Can you work while getting a BSN

Many, if not most, BSN completion programs (RN-to-BSN) assume that participants are working full-time and classes are scheduled accordingly (e.g., the program I completed had all the nursing courses scheduled two evenings/week, and, one of the semesters, we had one day/week of public health clinical (not all programs even require that) -- if your employer was willing to work with you on scheduling at all, it was v. easy to work that around a full-time job. However, if you had additional general education courses that you needed to complete, that depended on the schedule of classes offered by the other departments of the university -- the school of nursing had no control over that ...). There are also, now, many on-line BSN completion programs in which you can basically work on your own schedule.

My BSN program encouraged students not to work while in school. Several students were working, myself included. If the faculty found out that you were working and you had any problems academically, it was held against you. So I advise you to keep your life outside of the school to yourself. Arrange your schedule so that they don't find out you are working. Avoid the possible discrimination.

My supervisor told me this story about herself when she was in an ASN program. Her faculty found out she was working and she was asked to leave the program and was told specifically that her job was the reason. She was advised to not be working when she was allowed to reenter. When she came back the next term, when asked, she said, "Ms. So and So, I took your advice and quit my job so I can spend more time on my schoolwork." A lie. What she had done was rearrange her work schedule and no one at the school ever found out what she was doing. She told me that sometimes you have to tell them what they want to hear in order to get what you want. From now on, whenever someone has some kind of power over me, I keep my personal life as quiet as I can. You never know what their prejudices are and when they will use them against you. Working while in nursing school is always a big no no. Unless of course you are part of the elite class who lives in the estates part of town. That is a story in itself.

My BSN program encouraged students not to work while in school.

In a BSN-completion program? Or a traditional, generic BSN program?

Our program had both types of students.

Our program had both types of students.

But did the faculty really expect the RN-to-BSN students not to work while they were in school? Every RN-to-BSN program I've ever encountered was based on the idea that the students were working full-time ...