Could I survive nursing school?-Mama to 2 babies

johnnrachel · May 31, 2004

Hi, The only classes I took online were the English, Math, etc. my school did not offer the sciences online. I took the sciences at night. I will say that once you get into nursing it is FULL TIME, plus!!!!!!!! This is why I planned to be in the nursing when my kids were in school all day. Start with your pre-reqs and dont think too far into the future, yearly our lives change and what does not seem possible now will be more realistic later. We have lost a lot of moms this semester who did not realize how much of a committment this nursing really is, so time it accordingly. I am so glad I started when I did, it is NEVER too late. Good Luck and remember my motto reach for your dreams.

AMINI'SNURSE · May 31, 2004

hello

i went to nursing school and 2/4 the way through i became pregant with twins.

and i by the grace of god made it. and i had two kids at home one son 7 and one son 2. my husband is a doctor and was gone all the time it was sooo hard

but i made you can to. and on august 1 of last year i gave birth to identical twins girls. i took the n-clex in feb of this year and passed. and on june the 1 i start work at the va hospital. it can be done. but it hard. good luck aminisnurse

BHolliRNMS · May 31, 2004

Hi, I graduated nursing school in 1988. I began an AD nursing program when my children were 2 and 3 years old. Our nursing program the first year was 1/2 days, so I was able to stay over and take the required courses. There were no online courses. lol I also commuted 2 hours a day. My husband worked out of town 5 days a week, so he wasn't around to help me. We just decided to make the sacrifice of time and money until I graduated. What a happy day that was! I am glad I went to school before the kids started school. I didn't sleep very much, but you get use to that. The sacrifices I made have certainly been worth it. Good luck.

mariedoreen · May 31, 2004

Adrianna,
Hi. I just read your post and although I do not know how much time nursing school takes up (I start this August), I do know how much time the Prereqs take up. To me is all depends on the grade you are hoping to walk out with. For some reason I chose to wear the burden of making A's. I can tell you that while I was taking A&PII and Micro MOST of my free time was spent studying. I mean I ate, slept, went to school, played with my daughter, and studied. I have a five year old daughter that I spent time with after school until she went to bed (about 4pm to 7pm) each night, but that was it. I studied all weekend every weekend. However, that was to make "A's". There were plenty of students in my classes that made c's but did not give up nearly as much of their personal time as I did. If you can get into the program you want with C's I would be willing to guess that you will not feel like you are studying your life away. However, if you aspire to get A's you are going to need to put in more effort than you ever thought you would. It just depends on what is important to you.
I have always seen that the time people spend putting into the subject directly correlates to the grade they receive.
I hope once I start nursing school I will get out of the "I must get an A" mentality. It really adds a lot of stress and pressure to my life. Just getting through the program is such an accomplishment. I hope I can teach myself to realize that.
Hope this helps.
Jill

Jill, are you my clone?? I have been eating and breathing school for the last several years and As were definitely required if I was to have any hope of competing for a spot in a nursing program where I live. I pulled it off and took a spot in both schools that I applied to and I can assure you that when you reach that point the pressure does wane just a bit. This term, the first term where the grades didn't "matter"... really, really helped me to relax, I haven't been nearly as anal. I'm still working hard and pulling the A's, the difference is that I'm not nearly as stressed over the exams. Now, come nursing school in September however, I'm sure I'll be back to my old self, because I really, really do want to excel at this. We'll see how it goes, but having that "I-gotta-get-an-A-or-my-career's-in-the-toilet" stress off my shoulders has REALLY been awesome!

mariedoreen · May 31, 2004

Most people I know who have small children took one tough science pre-req (micro, anatomy, physio) per semester and only that one course during regular semesters, not during a summer session when the time demands are tougher (classes at my school are usually every day and range from 4-6 hours a day.)
It took longer but, by then, their children were older and, also, in school, so that freed up more time for when they actually got into nursing school. Plus, even when you have your pre-reqs done, it can take up to a year before you're accepted due the waiting lists at most schools. So the kids might be even older and it might be more manageable.

That's how I did it too, which also helped me to keep my GPA up. It does take longer to do it this way, the biggest motivator tho was my daughter's age: she was 9 when I started and I knew that I would have to commute an hour one way for nursing school (and we have no family in our town and I have a husband that works rotating shift work) so I purposefully planned it out so that my pre reqs would be complete (and my lower division work for my bachelors) by the end of her 8th grade. So, I'm entering into the nursing program when she enters high school this fall. The downside of this however, is that most likely I'll be receiving my bachelor's the year she graduates high school. When I'm finally finished with school and have more time for my family, she'll be going off to college. That part, I definitely hate.

Altra, BSN, RN · May 31, 2004

I will say that once you get into nursing it is FULL TIME, plus!!!!!!!! This is why I planned to be in the nursing when my kids were in school all day. Start with your pre-reqs and dont think too far into the future, yearly our lives change and what does not seem possible now will be more realistic later. We have lost a lot of moms this semester who did not realize how much of a committment this nursing really is, so time it accordingly. I am so glad I started when I did, it is NEVER too late. Good Luck and remember my motto reach for your dreams.

A good point to keep in mind ... this is down the road for you, but once you get into the nursing courses it definitely runs your life. Anything you put your mind to IS possible, but it's good to know what you're in for. Good luck! :)