PCT/CNA during school

[Liz48]

I'll be going into nursing school this January. Currently, since my pre-reqs this semester are online, I work retail full-time. I worked part time briefly (about a month) as a patient care tech in a hospital, but I had to leave due to scheduling conflicts. My plan is to stay at my retail job part time during semester 1. In my state, you can take the CNA test after a semester of nursing school, which I plan to do. Semester 2 onward, I would like to work as a PCT in a hospital again, and getting my CNA opens up more possibilities as our hospitals only hire non-CNA techs on a handful of floors.

My question is, does anyone with experience working as a tech during nursing school have advise for me? I'm worried about being able to maintain my grades with a hospital schedule. My current job I can work a 4 hour night or two, and no more than 7/8 hour weekends, which leaves plenty of time for studying. I've also been there for over a year, so I'm able to essentially write my own schedule more or less. I know at a hospital, that won't be an option. Is working 12 hour weekend days going to be too much? I won't be able to work weekdays at all in a hospital, as we can't work the night before class or clinicals (which makes sense), and I'm in class until 4pm most days.

So basically, would you guys recommend I just continue retail with better hours and scheduling, albiet less pay, or go into a hospital with potentially difficult hours?

[Alexander the Great, ADN, RN]

I work in a hospital as a patient care tech and only work Saturday and Sunday. I work days from 7a-7p and it has been somewhat of a struggle on weeks where I have clinical for more than one day a week. Ultimately, it sounds like your current job isn't all that bad for nursing school and you'd probably be alright. Just make sure to use your time wisely and put in the effort to understand the material.

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

Alexander gave you good advice, let me just add one thing. I'm in my first semester (ADN) and we lost some students last week- the deadline to drop the class with a "W."

If you do poorly on the first exam, that is a red flag and you need to pop an intervention on yourself. In my program

Sounds like you've got a lot of experience, which will really help you. And you can relate what you learn in class to situations and patients at work.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

Only you can answer your question. At hospitals, you can get part time doing 12 hour shifts on saturday and sunday. Where I work, I do Friday to Sunday, 12 hour shifts. It's doable. Tons of us are doing it, and even way more have already done it and passed and got licensed.

What's going to matter is how you learn. Do you have to study extensively, or do you learn easily by just listening in lecture? The difficulty of nursing school is very subjective. For some people it's the hardest thing they've ever done, while for other people it's almost effortless to get through it, and there's everything in between. To go to college and work, you have to know yourself and know how much you need to commit

[CrunchyEvenInMilk, BSN, RN]

I work full time as a PCT and go to school full time. I work nights, 7p-7a. Idk how anyone works day shift and goes to school. There are days that I get off and have to go straight to class and be there all day. It just is what it is. That's my reality, though because I have kids who enjoy opening the refrigerator and finding food inside, so not working isn't an option. My facility allows us to self-schedule, so I pick the days that work best for my school/life. Maybe you can look into that when applying. Working while in nursing school is doable. People do it all the time. You just have to make sure you're using your time wisely and understand that it may require some sacrifice.