Full Time School + FullTime Work

Carmelsyn · Sep 7, 2006

Good Morning,

I really don't think you are crazy because when it boils down to it, "you do what you gotta do" and if your heart, mind, and soul is into it - failure is not an option. For instance, I earned my AAS and BS while working full-time and being a single parent of (2). Now, I too, am looking to start my career as an RN but I will first start by becoming an LPN because of my current situation. I plan on entering Bronx Community College's (Bronx, NY) in Fall of 2007. Their program is only offered in the evening's from 5:30 -10:00 p.m., I still plan on working full-time in my current position at Montefiore Medical Center as the Clinical/Administrative Coordinator for CT Surgery which is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30. I know I will be beyond exhausted but the mentality is already there, I work with patients everyday and just want to take it a step higher providing medical care. Besides, as I said previously, my heart, mind, and soul will be 100% into this - so failure is NOT an option on my end.

Good Luck to you and you can do it!

Has anyone ever attempted working full-time while going to a FT lpn program?
I work 3rd shift from 11p - 730a and school starts at 8a - 330p
(5 days/week)!
Am I crazy? Anyone try this before? If so, Advice! Please!
Christos Anesti

DelanaRN, MSN, APRN, NP · Sep 7, 2006

That sounds totally nuts. You will be completely burned out.

However, people have done it before...so if you put your mind to it, I am sure you will succeed. (or die tryin'!) Good luck!!

Bala Shark · Sep 7, 2006

To tell you the truth, some people cannot work 40 hours a week and go to school full time also..There is just no time to study and people do need to get rest..If you can study at work that is okay if you could and that will help..I know like a lot of people dont graduate from LPN school for a lot of reasons and working full time can be part of it because the person is not making the grade; there is just no time to study..I know this girl who was put on academic probation because of low grades and after she cut her work hours, she did very well..When I was in LPN school, I did not work.We had an exam every week in school..Weekends were for studying and not working for me..

Also, the more intelligent you are, the less you have to study so that plays a role also in terms of having time to study..

emllpn2006 · Sep 8, 2006

I can tell you that it can be done but be prepared to be more tired than you have ever felt in your life. I graduated from LPN school with a 92% and was in the top 1/2 of my class while working 40 hours a week. Thankfully I dont have kids though. I got up at 6:00am to get ready and for the drive then went to school from 7:45am-3:15pm mon-fri then worked from 4:00pm-12midnight drove 45 minutes home studied until 2 am then slept 4 hours and did it again the next day. On weekends I had to work 14 hours on Sat and got Sunday off. This is insane but that is what I had to do to go to school. I am just thankfull that I sacraficed my self like this for almost 10 months becouse 3 weeks before graduation my seemingly secure job decided to lock the doors and put all 400 of its employees out of work. Now everyone else is wondering where they will find jobs making the same amount in this area and I have my license so I can find a job making more money. In addition I have the peace of mind knowing that a hospital or long term care cant just lock its doors and put everyone out of work so I know my job is more secure.

MrsVP-LPN · Sep 11, 2006

I think you could do it if you set your mind to it. I worked full time and went to school full time and just graduated in July. My husband and i have a mortgage and 2 cars and he goes to school full time to so for us dropping down to part time was not an option for me.Fortunatly i worked for a company who was good to work around my schedule. Sometimes i would stay late and sometimes i would get off early or work 12 hour shifts on the weekend to make up hours from the week. The only thing i can recommend is to take it one day at a time and surround yourself with people who support you. If you dont have that it will be difficult. Good luck to you.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Sep 12, 2006

It can be done, it's not easy, though. But quite honestly, i appreciated my education more doing it this way, because i worked very hard for it, at the workplace, and in school.

godsend213 · Sep 12, 2006

What kind of work do you do? you may not be down with this and I know serving tables isint a wonderful job, but you can work part time like 5-10p a few nights a week and still probably make as much as you do.

Christos Anesti · Sep 12, 2006

I am a Pharmacy Tech. The job is easy and we do get some free time to study. I need to stay full time for benefits reasons. Thanks for the input everyone!

So far everything is going great 3 weeks into the program. The hardest part is still the schedule. The actual material isn't that bad.

Christos Anesti

Christos Anesti · Sep 20, 2006

Well, I start clinical rotation on Friday! It can't come at a better time because of a little thing called burnout. The classes just seem to gel together in a bad way. I am still pressing forward though. Actually the doubt of people that I'll actually make it through is actually teaming up with the caffeine in my body and fueling me from day to day. Hopefully this break in the monotony will be a fresh breath (inspiration!) of air.

Christos Anesti

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2006

Good luck with the LPN program. None of us would work during school if we had the luxuries available to make that kind of idealistic situation happen; however, we all have got to do what we gotta do (even if it means to stay employed). Then bills needs to be paid somehow, and we all know that money doesn't grow on trees. :)

CMSNYC · Sep 21, 2006

I just want to say this was a great post for me to read.

I really have a burning desire to eventually work as a hospice nurse. I volunteer at an AIDS hospice right now on the weekends and I truly feel that I have finally found my calling in life because I love the work so much and I feel so fulfilled.

But in order to get to that final goal, I have to go back to school. At 35 with a mortgage and bills..and I'm very fortunate...I paid off all my undergrad student loans from my first degree and I also paid off my student loan from my first three months of law school and I have no credit card debt, but I do have a car payment, food, utilities and such. I can't afford to give up my salary and health benefits to go to school full time.

Luckily, my job has a lot of down time, so I could do my studying here (there's no way I would have been able to keep up with all the reading required in law school if I didn't have that). My only problem is finding a program now that fits around my work schedule.

I've decided to work on getting my pre-reqs done (I was a BA in undergrad, so I need to take my science courses) and then after that's done, make the next decision on whether to work or not.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, I just wanted to let you all know that it was comforting to hear that I'm not the only one struggling with work and school responsibilities.

NaomieRN · Sep 21, 2006

Christos, the schedule is tough, but like you said, you need the insurance. Going to school is not going to be forever, it is just a temporary thing. You just have to sacrifice a few months and it will pay off at the end. Success does not come easy, sometimes you have to sacrifice sleep. You just have to do what works best for you. I wish you the best and good luck to you.