How much can you work while in nursing school?

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Hi all! I need a little advice. So, I recently got a new employer and they told me they would pay 100% for both my ADN and BSN degree once I finish my pre-requisites. This would help out majorly since I already have a bachelors degree, and my only option for paying for nursing school is basically loans. With this said, they are willing to pay $40k of tuition for my ADN program in total at a private college, which would be $20k for each year. The only thing about this is that I would have to work 24 hours a week (3 8-hour shifts) during nursing school to keep up my part-time status in order to stay eligible for the tuition assistance program.

So, I'm wondering if 3 8-hour shifts working at an assisted living home while doing nursing school full time is doable? If you worked during nursing school what was your experience and how many days/hours did you work? My previous bachelors degree I had a 3.8 GPA, so I would like to keep it around that while in nursing school (or at least above a 3.2) since I am hoping to eventually go on to get my NP degree. I just don't want to take on too much and tank my GPA and flunk out from working too much, since I've been told by some people that working while in nursing school is "impossible."

Any advice helps, thanks! ? 

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

A lot of this is going to depend on your and your ability to juggle multiple things at once. I actually worked at or above full time hours during all but my last semester of nursing school (16 hour days on weekends). However, I didn't have children, rent/mortgage, groceries, bills, or any of that to worry about as I lived at home and commuted, plus had paid cash for my car at the time so I only had to pay for gas. I did end up having to leave my job my final semester because my class and clinical hours just didn't allow for me to attend school, sleep, and work.

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23 minutes ago, Rose_Queen said:

A lot of this is going to depend on your and your ability to juggle multiple things at once. I actually worked at or above full time hours during all but my last semester of nursing school (16 hour days on weekends). However, I didn't have children, rent/mortgage, groceries, bills, or any of that to worry about as I lived at home and commuted, plus had paid cash for my car at the time so I only had to pay for gas. I did end up having to leave my job my final semester because my class and clinical hours just didn't allow for me to attend school, sleep, and work.

@Rose_QueenThat makes me feel a little better! I basically only have to pay for car insurance and gas since I live at home and don’t have kids or bills or anything. I worked around 30hrs throughout most of my last bachelors while being a college athlete for half of college and made sure to remain on the dean’s list, so I’m hoping that has gotten me remotely ready for learning how to juggle nursing school and a job hopefully! Another option the school I’m going to has is an evening nursing program, which I’m not sure if that would accompany working 3x a week better. 

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If you don't have kids, already have a degree under your belt, and are a fairly organized person, you can probably hack it. If you are a slow reader or struggle with scientific concepts or nursing pre-reqs, you may need to reconsider. Having your education paid for is an awesome opportunity! 

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51 minutes ago, Triplepoint said:

If you don't have kids, already have a degree under your belt, and are a fairly organized person, you can probably hack it. If you are a slow reader or struggle with scientific concepts or nursing pre-reqs, you may need to reconsider. Having your education paid for is an awesome opportunity! 

@Triplepoint Thank you for the words of advice! ? I won’t be starting nursing until fall 2022 since I have a few pre-requisites that my bachelor’s didn’t cover. I plan to work 3-4 days a week while taking the pre-requisite classes (A&P and Micro), so I’m hoping that will give me an indication on how much I need to study for science related courses and if I’ll be able to swing it. 

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Specializes in Physiology, CM, consulting, nsg edu, LNC, COB.

Two things to consider:

One: How are you going to fit those 3 shifts in when you don’t know what your class and clinical schedule will be like? Not saying it’s impossible - I worked my butt off in 3 eights per week (Sat and Sun plus one evening) and every vacation day in a hospital geriatric ward while I was in college-  but don’t expect to work a night shift and then go to nursing classes or clinical. You will be surprised how much time prepping for these will take compared to even a lab course. Be sure to do what you can to get enough rest.
Two: I hear you about the GPA but cut yourself some slack there. Nobody will ask about your GPA when you apply for work. Nobody. Your object is to graduate and pass NCLEX. 

Great news about the tuition break, though. Good luck! 

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