What kind of a job did you have while in nursing school?

[AspiringRN27]

How many hours a week did you work?

And for those of you that didn't, how did you manages finances and bills?

[krisiepoo]

I worked 40+ hours/week at a desk job... saved up PTO and used it for clinicals

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I did home renovations with a friend who has a business. I cut my cable for 4 years, bought cheaper food and worked full time from April to September and holidays. I also had student loans, paid within two years of graduation.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

LVN program, October 2004 to October 2005: I was unemployed and living off unemployment payments and whatever was in my savings account. My tuition was financed with private career training loans.

LPN-to-RN completion program, January 2009 to March 2010: I worked 32 hours per week as an LVN charge nurse at a local nursing home. I worked two 16 hour shifts per week every Saturday and Sunday. Weekend double shifts allowed me the flexibility to focus on school during the week.

[Cuddleswithpuddles]

I had two jobs during my LVN program. I was an assistant at a real estate appraisal company and a tutor. I worked 20-some hours a week.

I was a LVN during my LVN-ADN program. I worked 36 hours.

I am now working on my BSN. Still working as a RN for 36 hrs as well.

[tdekamp]

The first year of my ADN program I worked as a CNA at a nursing home for the first half and a transporter at a local hospital for the second half. My second year I was a Nurse Extern in that same hospital in the ED. I worked about 18-24 hours a week. I went to school with people that worked full time the whole two years, not sure how they did it; but they did!!

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

How many hours a week did you work?

And for those of you that didn't, how did you manages finances and bills?

I only worked during our winter break and thanksgiving break. Besides that I rarely picked up a shift here or there. I was a CNA.

Before I became accepted to nursing school, Id been unemployed for a while. It was a *horrible* time for me financially. While I did receive public assistance, it only kept gas in my car and food in our mouths. I didn't even have a stable place to live.

Many people told me I should quit school and find a job. But I knew $10/hr would never take me and my kids out of poverty.

Times were rough. But I graduated with a 3.6. Now I'm working as a nurse making what I consider awesome money. It was worth it. I thank God everyday.

[Balto]

I worked at the front desk of the university's dorm for the first year. I loved it because when I was not signing guests in, I could sit and do homework the whole time. Next was a tech in the hospital. Good money and great experience!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I worked as a security guard, full-time, through my nursing school experience. Fortunately for me, they were willing to accommodate my schedule (primarily clinical schedule) so that I could continue to go to school. The one good thing about this was that I was able to study at work during "down time" as long as it didn't affect my work performance. I would have preferred to work in a hospital setting but there were other considerations that necessitated that I worked where I did. I worked full-time while refreshing some and taking some prerequisites and co-requisites for nursing school too.

As of this post, I'm still at that particular job while I conduct my job search. They know my days are numbered, but they don't know how many days I've got left because I don't know that myself...

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Didn't we do this very thread last week?

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

We probably did this thread and quite a few more... last week. Personally, I don't think the kind of job actually matters much, just whether your job gives you the flexibility you need to study and attend class/clinical without burning yourself out. There were a couple times that I came very close to that... but I survived. I was fortunate in that not very many accommodations were needed to make that happen and I had a very understanding employer or life would have been less than good...

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Hey Akula,

Congrats on becoming an rn!