retail chain). It definitely has its moments. But you can get through it.

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Im a single parent and my kids are currently 1 and 4. Im into the 3rd week of the program and so far so good. I enrolled both of my kids full time into a daycare/preschool center. All of my classes are in the morning and none run past 10:20 except on Thursdays and every other Friday when I get out at 2pm.

What I do is have my kids at the center by 8am and I usually have them picked up by 4:30. I use all the extra time after classes to do all my readings because they dont allow me to do it at home. And actually I dont have classes on Wednesdays, but I take them to the center anyway because that gives me a full day of studying w/out distractions. Its worked out pretty well so far, and one of the girls I study with at school has the exact same class schedule as me and she does the same thing with her son and daycare.

Its very doable, it just depends on your class schedule. And Im sure if its working for me so far it will work for you because Im in a state where I have absolutely no family/support system. I moved here just to attend the nursing program.

Im not working though, so I cant help you with your job situation, but Im sure you'll be okay. Where there's a will, there's a way:)

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you can totally do it!

i had my now almost 6 year old daughter at 17. i went to a single parent program for college with her when she was only 8 months old and i was 18. we were 3,000 miles away from my family and my ENTIRE support system. it was really tough, but i did it! i graduated with my BS in biotechnology and am now doing an accelerated NP grad program. i actually met my now fiance at college and am getting married in a few months, so you just never know what life will throw at you! YOU CAN TOTALLY DO IT! :)

some advice i have found helpful along the way...

designate time that's JUST mommy time. when i picked my daughter up from school each day after my classes ended, unless i had an unusually insane homework load, i put a couple hours aside that was JUST for us. we made dinner together...played outside if it was nice...board games...even snuggling on the couch with a movie.

it always helps when the kids are on great sleep schedules! i know i was very strict about maintaining a great sleep sched with my daughter so that no matter how crazy things got, i KNEW i had from 730pm on to study/do school work.

embrace caffeine. :) there were nights where i had SO much to do, i literally got three hours of sleep...sometimes less during final exam periods. espresso and coffee were my VERY best friends during this time and will probably be even more so when i start grad school classes on tuesday!

dont be afraid to explain your situation to your professors. when i began each class, i always emailed my teachers to give them a heads up that i was a single mother in the college's parent program. i just wanted them to know that if for some reason i had to miss a class or leave early, it was because of my outside obligations (ie, my daughter) and not at all out of laziness or disrespect. 95% of the time i had professors who were WONDERFUL about my situation, but you will sometimes get jerks who don't really care. with them, i would just work twice as hard to prove to them that i could do it :D

do not feel guilty about letting your kids play together/not intervening during those CRAZY times ;) the other girls in my parent program and i would have swaps with our kids, and sometimes if a few of us had SO MUCH HOMEWORK, we would get together and the kids would play together for a couple hours while we got it done!

please feel free to message me if you have any questions. i think it is incredible that you are going to school as a single mom! :yeah: you deserve some major kudos! it is tough but SO worth it in the end!:redbeathe

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THANK YOU! This has given me the encouragement I need right now. I'm applying for my school's nursing program next year and I am a mom to 5 children. They are all young, ages 6, 5, 4, 2, and 14 months. However, I have probably more support than others, I have a great babysitter who will take them even if they're sick with a cold (no fever or vomiting of course), a husband who works from home who can pick up my elementary school children if they get sick at school, and my mom who only works part-time who helps with my house work if I need it, and will take a kid or two if need be. I have a large home (with 5 kids it's necessary) so cleaning my house is a huge issue, I needed help in that department b/c I can't study if I have a mess around me.

Everyone asks "HOW are you going to go to college with 5 kids?!?!" It's started getting me thinking I can't do it! But I need to keep in mind, if there's a will, there's a way! Thanks so much for the advice!

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In orientation we had to introduce ourselves. MOST everyone thee was a parent. I was pleasantly surprised!

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I'm in the same boat. My son is 1 and a half and "active" doesnt do his personality justice. I can't turn my back for a second without him climbing on the table and launching himself on the couch.. or grabbing onto my german shepherds fur and going for a ride! He starts daycare Tuesday.. same day as first class. Im sooo worried!! I've never been away from him for more than a couple hours and I just want him to be happy. It keeps me up at night thinking about him being there without me. Im gonna cry the first day I leave him, I know it! :crying2: Ih ardly get any support from his father.. he works 60-80 hrs a week but before he worked that much he wasnt actively pursuing a relationship with his son anyway.

I hope you find a way to manage and I'm sure you will!! ;)

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Specializes in None.

I would say the majority of the people in my class are parents. We even have grandparents! I think everyone has some sort of "disadvantage", but I don't anyone has to view it as such. My kids motivate me to be able to provide them with a better life.

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Kaychell, I also use my kids to motivate me! I want them to be able to say "my mom is a nurse, she can take care of anyone!" :-)

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