Work fulltime and go to school?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2005

With your situation of having all coreqs completed you can do it.

But to say it will be "no problem" is not accurate.

I worked full time and went to nursing school much as you described and to date it was the toughest thing I have ever done.

It's doable, but definately not a "no problem" undertaking. LOL

You do what you have to do, and if you want it bad enough you'll be o.k. Good luck!

Ayvah, RN · Oct 18, 2005

Its not easy, like Tweety says. A lot will also depend on your support system of family/friends. It makes such a difference that it can really make or break working that much. I found it very stressful but, I was able to work full time while taking 10 hours of nursing school first semester. Currently taking 8 semester hours in my second semester and working part time is way too much for me. The semesters really vary in terms of amount of time needed. Don't forget too that you don't want to kill yourself through all this. I realized about a month ago that my health has been on the backburner because I was working too much while doing school. I was honestly afraid of long term problems when I started waking up with a pounding heart during the night, and have the same thing happen occassionally during the day, unexpectedly, and the fun of diarrhea before clinicals and feelings of nausea and hopelessness when its 4:00 and you are trying to eat your first meal of the day. I just dropped down my hours at work and am using that extra time to sleep, get some running in, and take more time studying so I don't feel so rushed and stressed. It has made such a difference. Just make sure to think about your health in all this and be ready with a backup plan if you are not able to work full time continuously.

KatieBell · Oct 18, 2005

I did it. It wasn't too bad- I worked every Friday and Sat night and every Weds day shift (we didn't have classes on weds). I'm not so sure I'd feel so good about working the shift you describe...I enjoyed doing the twelves and occasional overtime 4's.

There were times when I was a little sleepy, but in general it was quite do-able. I found ways to prioitize things and such like that.

I don't want to say that it was easy, but I actually didn't find it that difficult. The things I feel I missed out on a lot was not having time to join all the different nursing organizations, or run for office on the councils. Obviously also working every fir and sat night precluded going to a whole lot of parties as well, but since I am not a party girl anyway, that was alright with me.

I think you can do it. Best Wishes :)

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Oct 18, 2005

I think its doable but keep in mind that it will be challenging at times. I am dropping one of my jobs if accepted to the January class start.

Too much on my plate these days and I want to give this my best.

Good luck, :)

speedykicks · Oct 18, 2005

I think the numbers of hours you work is actually less important then when those hours are. For example, 20 hours a week, all scheduled from 8 a.m.-5p.m. M-F is killing me. But if I can get on at the hospital as a nurse tech and get some 7p-7a on the weekends, I think I could do 24 hours a week much easier. When do you best study? Make sure that whenever your peak brain power times are, you have several hours free. I can work much easier when I am a little tired then I can study when I am tired, so working during the week day and then coming home at night to study for quizzes, tests, doing assignments, paperwork for the next day just isn't working - I am too drained. I would MUCH rather have a few hours a day during the week to just stay on top of things, go to the lab, meet with instructors then let all my homework pile up for the weekends.

My second piece of advice is try it, but have a very clear back up plan in case it doesn't work out. Make sure you have a plan b - to take out additional loans, work different shifts, etc. It is most important that you prioritize your school work and I find that unless you already have some back up plans, struggeling to get your work hours in at expense of school can suck you in.

Good luck - while I feel constantly busy, I do not think n school is as hard as it is made out to be - yet :fingerscrossed

One last caveat - I am one of those people who can barley function on less then 7 hours of sleep. If you are one of those people who can make it by on 4-5 per night, disregard all I've posted. :)

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 18, 2005

Is your job flexible on the hours? Because there will most likely be conflicts at some point between school, clinicals and working those specific hours.

Can you do it? Sure, anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it. Will it be easy? Probably not.

NurCrystal22 · Oct 18, 2005

Okay,,,heres my situation. I have all my General Eds and pre-reqs DONE...im going to a Community College ADN program and I will Start in Summer 06...im also single with no kids. When i start next summer i will just have 2 nurses classes per term,,,8 credit hours. I was thinking it would be no problem to work fulltime and take 8 nursing credits per term...but i must admit,,,after reading some of the posts on here on how stressful it is,,im having doubts.:uhoh21:
What do u all think????
My weekends are totally free for studying,,i work 2nd shift 3:30pm til midnight M-F.
Anybody else out there working fulltime and going to nursing school?

Here is some advice from someone that is in this situation. I am single, I'm an LPN, have no kids work full-time second shift 3-11:30, M-F. I'm taking 7 credit hours this semester and I start into the LPN to RN program Summer 06. Look, if you WANT to do it, you can. If you think you can do it, you can. BUT, you are going to have to put some effort into it, it won't be easy but it CAN be done. Don't expect much free time, and the free time that you do have should be used studying OR catching up on work that you're behind on. You need to have a routine or schedule and try to stick to that daily, Nursing school isn't forever, but you gotta PASS! Good luck.

~Crystal

AnnaN5 · Oct 18, 2005

Okay,,,heres my situation. I have all my General Eds and pre-reqs DONE...im going to a Community College ADN program and I will Start in Summer 06...im also single with no kids. When i start next summer i will just have 2 nurses classes per term,,,8 credit hours. I was thinking it would be no problem to work fulltime and take 8 nursing credits per term...but i must admit,,,after reading some of the posts on here on how stressful it is,,im having doubts.:uhoh21:
What do u all think????
My weekends are totally free for studying,,i work 2nd shift 3:30pm til midnight M-F.
Anybody else out there working fulltime and going to nursing school?

I am in the same boat as you. I will be starting nursing school very soon and also plan on working full time. For one I really need the money to pay my bills while I am going to school and I need the health insurance from my job. I have all my co-reqs and general eds done so the first semester I will have one class that is 7-8 credits and the other 3 semesters I will have 2 class that are 4 credits each. I work Wed-Sat, 2:00-12:30 am. I have a lot of banked sick time that I can use to take a few hours off here and there if there are time conflicts.

I know that it won't be a walk in the park but unfortunately this is the only way that I can go to school.