My article is about how much I want to be an RN. However, now because I am married with a little one, I don't know if I can go to nursing school. My husband is the only one working but his job in the oil field has cut back hours & we don't have the funds or family support for me to go back to school. I also touch on how it has been living & working with epilepsy.
I can't pin point what exactly drew me to nursing. I never had a moment where I said "This is it!". It was more my parents telling me nursing is a good, stable career. So I went along with what they said. I first went to school at a 4 year university, I didn't do well there & eventually moved to a different city.
Before I moved I wasn't sure if nursing was for me. So I looked up different majors at the 4 year university & community college in that town. Eventually I settled on going to the community college & becoming an LVN. I took the TEAS test, got into the program in 2008 & a year later in 2009 I was an LVN.
After the program I went straight to finish my pre-reqs, I wanted to be the first in my class to get my RN. I was so determined to become an RN. But then after I passed my NCLEX in 2010 I started working & just put off nursing school. I figured I would go to school in a year or two, that school would always be there. I was single, what would happen?
Well when I started applying in 2012 it wasn't as easy as I thought to get in. I applied but didn't get in on my first round of applications. I was upset but I was determined. So I kept applying.
Then I met my husband & in 2014 I got pregnant. It was very unexpected but exciting. Of course in the last trimester & last month of my pregnancy I was admitted to a great nursing program. I accepted it but then had to turn it down. I didn't want to but my health wasn't great during my pregnancy & was put on bed rest in the end of my pregnancy. Now my son is 1 year old & I see all these posts about people taking pre-reqs or getting accepted into nursing school. I wish I could do it. But because of my situation I have realized that becoming an RN will only be a dream.
My husband works in the oil field, his hours have been cut drastically & he is gone for 2 weeks & home for 1 week. I have no back up babysitter for my son. Any other family lives an hour away & they all work. We live with my mom but she works & is insanely busy even when she doesn't work. We can't afford a baby sitter or daycare. He went from making $3-4,000 to $1,000 a month. My husband loves what he does, he doesn't do it to be away from us. He misses us every day. He works in very dangerous conditions; in the heat, rain, hail. You name it he is working in it.
I think it also hurts because I have two ex-friends who I don't believe deserve to be RNs, now RNs. It hurts when people you know don't deserve something get something you want so bad. Plus three out of four of my sciences are already expired. I don't have the motivation to retake them. I just want to be in nursing school or have my RN.
I have to add, I was diagnosed with epilepsy as a freshman in high school. I had always tried to fit in and be "normal" despite that. I can't count how many times I ended up in the ER because I drank myself to a seizure when I was in college. Well fast forward to me working as an LVN. I'm working at a county jail PRN, every shift, any shift; 8 hour & 12 hour shifts. This particular night I was working 12 hour shifts & I was suppose to stay over 4 hours in the morning. I feel something is just "off". As an epileptic when you feel something is off, you know something is going to happen. You don't know when or where, but it will happen. So I called my boss & told him I wouldn't be able to work the extra 4 hours in the morning. He begged me, he pleaded with me. I told him I would see how I felt. Well a few hours later I was with my coworker in the nurses station after we passed our meds, the next thing I knew I woke up in the back of an ambulance. So it makes things really difficult looking for jobs knowing I can't apply for certain jobs because I can't work at night.
I want to support my family but I also don't want to leave my son. I want to watch him grow up. It's a very tough decision. Especially when my husband is home only one week a month. It's hard decision to make, going back to school or work. I love my family. I'm not embarrassed living with my mother, I love her & she helps out immensely. I don't know what I would do without her. I do have a great support system but just not the kind I can go to school with right now. I hope one day I can go back to school when my son is older, possibly in school. If not, then maybe I can go back to work. Whatever happens I want to put my family first.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Life does get in the way. School may not be an option now, but there is no saying you can't go back in a few years.
I hope so. I really, really want to be an RN. My ex-best friend has her RN-BSN, worked for 5 months then quit. Now she tells everyone not to go into nursing & talks such trash about nursing. I have another ex friend who got into the same nursing program & is going to graduate with her RN-BSN as well. When I took A&P 2 with her she was so lazy, cheated & just not a good student (but got an A). So to know she is going to be an RN really digs at me.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I want to hear the scoops on the ex-friends now...
Lol.
I quit talking to my ex-best friend because she was flaky & she would use me when she needed me. The last time she texted me was when she needed me as a reference. She moved to a big city to be with her boyfriend & stopped talking to me, pretty much. She became a coder, or something to do with computers. She got a job though. But despises nursing & always asked me if I was *sure* I wanted to be an RN. Really? After 5 years of being an LVN, you don't think I'm not sure?!
The other ex-friend stopped talking to me after summer 2012 when I was taking A&P 2 with her. I refused to give her my outlines that I did by myself. Then one day in class, she sat by ME in class & wouldn't.stop.texting! I told her to stop & she got pissy. She wasn't happy that I actually wanted to learn. She would come late all the time from her PDN case. Not a good excuse. I worked PDN & went to school before. Last I snooped on her license was in trouble because she lied to the BON about her mental health (she renewed her LVN license & tried to say she wasn't bipolar any more) & she got a divorce. Karma?
If I were in your shoes, I think my priority would be finding a way to utilize my LPN license to bring in some extra income especially now with your husband's hours being reduced so much. Nursing school for RN would take a back seat. You are still very young, you have plenty of time to return to school and earn the RN qualification eventually.
Your dream is far from dead...just in a hybernation right now :)
I started my journey to RN way way way back when..lets just say I've been out of high school longer than you've been alive. Thats when my dream began. I started the BSN program...life got in the way and I had to drop out. I went back, life happened again, had to drop out. Then I got pregnant. I started taking classes again as my sciences were way past expired. Life happened again and I got pregnant with my 2nd child (my children are 9 years apart). Then when my little one was in kindergarten I finally said enough is enough. I went back became an LPN, worked for a few years and then went back for my LPN to RN. I graduted in May 2013 at the age of 44. I'm currently back in school doing my RN to BSN and will be 47 when I graduate.
You have many years ahead of you. while it might not be the time for you to go back now, your time will come. Don't have the mindset that you will never acheive your dream. My mantra is/was 'if you can dream it, you can do it!". I dreamed, I did :) and you can too.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
If I were in your shoes, I think my priority would be finding a way to utilize my LPN license to bring in some extra income especially now with your husband's hours being reduced so much. Nursing school for RN would take a back seat. You are still very young, you have plenty of time to return to school and earn the RN qualification eventually.
I am! :) It's hard & competition is tough but I am applying where I can. Fingers crossed I get a job soon. If not I'd be perfectly happy being a stay at home mom.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Your dream is far from dead...just in a hybernation right now :)
I started my journey to RN way way way back when..lets just say I've been out of high school longer than you've been alive. Thats when my dream began. I started the BSN program...life got in the way and I had to drop out. I went back, life happened again, had to drop out. Then I got pregnant. I started taking classes again as my sciences were way past expired. Life happened again and I got pregnant with my 2nd child (my children are 9 years apart). Then when my little one was in kindergarten I finally said enough is enough. I went back became an LPN, worked for a few years and then went back for my LPN to RN. I graduted in May 2013 at the age of 44. I'm currently back in school doing my RN to BSN and will be 47 when I graduate.
You have many years ahead of you. while it might not be the time for you to go back now, your time will come. Don't have the mindset that you will never acheive your dream. My mantra is/was 'if you can dream it, you can do it!". I dreamed, I did :) and you can too.
It really gives me inspiration to read comments like this. I don't mind going to back to school years later, I just want to become an RN one day. Maybe right now just isn't the right time. I just want to show my children to never give up & how important school is. Especially since my husband only has a high school diploma & both my parents have bachelor's degrees.
It really gives me inspiration to read comments like this. I don't mind going to back to school years later, I just want to become an RN one day. Maybe right now just isn't the right time. I just want to show my children to never give up & how important school is. Especially since my husband only has a high school diploma & both my parents have bachelor's degrees.
I don't know about you, but as a married woman, living with my mom would be a nightmare. Don't have any more children until you're financially stable. Being able to support your family is most important. How does your husband expect to support a family with only a high school diploma and decreasing pay in the oil industry?
You should definitely sit down with him and come up with a 5 year plan for your family. He could go to college and have a new, better paying career in 2 years. If you can't find LVN employment in your town, save up and move to a larger city. In the meantime, if he's only making $1K a month, there are subsidized childcare programs available that would give you the opportunity to work or go back to school.
I am! :) It's hard & competition is tough but I am applying where I can. Fingers crossed I get a job soon. If not I'd be perfectly happy being a stay at home mom.
Being a stay at home mom doesn't sound like a luxury that you can currently afford. Let's be realistic.
OrganizedChaos, LVN
1 Article; 6,883 Posts
I hope so. I really, really want to be an RN. My ex-best friend has her RN-BSN, worked for 5 months then quit. Now she tells everyone not to go into nursing & talks such trash about nursing. I have another ex friend who got into the same nursing program & is going to graduate with her RN-BSN as well. When I took A&P 2 with her she was so lazy, cheated & just not a good student (but got an A). So to know she is going to be an RN really digs at me.