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.
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!
My Florida pre-reqs were close to two years at the school I went to. Things like A&PI, A&P2, Microbiology... those couldn't be taken together.... so you ended up in school taking pre-reqs for two years. There was some complaints about it, so they ended up working it into the program... when they found that people go "lost" because they didn't know basic anatomy, they changed it back to the "old way."
That's interesting!
It took me 2 years full time to finish pre-reqs in CA. All of the science classes you mention + the general ed.
Working 2 full time jobs is possible. I know several nurses who work 2 jobs, I know a travel nurse who did 2 travel assignments full time at the same time. I know another nurse who worked 40 hours a week at one job and 24 hours a week at another for more than 10 years and I have worked with another nurse who worked 2 jobs full time ( both 12 hours) he did that for years. Unfortunately, many nurses are in your situation and some just plan to retire early so tyey are willing to work hard now.
I’m not sure you would be able to 2 full time jobs as a new nurse. As a new nurse you will require extensive orientation . Also hospitals offer new grad residency which may also require some time out of your normal work schedule. I would advise you to do one full time job, get some experience and then pick a second prn job somewhere else. Prn tends to pay more than full time.
Thank you for giving me this information rather than only telling me to escape what I was in. I will definitely look into an ADN, I have just heard horror stories about it being more difficult for them to get jobs as opposed to those holding a bachelor's so I have never put much thought into it.
I would highly advise you look for a cheaper route. Either cheaper BSN or ADN program. If you have trouble getting into those schools then you can look at the LPN route and start from there. Have you looked at the wages that new graduate nurses make?
It is doable if you have 1 job that is flexible on schedule. Im just about to do that. Currently working in case management workers compensation working at home and will do another one on psych care home. Annual salary for both jobs will be about 180,000!
Specializes in L&D, Cardiac/Renal, Palliative Care.
On 9/20/2018 at 11:56 AM, anna225 said:
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.
My entire 4-year degree was just under $30k for an in-state university. Have you considered going back to your home state and getting your adn? Even with having to retake courses you've previously taken that would ve much more financially prudent and probably less time as well.
Maybe try looking into the schools near your home town...if you can love with your parents during school you'll save even more money, just my $0.02
Get a job while you're in nursing school to help pay expenses & stop relying on the school loans to fund your lifestyle. Bad decisions put you in the financial mess you're in now. Loans have to be paid back. Start living frugally, start paying the loans back NOW, before they start building up interest. If you're moving back in with your parents, there is no reason why you can't pay $2,000/month working one nursing job. At this point, don't worry about working 2 full time jobs---worry about getting one job & doing that job well. Don't get your heart set on working in a pediatric ER from the get-go. You need experience before you go to a setting like that. Your idea of a "sustainable lifestyle" will have to change---you will have to drive a used car instead of a new car, make do with an older cell phone instead of getting a new one every other year, & curb your spending habits. The only way to not accumulate $200,000 in school loans is to start working to pay your living expenses NOW so you don't depend on loans to fund your "lifestyle". I think $200K is WAY TOO MUCH for a nursing degree. I can't see how transferring back in state would be more expensive than what you're doing now. It might even be worthwhile to take a break from school, or drop to part-time, work for a while to make some money that you can put toward school instead of taking out all that money on loans. Don't worry about what's going to happen AFTER you have over $200k in loans---start being proactive NOW in order to reduce the amount of loan money you need.
Golden_RN, MSN
573 Posts
That's interesting!
It took me 2 years full time to finish pre-reqs in CA. All of the science classes you mention + the general ed.