nursing school really FULL TIME???

Nurses General Nursing

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;) Can someone please tell me when they say nursing school is full time, what exactly do they mean. At my school here in Michigan, I know each school is different, but I'm sure the majority of the programs are the same, the counselor told me to keep 4 days of the week clear from 8-5. That 2 days were classroom and 2 days clinicals. I could understand the clinicals being 2 days 8hrs, but do you really sit in the classroom for 2 days, 8hrs. I am just so worried about the fact I need to work sometime in between, and take care of children, and do homework.

Thanks!!!

PS - This website has been so helpful,everyone seems so nice and encouraging!!!

Specializes in Cardiothoracic Transplant Telemetry.

You may not be in class for 8 hours on class days, but there is always a paper, care plan, group project, test to study for, uniform to clean, meeting to attend, or mandatory volunteer work to complete. We generally carried 9-11 credits of pure nursing core classes per semester, but because clinicals were carried out outside of the school, we did not receive full credit for the time that we pulled in. Our faculty told us that we were in reality putting in far more than full time hours. They warned us that to work more than 12 hours per week was to risk our academic success. Some of us worked full time, plenty had kids and some did both, but these people were overwhelmed, stressed out, cantankerous, and often squeaking by grade-wise. I was in awe of them and still am. Nursing school is HARD.

You also have to remember that all of the schools are competing for space at the hospitals, and you may not have the same schedule from semester to semester. Our program really expected us to be fully available from 6am-11pm, Monday thru Thursday, and the same for Saturday and Sunday. Our clinical groups, times and location changed at least twice a semester. If there was a true conflict you were occasionally allowed to switch groups with another student, but this was not always true, and plans, work schedules, weekends out of town be "doomed", you were expected to find a way to be there.

Dont get me wrong, it was worth it and I would not exchange my experience for anything. I received an excellent education for which I am grateful. Please know that nursing school demands true dedication for the two years that you are in the program and both you and your family will have to make sacrifices. Your kids will have to deal with less of your attention and attendance at their events, your husband will have to deal with TV dinners, a dirtier house and an emotional strung out mess of a wife. You will experience tears, elation, pride, heartbreak, sleeplessness, hopelessness and accomplishment. You will definitely be broke. But when you emerge at the other end at the end of the program, blinking like a mole that has never seen the sunlight, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Good luck

brandy,

Where do you plan on attending school? I go to nursing school in michigan so i am familiar with lots of schools. i have 3 days of lecture and 2 10 hr days of clinical. the lecture days are not that long but the time required for studying and such is long. i get home usually around 3-4, goof off for an hour and then hit the books until 10 or so. on saturday and sunday i usually study 6-7 hours per day. wednesday night is the hell night cuz care plan fun starts. the ones we do take 10-12 hours to complete and must 90% on thursday when we start clinical. clinical starts at 6:30 am and because of where i have to drive from i get up around 4. some girls worked fulltime the 1 st semester but now they are making other arrangements. nursing school is very difficult. the days of speed memorize to remember stuff just for the test are long gone. This information taught in nursing school needs to be learned, understood, and committed to life long memory. we have to able to take what we learned on day 1 and in semester 1 and apply all through the program and then for boards.

I agree with "11" that your should check out schedules from the schools you like to see what the semester will be like but, don't be afraid to ask questions here. we have all been there but some tend to forget where they came from.

also remember that lots of schools in michigan have long (like 800) waiting list. this may also affect your decision in picking a school

good luck

kris

WHAT?!

Support from other nurses or those going through what one may be going through or may be about to go through in nursing school is paramount. And that should carry over into the working world of nursing as well.

I try to never squash a question from another nurse or nurse-to-be that I might be able to answer.

This message board is one great place to get that support and I think that is what it's here for!

OP - you might want to also check the student nursing forums here.

I agree, that would make it a little discouraging

I graduated from an ADN program in May. I remember that when I first started the program, during orientation, our nursing instructors said that we should not work because the program would be a full time gig. I was very concerned about this because I had just gotten married and we were dirt poor so there was no way that I couldn't work.

I found out quickly though that even though this may be good advice in a perfect world, the reality is that some people have to work and that is exactly what I did. I worked as an NA during my nursing program. I worked three 8 hour shifts a week. The second shift worked the best with my schedule because I could go to class in the morning and then work in the afternoon. I would study before I went to work and during my breaks at work. I also used flash cards like crazy. I kept them in my pockets at work, in my purse, in the glove compartment, everywhere.

Every week I spent about 46 hours combined in school and work (Not including study time), which was alot but I really didn't feel overwhelmed. I don't know what your situation is but I have no children so that made it a little easier. However I worked with many other people in my situation who did have children and were succeeding in school. It also helped that I had a manager who was very flexible with my schedule. Every 5 weeks my clinical rotation changed and so if I couldn't work the second shift then I was allowed to come in on another shift. There were many nursing assistants that I worked with in the hospital who were also in nursing school. The managers were more than willing to adjust our schedules because they wanted us to succeed and become nurses and work for them in that capacity.

It is not an impossible thing to work and go to school at the same time. It just takes some juggling of your schedule, good prioritization, and creativity about how to manage it all. Which in the end is good practice for when you become a nurse and have to manage 7-8 patients on your shift. Good luck. I wish you the best.

Thank you so much your words are very encouraging. It just seems very hard to get a job at the hospital right now . I have been applying, but I will keep trying. Thanks again

brandy,

Where do you plan on attending school? I go to nursing school in michigan so i am familiar with lots of schools. i have 3 days of lecture and 2 10 hr days of clinical. the lecture days are not that long but the time required for studying and such is long. i get home usually around 3-4, goof off for an hour and then hit the books until 10 or so. on saturday and sunday i usually study 6-7 hours per day. wednesday night is the hell night cuz care plan fun starts. the ones we do take 10-12 hours to complete and must 90% on thursday when we start clinical. clinical starts at 6:30 am and because of where i have to drive from i get up around 4. some girls worked fulltime the 1 st semester but now they are making other arrangements. nursing school is very difficult. the days of speed memorize to remember stuff just for the test are long gone. This information taught in nursing school needs to be learned, understood, and committed to life long memory. we have to able to take what we learned on day 1 and in semester 1 and apply all through the program and then for boards.

I agree with "11" that your should check out schedules from the schools you like to see what the semester will be like but, don't be afraid to ask questions here. we have all been there but some tend to forget where they came from.

also remember that lots of schools in michigan have long (like 800) waiting list. this may also affect your decision in picking a school

good luck

kris

Hi kris, I am at occ in royal oak right now, but transfering to Henry ford in the spring. I have awhile yet to go. I am taking all my pre req's before I will even enter the program, which I should be done and accepted in sept 2006. I guess I am just thinking way to far ahead, I know if it's meant to be something will fall into place. Hopefully I will have a job at the hospital as a Nurse Aide where I can at least work a little bit, and probably have to take out an equity loan to at least have some security with money. I thank you for your advise. I find this website so helpful, and will be using it through my journey of school. I am sure I can not be the only single mother who made it thru nursing school. Thanks again!!!

My program is fulltime 4 days a week.

Class Mon/Friday 8:15-4:00

Clinical Tues/Wed 6:30-3:00

Then about one Thurs a month in class

I take Sat off then study all day Sunday

So, I would call mine fulltime.

Specializes in Transplant.
;) Can someone please tell me when they say nursing school is full time, what exactly do they mean. At my school here in Michigan, I know each school is different, but I'm sure the majority of the programs are the same, the counselor told me to keep 4 days of the week clear from 8-5. That 2 days were classroom and 2 days clinicals. I could understand the clinicals being 2 days 8hrs, but do you really sit in the classroom for 2 days, 8hrs. I am just so worried about the fact I need to work sometime in between, and take care of children, and do homework.

Thanks!!!

PS - This website has been so helpful,everyone seems so nice and encouraging!!!

Also, for clinincals we have to do patient work-ups or "preconference guides" and they can literally take 6-8 hours depending on the patient. For me, one day a week was devoted to preconference guides in addition to the rest of the courseload.

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

I had no coreqs to take, so when I got to nursing school, all I had to take was nursing. I considered it 3/4 time, as it was 9 credit hours. Not quite full-time, but busy enough, as I worked full time. I can't remember the exact schedule but clinical days (or lab days the first semester) were long days and lecture days were about 3 hours, three days a week. It was variable.

I guess it depends on how much of the coreq classes you have completed prior to getting in.

Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

I had to take several of the support courses to get enough points to be admitted to the program, so my schedule is only about 12 semester-hours per semester, which barely qualifies as a full-time student. On paper. In reality, I don't know what I would do if I had to take those other courses, too. I neglect my job and my family for school. I neglect school and my family for work. Fortunately, my family is my Dad and my 4 cats, and they manage for themselves pretty well.

But it's hard, any way you look at it. I genuinely doubt whether I could get through a 4 year program. The good news is, there have been moments that have been exhilerating. You can feel like a complete imbecile, at times, but there are times when things come together and you are on top of the world.

I think 11:11 was unduly harsh, but I have to agree that it is important to learn early on to tackle the administrative stuff head-on, and in person if at all possible. A big part of nursing is going to be finding answers. One of my instructors gave us an assignment to find out about a med.

How it was delivered, who ordered it, etc. None of us was able to. Then she asked, "Did anyone call the pharmacy?"

We're allowed to call the pharmacy? Getting used to digging for answers like that will be a real benefit, in the long run.

Best of luck!

Specializes in Operating room..

This semester is 19 credit hours which actually turns out to be 32-35 hours in class or clinical a week. Monday 8-3(Pharm and Nursing), Tuesday 7-4(Clinical), Wednesday 7-4 (Clinical), Thursday 8-12 (last 5 weeks IV therapy), Friday 8-3 (Pharm and Nursing). Sounds like full time for me.

;) Can someone please tell me when they say nursing school is full time, what exactly do they mean. At my school here in Michigan, I know each school is different, but I'm sure the majority of the programs are the same, the counselor told me to keep 4 days of the week clear from 8-5. That 2 days were classroom and 2 days clinicals. I could understand the clinicals being 2 days 8hrs, but do you really sit in the classroom for 2 days, 8hrs. I am just so worried about the fact I need to work sometime in between, and take care of children, and do homework.

Thanks!!!

PS - This website has been so helpful,everyone seems so nice and encouraging!!!

i looked at the program at OCC but ended up getting in elsewhere. I know how money and school are. i am a career changer with a husband and a house. we were used to me making 18 bucks an hour so in order for me to quit my job to go to school. we manage buy taking private student loans. i looked at ones where you could take up to 30,000 and use it for what ever you wanted. some give it to you based on your tution. when i am done i will have lots of student loans but without them i couldn't have done it. After the first semester you should have no problem finding a job as a nurse tech. look for that instead of an aide position. i have nothing against aides but you learn that skill in a couple of days durning the first semester. i work as a tech. i don't do any aide work. i pass meds, due caths, wound care, start IVs, ect. i get to practice my skillls because sometimes in clinical not everybody gets do t stuff. in my clinical out of 10, 2 of us got to do a cath. so this way i get to practice my skills. look at the detroit health system. they hire techs i think. i finished all my pre-reqs before i started the program and it really made a difference. good luck and i hope you do well. let us know if you need anything else.

Kris

Brandy

It may not look full time on paper but it is with study time, my school says 2 hours per credit hour for non-nursing classes our instructors told us 3-4 hours per credit hours and then 4-6 per clinical day once you start careplans. Some students took 8 hours once they got the patient information to do a care plan, others only took 2-4. The amount of reading is one of the biggest issures. See a thread in the student nursing forum about this. I estimated that I spent about 60-72 hours a week between classroom, clinical, study and drive time (aprox 1 hour roundtrip)

Good luck and it can be done!!!

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