Graduate nurse and homeschooling: How compatible?

[careerdejour]

I finish school in may. My children are 8 and 6. They were homeschooled until this current school year. I went into nursing for the flexibility so I can pull the children back home.

Now as I look for work, it's appearing that the first year of a graduate nurse's life comes close to slavery with regard to schedule, hospital contracts e.t.c.

Should I wait another school year to bring them home?

I know I can go perdiem after at least one year.

Please advise if you have any insight.

Thanks.

[renerian, BSN, RN]

Maybe work nights/teach all day etc. I could not do it........let us know what you do.

Do you not like the schools in your area?

renerian

[Town & Country]

We have homeschooled - but my husband did it.

If you do not have a spouse/S.O. to do the homeschooling, I would not attempt it now.

You are thinking correctly about the first year.

Work a year, then go PRN.

JMHO.

[James Huffman]

My wife and I homeschooled for 10 years, but we began after I had been self-employed for several years already.

I'd echo the earlier post about working nights. That's a possibility, although you have to be careful about 2 things: the first is getting enough sleep (it's very easy to think that you can work all day, and stay up all night ... it's not possible, at least not in the long term ... :-). The other concern is for your career. Nights can be difficult, and you want to make sure that your first year of practice is a good one for you. You WILL face less support (in most settings) while working nights, and that's not always the best thing for you.

Other homeschooling possibilites would include a less-traditional school schedule, such as teaching the children later in the day, or something like that.

I would encourage you to seek out a homeschool support group in your area that might be able to help you sort some issues like that out.

But most of all, good luck. Homeschooling can be very rewarding to both parents and children, and I wish you the best with it.

Jim Huffman, RN

[SmilingBluEyes]

I finish school in may. My children are 8 and 6. They were homeschooled until this current school year. I went into nursing for the flexibility so I can pull the children back home.

Now as I look for work, it's appearing that the first year of a graduate nurse's life comes close to slavery with regard to schedule, hospital contracts e.t.c.

Should I wait another school year to bring them home?

I know I can go perdiem after at least one year.

Please advise if you have any insight.

Thanks.

I homeschool two. I could not do this myself, except I am perdiem. Meaning I only work a max of 2 nights a week. You can't do it all, well, if you try too much.And like said, remember, you have to SLEEP sometime. Plan ahead when you will sleep, when you will school, or if your s/o will be able to help out. Homeschooling is great cause it is flexible----you CAN homeschool at "non-traditional" times, like evenings, afternoons, weekends. We have a curriculum we use, and have marked the times we aim for each module to be complete. If we "slip" off the schedule for some reason, there are always ways to make it up later on, if you don't get too far behind.

Good luck. Also what one poster said about finding support is true.....in your case, especially, it will be essential. The first year out of school can be absolutely brutal.

[JBudd, MSN]

Mine are older, so its not so much of a problem, all their curricula is self directed so I really have very little I need to do except check up on them. The Alpha Omega packs are pretty easy for younger ones to do by themselves if you set them up. I've always worked nights, do 2 12's a week. Is there a homeschool assoc. in your area that does coops? Some of our folks do park days, or gym days, could you trade watching someone else's kids for a couple of days while they do yours?

How about agency work, could you get enough hours that way? Friend of mine in California wanted to do agency, was told she had to have expericence first, but working 8 (that's EIGHT) hours somewhere was enough to qualify! Long term care places may be a little more flexible, not as challenging work mentally (actually I was bored, worked very hard, but bored) but still rewarding.

Been a single parent for 5 years, it can be done.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

I would be VERY leery of an agency who would hire on a new grad with only 8 hours of experience!! That is just scary!! Any agency that would do that is putting dollars above patient (and nurse) safety in a big way!

I understand about wanting more control over your schedule right away, but this is your license we are talking about! The agency nurse is expected to know his/her stuff and to hit the ground running. This is an unrealistic expectation of the new grad and if you encounter a situation for which you are unprepared, it's YOUR butt, YOUR license, and YOUR future.

[Alicia18]

I wish you the best of luck, careerdejour. Homeschooling is great for the kids (I was homeschooled from kindergarten all the way through highschool, so I can appreciate it), but if you like the schools in your area, your idea of giving the kids another year there until you can go per diem is probably best. I don't know if you use Seton Home Study School or not, but they might have some good advice about how to handle things. Their phone number is [phone]. Their website is http://www.setonhome.org.

I don't know if this will help you very much, by I applaud both your determination to see that your kids get the best education they can and be a nurse at the same time. Homeschooling moms are amazing!