Did you work full time while in school?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

HI!

I did a poll, and it seemed many nurses have worked full time while going to nursing school. If you did, I'd like to get some feedback and experiences on that. Please, tell me your stories, experiences, etc..

THANK YOU!!! :D

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:

Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

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.

Specializes in LTC, ER.

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.

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.

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.

Specializes in Neuro Critical Care.

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.

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.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

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. :)

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

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

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.

Specializes in Clinical Risk Management.

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.

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