CRNA Program and balancing family life

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Specializes in ICU.

I am looking for moms who have or are currently going through a CRNA program to give some insight on how they maintain a healthy school/life balance. My daughter will be 15 when I start my program and although I know I will miss games and dances. I don't want to be completely absent. Am I nuts to think keeping balance in my life is possible or is it doable?

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I sure hope so because I'm applying for next year and I have a 7 year old lol.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

You will have to get rid of the kids during the program. It's the only way. :yeah:

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Curious to hear about how you're balancing this my boys will be 2 & 5 when I start next fall and I'm already having a difficult time with cold feet !

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Male perspective here so may or may not fully apply to you. I'm in school with a 2.5 year old and we had a baby at the end of my first semester. Some of my classmates are shocked that I have time for everything but my secret is that having the kiddos and my wife helps me to focus my time. I really don't have time to mess around and it forces me to have good time management. I commute a little over an hour to school and I always show up 2 hours early and stay 2 hours late. If you have class 4-5 days a week that is about 10 hours of studying time right there (and my kids don't care if I leave at 6 am compared to 8). I try my hardest to not study when I'm at home and the kids are awake. Sometimes I'll grab an hour of studying before they wake up, when they nap, or after they go to sleep. One of my classmates records lectures and posts them on Dropbox and I relisten to them when I'm driving to make the commute time more functional. Having a 15 year old will mean they can understand what is going on and be self sufficient. The hardest part for me is leaving for school and having my 2.5 year old cry and not understand why daddy's leaving.... but having kiddos and a family gives you the biggest incentive to do your best and graduate!!! Good luck!!

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I have two children, 18 months and 4 years old. Managing family life with school demands weighs heavily on my mind. I know it is manageable, but being female, it tugs on my heartstrings. My husband will really have to step it up. I agree, parents are forced to have better time management skills because there is no time to slack off. I'll be following this post to see what others have to say. My gf had a baby in the middle of nurse anesthesia school and she successfully completed her program. If she can do it, we can too!

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The programs these days are intensive and demanding. You will not be an absentee parent, but you will also not be super engaged.

But, this is an opportunity to teach them a valuable lesson of hard work, sacrifice, setting and achieving goals, and value of graduate education. Please don't sell yourself short with how important all those things are to your childs long term maturation.

Good Luck

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