I Don't Know What to DO

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I'm 6 months away from graduating from nursing school. Yesterday my dad's old truck that I drive finally quit. I can't afford to get anything else. I don't have a way to get to my clinicals at this point. I am so worried, and I don't know what to do. The only thing I can do is pray that my classmates in my clinical group will let me ride with them. I hate this. Any advice?

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Can you get a small loan for a used vehicle or a repair to the old truck. Can you uber or take a taxi to school. Rideshare and give a few bucks for gas. You are so close to finishing and hopefully getting a great job to help you become financially stable.

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19 minutes ago, Helomech said:

Can you get a small loan for a used vehicle or a repair to the old truck. Can you uber or take a taxi to school. Rideshare and give a few bucks for gas. You are so close to finishing and hopefully getting a great job to help you become financially stable.

Ridesharing is what I'm hoping to do. I haven't heard back from my classmates yet, but hopefully that works out!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

You really have 2 separate problems ... a short-term problem and a long-term one. In the immediate future, you might be able to get a few free rides from friends or family.

But that will probably not work for your long-term problem. You'll need transportation for job interviews, work, etc. before you'll get enough paychecks to turn your finances completely around. So ... you'll need to find a way to either fix the truck or get a cheap "new" used car to get you through the next year. Talk with your parents (or other financially responsible people in your life) about your options for loans, work to earn some money, etc. You're going to be scrambling for rides and stressed until you solve the longer-term problem. Good luck!

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Specializes in NICU.

I think it important to inform your clinical instructors of your issue. They will be at least aware of your issue and be a little more understanding than if they are totally unaware and you have a transportation issue. Their thought may be "She oversleep and using transportation issue as an excuse." In addition, most clinical instructors have part-time/full-time jobs as nurses at the hospital. They could easily send an email to their coworkers stating that she has a student with transportation issues and needs a ride to the hospital on XXX days and she lives in XXX area. There may be several nurses willing to give you a lift on their way to work (also a great way to network).

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11 minutes ago, NICU Guy said:

I think it important to inform your clinical instructors of your issue. They will be at least aware of your issue and be a little more understanding than if they are totally unaware and you have a transportation issue. Their thought may be "She oversleep and using transportation issue as an excuse." In addition, most clinical instructors have part-time/full-time jobs as nurses at the hospital. They could easily send an email to their coworkers stating that she has a student with transportation issues and needs a ride to the hospital on XXX days and she lives in XXX area. There may be several nurses willing to give you a lift on their way to work (also a great way to network).

I'll definitely make my clinical instructors aware of this if none of my classmates are willing to give me a ride, thanks!

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27 minutes ago, llg said:

You really have 2 separate problems ... a short-term problem and a long-term one. In the immediate future, you might be able to get a few free rides from friends or family.

But that will probably not work for your long-term problem. You'll need transportation for job interviews, work, etc. before you'll get enough paychecks to turn your finances completely around. So ... you'll need to find a way to either fix the truck or get a cheap "new" used car to get you through the next year. Talk with your parents (or other financially responsible people in your life) about your options for loans, work to earn some money, etc. You're going to be scrambling for rides and stressed until you solve the longer-term problem. Good luck!

I don't know if/when I'll be able to get a vehicle, but my parents are trying to help me. I live right down the road from a hospital, so I'm hoping to get hired there once I graduate and then I could walk to work while saving for a vehicle. I realize I'm not guaranteed to get hired there, but I just have to deal with whatever happens.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
22 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

I'll definitely make my clinical instructors aware of this if none of my classmates are willing to give me a ride, thanks!

If I were you, I’d make your clinical instructor aware whether your classmates agree to give you rides or not. Crap happens and rides can fall through at the last second. Better to make your instructor aware now than show up late one day because your ride fell through and seem like you’re making excuses.

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Asking classmates for help is not a bad option. If they are generous enough to do this, take the offer with grace and gratitude. You can always thank and repay them later, but many times, people will help each other out for the greater good. It's not forever: only 6 months left! In the mean time, you can try other means of financing the repair or a new vehicle (or other alternative modes of transportation?). And yes, make instructors aware of the situation if anything should happen and you miss or need accommodations.

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Update: One of my classmates has agreed to let me ride to clinicals with her, and I'm going to help her out with gas. I also e-mailed all of my instructors, so they're aware of the situation.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
3 hours ago, missnursingstudent19 said:

Update: One of my classmates has agreed to let me ride to clinicals with her, and I'm going to help her out with gas. I also e-mailed all of my instructors, so they're aware of the situation.

Good for you. I'm glad you've got it covered. When I went to school, yea those many years ago, the transmission fell out of my old clunker on the way home from clinical. I had many of my classmates offer me rides until I was able to purchase a different old clunker from the junk yard where I got the last one!

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That's wonderful! Keep moving forward and don't look back!

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