2 full-time jobs?

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Hi! I am wondering how likely and doable it is to work two full-time jobs as an RN?

I am currently in nursing school and will be graduating with over $200,000 in student loan debt (before interest) because of some stupid financial decisions I made. I chose to go out of state for a different major and took the wrong route on changing it. Rather than transferring back to an in-state school or even community college, I stayed out of state and somehow wound up in a private nursing school. Long story short, I am doomed when I have to begin paying my loans. :cry:

I am terrified of not being able to make my ~$2000/month loan payments working as a nurse, and I know I would not be able to live a sustainable lifestyle this way. I will be moving back in with my parents and throwing almost my entire paychecks towards loans, and I am afraid that after bills I will not have enough to make these payments. I would do absolutely anything to be able to have these loans paid off within ten years but it'll be nowhere near possible with one job in nursing.

My situation being as stressful and complicated as it is, I am having a difficult time wanting to keep going and graduate, but I know I won't be able to afford to pay off my current loans without a degree. Due to all of this, I was wondering how possible and doable it is to work two full-time jobs as an RN? I plan to work in the DFW metroplex, and my preference for my first job would be in a pediatric ER but I am open to anything, just because of my situation.

EDIT: I am still unfortunately 3 years out from graduating but am stuck in the situation I am in. I am a first generation so nobody in my family understood what I was getting myself into, so please don't judge too hard!

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If you are only 1 year in, why are you too stuck now? I'd leave now and find a more affordable school. 200,000 is not an amount I'd want looming over my head.

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I would speak to your school's financial aid office and explain what's going on to them.

There may be grants and/or scholarships you can receive. I'd also reach out to hospitals and other employers.

There were a few of my classmates who received full scholarships and they only have to work 12.5 hours per week to sustain it.

This also guarantees they will have a job; both now as an LPN and later as an RN.

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I have $90,000 already racked up from prior schooling. I took (most of) the pre-reqs required for the nursing school I anticipated on going to and they don't transfer well to any schools in-state back home, so I would have to start from pretty much scratch and take about four years. The one school I could and did transfer to and have most credits transfer was this private nursing school. This school I'm currently attending takes students directly out of high school, however I was only able to be a year ahead because they have nursing classes and clinicals for three years. I couldn't jump ahead on those.

Basically, it would be even more expensive and time-consuming to transfer and go to a community college at home for two more years then onto an in-state nursing school than to just finish what I got myself into. It's a sticky situation overall and I am stuck in it regardless.

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I can't see any way that you could safely work two full time nursing jobs much less coordinate the schedule. You would not be able to do it at the same institution and I guarantee neither employer will care one whit about your plight. Plus there will be almost no way you'll be able to complete simultaneous orientations. What a mess. Sorry you're in this pickle.

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Specializes in ER.

This is a sad travesty, the result of a serious ethical failure of a corrupt system of higher education in America. It preys on naive young people and gets them to sign on the dotted line.

My advice is to start by reading Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover. Put aside the idea of 2 full-time jobs. Working one job and picking up overtime is a more sane option.

Know that you are not alone and seek out a support system. Maybe someone will send you to Financial Peace University as a graduation gift.

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Hi! I am wondering how likely and doable it is to work two full-time jobs as an RN?

I used to live in a part of the country with a very high cost of living and have worked with numerous nurses over the years who worked 2 full-time jobs. One that I can recall did it for decades until finally retiring from one job.

It's obviously not desirable and can seriously impinge on your personal life, but if you get 2 jobs that work 12-hour shifts each then you can conceivably work 6 days a week. Trying to get 2 jobs to accommodate work schedules will be a challenge and you may frequently find yourself double booked and scrambling to swap shifts with coworkers.

You may be better off getting a job that offers lots of opportunities for overtime, particularly if those shifts pay you time and a half or double time.

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That's a most unfortunate situation. I'm sorry that is happening. I would do what others said, talk to financial aid and apply for every scholarship available. I also think working 1 job with OT if possible might be a better option due to possible scheduling conflicts. I know someone who works full time at a hospital and made quite a bit of money on the side working part time per-diem for home care. She gave an IV and sat and watched moves for 3 hours and got paid a lot per hour. That might also be another option since per-diem you may have an easier time switching around based on the full time job schedule. Good luck!

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Specializes in Oncology.

The pp all have good suggestions. If any of your loans are Federal loans, you can do an income-based repayment plan. For me, that cut my payments to a third of what they would be otherwise. There are also a variety of loan forgiveness programs you can apply for.

As far as work, I think having one job and picking up overtime, or 1 full-time job and 1 PRN job would be better than trying to juggle 2 full-time jobs.

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The pp all have good suggestions. If any of your loans are Federal loans, you can do an income-based repayment plan. For me, that cut my payments to a third of what they would be otherwise. There are also a variety of loan forgiveness programs you can apply for.

I have Parent PLUS loans that will be refinanced under my name once I complete school and have Subsidized Stafford Loans. Are these eligible for income-based repayment plans? I figured the Parent PLUS wouldn't be, and they're the one's that will have >$100,000 accumulated.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

No judgement here....Yes you can do it...is it hard? YES...I do speak from experience.Sometimes it works out full time as I have one FT job and one per diem job with my own pt load.My home care patients must have a visit when their infusion is due and it ranges from every 3 weeks to every 8 weeks.So many weeks I must do full time to get them all seen.It is very draining when I have to do it but the home care job allows me a lot of freedom in that I am not tied to the timeclock so if I am running behind it's not stressful..I just text my pt and adjust my ETA....also I am not stuck in a building all day If you have two full time jobs that are both hospital based I would find that near impossible. You can make it work with the creative combination of jobs.For example if you work a hospital based job that has a 12 hour shift...that will leave 4 days off to pick up another job but I would advice to please try and have one day per week off.Not only do you need to rest...there are errands and dentist and doctor appointments and all of the other life issues to take care of.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

You may be better off getting a job that offers lots of opportunities for overtime, particularly if those shifts pay you time and a half or double time.

This. Overtime hours pay approximately "time and a half," meaning that you would make 50% more per hour on those overtime shifts. You'd earn a lot more money working fewer hours.

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