CRNA school with kids

fourthtimesacharm, CRNA · Jan 25, 2020

I think it depends on the support system you have, other than your husband. If you have people willing and able to help out, it's only a little crazy ?

Defibn', RN, EMT-P · Jan 25, 2020

I'm going to be frank with you. It would be very, very hard if your husband is not home. The logistics just don't work out. You simply cannot miss class/clinicals unless it is a major emergency. 4 toddlers = a lot of sick days. You will need a lot of help from someone else to care for you kids. Now, if you husband is guaranteed to be home through the 3 years of the program, then it is doable; hard but doable. Your spouse has to know that you can't miss stuff in your program and that they will have to take off work anytime a kid is sick. Also, there will be many evenings/weekends that you will spend studying. Depending on your program, you may have to be gone for weeks at a time at a clinical site. As long as everyone is on board you can make it work! I have two kids and have not started clinicals yet and it's already tough. Luckily, my spouse is all in.

carocam · Feb 15, 2020

I have one child. I am a single parent with almost no support. It would be possible. You can email me if you want some details on what I did to personally make it possible for me to attend school. I received some discouragement, but now that I am approaching my graduation date I am very happy I attended early in my child's life.

SJones · Feb 21, 2020

Could you please message me?? I’m trying to figure out how to do CRNA school with kids also

compass642 · Mar 11, 2020

On 2/15/2020 at 6:04 PM, carocam said:
I have one child. I am a single parent with almost no support. It would be possible. You can email me if you want some details on what I did to personally make it possible for me to attend school. I received some discouragement, but now that I am approaching my graduation date I am very happy I attended early in my child's life.

Carocam, would you share how you did it? I am not even close to crna school, working to get into nursing program, but when I think of being a single mom with no help I think how to do it? (My daughter is 6yrs now)

m1lkofamnesia · Mar 11, 2020

Do you have someone that can care for the kids while you’re in school and clinical? It was hard without kids. A few classmates had kids but had the help (and none of them had more than 2 kids). Your clinical hours can be all over the place, including overnight call shifts. If you have support and someone to watch the children, then go for it. Just be prepared...you won’t be spending much time with them the next 3 years.

carocam · Mar 15, 2020

On 3/10/2020 at 9:51 PM, compass642 said:
Carocam, would you share how you did it? I am not even close to crna school, working to get into nursing program, but when I think of being a single mom with no help I think how to do it? (My daughter is 6yrs now)

Plan everything out to make sure your child is cared for and prepared for your time away/in clinical. Plan a backup childcare plan. Save money before and use the money for a full time caregiver. Plan out all your free time for study sessions and also for small and frequent quality time with your child so that they know what to expect. There is a good podcast from the head of the bed interviewing a mom/SRNA. The one great thing about being a parent is that you know how to plan and manage your time better than some other classmates. This is valuable. I planned so much before school that I had toys and clothes ready to take out of the closet for 3 years. It wasn't that bad. The most difficult part is not the time away from my daughter, but figuring it how to afford it all. Most importantly, above everything else DO NOT listen to anyone who hasn't done it saying that it's not possible. It is very important to not take advice from inexperienced people saying it can't be done. I am very close to graduation. I started when my child was 1 and now she is about to turn 4.

compass642 · Mar 21, 2020

On 3/15/2020 at 1:51 AM, carocam said:
Plan everything out to make sure your child is cared for and prepared for your time away/in clinical. Plan a backup childcare plan. Save money before and use the money for a full time caregiver. Plan out all your free time for study sessions and also for small and frequent quality time with your child so that they know what to expect. There is a good podcast from the head of the bed interviewing a mom/SRNA. The one great thing about being a parent is that you know how to plan and manage your time better than some other classmates. This is valuable. I planned so much before school that I had toys and clothes ready to take out of the closet for 3 years. It wasn't that bad. The most difficult part is not the time away from my daughter, but figuring it how to afford it all. Most importantly, above everything else DO NOT listen to anyone who hasn't done it saying that it's not possible. It is very important to not take advice from inexperienced people saying it can't be done. I am very close to graduation. I started when my child was 1 and now she is about to turn 4.

Carocam, thank you so much for the tips! Did you have to move do a different state with your child for school, or stayed in the one where you knew people?

carocam · Mar 26, 2020

On 3/20/2020 at 5:30 PM, compass642 said:
Carocam, thank you so much for the tips! Did you have to move do a different state with your child for school, or stayed in the one where you knew people?

I stayed locally and arranged for travel for some rotations I had to make. I can't stress enough how important it was to have a full-time caregiver to ease my mind that my child was in good hands when I super busy!

CRNAguerrier, MSN, CRNA · May 26, 2020

You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to... it just requires planning and then the hardwork and dedication put into it. I have three children who were 3, 5, and 10 when I began the program. I just graduated and passed boards... so I'm proof it can be done, but as mentioned by others you just have to have a plan for the child care. And you can not be the #1 plan...someone else has to commit to being the #1. For me that was my husband. We were both committed to this plan and that is why it worked. It was not easy but we both knew it was worth it. My mother was a back up but he really did 90-95% of it all. If you're husband can not be the #1 because of his commitment to the service then you both just need to talk and make a plan for who will fill in the gaps when he needs back up.

Also, there were many in the program with two kids. And even one with 5 kids who had a 6th as we graduated! But his wife was having the baby so at least he wasn't the one pregnant (LOL)...but I met several SRNAs during the program who became pregnant during the program...and they still finished...so again...you CAN do anything you decide to do and make a plan to do... it's more in how much do you want it and are willing to work for it to make it happen ? good luck!

btw... it's OK if you don't get to go right now... never give up on your dreams... I planned several different times to apply to CRNA school and never did for various reasons...but finally I was prepared for the commitment even though it was scary and I would've prefered to have done it younger and without kids to make my heart feel less guilty spending so much time away from them studying, but I believe it was all in God's time truly...and I'm not overly religious, but I believe most things happen how and when they happen, for a reason. Never give up your dream!

12BCRNA · May 30, 2020

On 5/26/2020 at 1:45 AM, CRNAguerrier said:
You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to... it just requires planning and then the hardwork and dedication put into it. I have three children who were 3, 5, and 10 when I began the program. I just graduated and passed boards... so I'm proof it can be done, but as mentioned by others you just have to have a plan for the child care. And you can not be the #1 plan...someone else has to commit to being the #1. For me that was my husband. We were both committed to this plan and that is why it worked. It was not easy but we both knew it was worth it. My mother was a back up but he really did 90-95% of it all. If you're husband can not be the #1 because of his commitment to the service then you both just need to talk and make a plan for who will fill in the gaps when he needs back up.
Also, there were many in the program with two kids. And even one with 5 kids who had a 6th as we graduated! But his wife was having the baby so at least he wasn't the one pregnant (LOL)...but I met several SRNAs during the program who became pregnant during the program...and they still finished...so again...you CAN do anything you decide to do and make a plan to do... it's more in how much do you want it and are willing to work for it to make it happen ? good luck!
btw... it's OK if you don't get to go right now... never give up on your dreams... I planned several different times to apply to CRNA school and never did for various reasons...but finally I was prepared for the commitment even though it was scary and I would've prefered to have done it younger and without kids to make my heart feel less guilty spending so much time away from them studying, but I believe it was all in God's time truly...and I'm not overly religious, but I believe most things happen how and when they happen, for a reason. Never give up your dream!

Thank you for this post. I am due to start crna school in August, I have 3 children and I just found out that I am pregnant. Luckily I have a very supportive family. I will be living away from family while in school, but my sister plans to come join me when the baby is born. I have been thinking of how possible it will be but your post reassured me. Thank you once again.