Full Time School + FullTime Work

Dratz · Sep 5, 2006

That is absolutely insane!!. When will you sleep? study? There is no way in heck that I would take on that schedule. You are setting yourself up for major burnout.

Just my thots.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2006

That is totally completely insane. But lot of us had to do it that way.

More than likely some of those days will be classtime and won't take up the entire time. The clinical times will. If you work weekends you'll have a couple of days off during the week that will help. I did that, but didn't have a day off from work/school for months on end. (Yes Dratz was totally burned out to a crisp. :))

You do what you gotta do. If you want it bad enough, when there's a will there's a way.

Good luck.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2006

I did not work while completing the LVN program. However, I work full-time while completing prerequisite classes for an RN program. I work full-time weekends, which consists of 16 hours on Saturday and 16 hours on Sunday. I then use my 5 days off per week to attend school at a local community college.

godsgift2 · Sep 5, 2006

Im still waiting for my acceptance letter but when i had my interview the teacher told me that it would be better if i went part time until school ended i work 12 hour shifts 3 days a week but for the first couple of weeks i will work full time since i dont have to do the cna part of the class hope this helps good luck

flwannaB · Sep 5, 2006

I hard a hard enough time working part time on weekends. LPN school is tough. I wouldn't suggest it. If you could have a way around that, I would take it. Otherwise, good luck.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2006

No Doubt it's crazy but there are people that do it. For the longest time I went to school full time and worked 40 hours a week and have 5 kids. My husband is also a full time engineering student and is gone alot. So Im here to tell you it can be done but the risk of burn out is very high and there is no sleep involved with this plan. I have had to take a couple of semesters off cause I was loosing my mind. However, before this i was getting no more than 4 hours sleep a day and did this for years. I made myself Ill. When I interviewed for nursing school the lady told me not to work at all. How realistic is that , not very I have kids to feed. You might need to think about a W/E only job , you know where you work 32 and get paid for 40 (CNA or something) I went to LVN school with a woman who worked 10-6a and then went to school from 8-4:30p she never missed a day and graduated in the top 10 plus she had 4 kids. Set your mind to it. It can be done .

Jules A, MSN · Sep 5, 2006

If you decide to do this it will be very hard and take some getting used to but it can be done. It is not practical for most adults to just "not work" and at least in my class the students that worked got as good and often better grades than the students that did not work. We had to be better about managing our time and not putting things off. I chose to work and I think it was an excellent lesson in time management and shifting gears. It might be different because I'm an older student but at my age I didn't feel it was appropriate to skip my salary for a year just to go to school.

Christos Anesti · Sep 6, 2006

Thanks for all of your input.

In my case, it is not even an option to look for a new job and my family's insurance is too important to drop to PT. So, I guess it's crunch time until July '07. Pray for me! I'll keep you posted on how it's going!

Christos Anesti

LoriAlabamaRN · Sep 6, 2006

That's exactly what I did, worked 11-7 and went to school fulltime as well. I honestly would not recommend it- can you maybe cut down to halftime at work? There are clinicals and monster exams to study for, and that also eats away at the few hours of sleep you DO have. I would find myself dissolving into tears for no other reason than I was just so tired. But it can be done. Expect to become a total caffeine addict when it's all over!

Trauma Columnist · Sep 6, 2006

I did the work fulltime, school fulltime thing too for a total of four years. Not fun, but the kids gotta eat! The school also told me I shouldn't work but that was not an option. Its not fun, you are totally exhausted ALL the time. However, I studied very little because I had to understand it the first time around - I really, really paid close attention in class.

I wish you luck - you do what you have to do. Good luck.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Sep 6, 2006

I do agree that while it is ideal not to work, it is not the real world for the average adult to be able to not work even for two weeks, never mind a year. If you are able to cut down your hours a bit, that may be better, but again, reality is that most people entering into any nursing program is because they need to upgrade their quality of life.

Time management if of essence. What do you do for a living? If this is a job that gives you time to study, then, it may work out for you. I had a friend that was a nursing assistant that work in psychiatry. She volunteered to take the 1 to 1 observation patients, therefore, she read while she watched the patient (provided he was asleep...which was often because she worked nights). A year will pass whether you do this or not, and at least this way, you may make a bit more money and if you decide to become an RN, you may be able to have more flexible hours. Good luck, and keep the toothpicks available to hold your eyelids open! :0)