Did you work full time while in school?

Shed13911 · Jan 15, 2004

I was able to work more hours during some classes but during the really hard ones(like Acute Care), I did not work at all. I worked for an agency during the time I was in school because I made more per hour and had a flexible schedule. There was no way I could have made it and made good grades without the flexible schedules. :chuckle :confused:

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jan 15, 2004

I worked between 28-40 hrs a week while in school. It was very hard and I probably would have made higher grades but I passed and that's what's important. I was one of few that was working much at all. To be fair the majority of the other students had kids and that's a job in and of itself.

I didn't have much choice, work or not eat. I worked my fast food job up until the day before my RN job started.

cursenurse · Jan 15, 2004

i am in school full time and am working 32+ hours/week and am somehow maintaining a 3.8. but then again i don't have a husband or kids to think about. working midnights helps because i usually can get at least 2-3 hours of downtime to do homework.

stressednurse · Jan 15, 2004

I worked a 24 hour shift every weekend as a paramedic. I also had two young children and one on the way during my first year.

elkpark · Jan 15, 2004

I worked about 10 hours a week in my diploma program -- the program was full-time PLUS, and most students didn't work at all. I worked full-time in my BSN completion program, but I worked Baylor weekends and went to school two days a week (those were the days!!!) I worked one or two shifts a week (prn pool) in grad school, and worked full-time over the holiday breaks and summer. I was one of the few students working at all in my grad school (it was a v. demanding program), but I didn't want to end up with a fortune in student loans.

bellehill, RN · Jan 15, 2004

I worked 35-40 hrs/week in school. Luckily I had a flexible job, was able to start at 6am, leave for class then come back and work until 6pm. Still don't know how I did it but I didn't have a choice, my husband and I had just bought a house.

suzanne4, RN · Jan 16, 2004

I worked Friday nights and Saturday day shift, went home slept for 8 hours, then returned for the same. Got 32 hours in and was able to pay attention in class all week.

For my MBA, I was in an executive program, but essentially worked full-time nights, and those were 12 hours, so that I wouldn't have any loans to pay later. My tuition cost almost $500 per class back then, and that was every month.

Good luck, if it is important to you, you will find a way to do it.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2004

I worked about 32-40 hours a week in the evening at a Pizza Hut. I was able to take off the day before exams and clincal days. I worked every weekend, so essentially I never had a day off. It was tough.

Basically, when there's a will, there's a way. I was very driven and worked hard, had no social life, and some days didn't get much sleep. Don't know how I did it. It nearly killed me. :)

jschut, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2004

I'm doing 6p-6a on Friday and Saturday nights, and 2-4 hour shifts on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Gives me 32 hours a week, and a WHOLE lotta time for studies! Which I like AND need!

Good Luck to you! :)

Julie

Trauma Columnist · Jan 16, 2004

While I was in the LPN program - I worked full-time at home doing medical transcription - kids ages 5 and 10. During the RN program - worked full-time nights as LPN - kids ages 7 and 12. I'm in a combined BSN/MSN program now and my kids are 18 and 23 (away from home) and still work full-time - now as an ER case manager. Like one poster said - I was pretty driven.

eltrip · Jan 16, 2004

While taking my prerequisites, I worked 40 hours per week. In my first semester, I was taking 18 hours, changed from a day shift to night shift job AND had an abcessed tooth/root canal. I was able to eek out a 3.8 that semester. The next semester was 14 hours & I had similar grades.

I changed to a position that was 30 hours per week. At the hospital I worked, it was considered full-time for benefits purposes (yippee!). The doc told me to arrange my work hours around my classes & to study when I finished my work. It was a great job for a nursing student! School was still hard but the relative lack of stress on the job helped me to stay on a fairly even keel...most of the time, at least.