I am new here with a question

manna, BSN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

I am currently in class about 40 hours a week (junior in a BSN program). In addition to that, I commute 600 miles a week (time not included in the 40 hours). Some weeks may be more or less, but it usually averages out. You could call different programs and ask this question - maybe apply more than one place? Or some programs offer a part-time option that would take longer to complete, but would give you more family/study time. I'm mom of two boys (6 and 3), and there's lots of other parents on this board who manage school/work/family, so I'm sure if you have any problems you could get some great advice! :)

klone, MSN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

I don't think it's unrealistic. If you're done with the prerequisites and will just be doing the nursing class(es), it shouldn't be too bad. I'm in first semester nursing class, and I spend 6 hours a week in lecture, 4 hours a week in skills lab (every other week), and one 6-hour day at clinical. Every other wednesday, I just have a skills lab checkoff, and I make an appointment, go in and get checked off, and I'm out of there in an hour. And on Fridays I have off.

The key, IMO, is good time management. I actually spend very little time away from home, considering I'm a fulltime student. About 20 hours/week. The rest of the time I'm at home studying, which I try to mainly do when my kids are at school (not applicable to you) or asleep at night.

Maggie in NC · Oct 26, 2004

I am currently in class about 40 hours a week (junior in a BSN program). In addition to that, I commute 600 miles a week (time not included in the 40 hours). Some weeks may be more or less, but it usually averages out. You could call different programs and ask this question - maybe apply more than one place? Or some programs offer a part-time option that would take longer to complete, but would give you more family/study time. I'm mom of two boys (6 and 3), and there's lots of other parents on this board who manage school/work/family, so I'm sure if you have any problems you could get some great advice! :)

Manna, 600 miles a week is ALOT!!! Do you really see much of your kids? Are you out late in the evenings with clinicals?

I have a 13 year old and I'm toying w/ the idea of going BSN instead of ADN. My concerns are the school is 70 miles away, clinicals are at least 100 miles away and I'm afraid I'll never see my daughter. (I'm a single parent too!)

manna, BSN, RN · Oct 26, 2004

Manna, 600 miles a week is ALOT!!! Do you really see much of your kids? Are you out late in the evenings with clinicals?
I have a 13 year old and I'm toying w/ the idea of going BSN instead of ADN. My concerns are the school is 70 miles away, clinicals are at least 100 miles away and I'm afraid I'll never see my daughter. (I'm a single parent too!)

I live about the same distance as you from my school. We ordinarily have class or clinical 5 days a week. My clinical sites vary from 30-120 miles away from my home. My clinical site placement this semester is about 60 miles away from my home.

I'm usually gone from 5am-7am to around 4-6pm (depending on whether we're in class/clinical that day). The only real difference I see in my "kid time" is that I'm not dropping them off at school/daycare in the mornings (I worked full-time before I began the nursing program). I try to make the time we spend together "quality" rather than "quantity" time. Although some would certainly disagree with me, I consider this a short-term gain for a long-term sacrifice. I was miserable at my job, and love nursing school. It's only 2 years - and I think by seeing me go through this, my children are learning the value of hard work and discipline, as well as education itself!

If I were you (just my 2 cents here), I personally would look at my motivation for attending the BSN if it's further away (or has other complications attached to it). I chose BSN because I'm certain that I want to go to grad school one day, and I had already completed all my pre-reqs before I decided to apply to nursing school. There are also no ADN programs any closer than this, so I'd be commuting that much regardless of the program I enrolled in.

It's obvious that hours in class/clinical varies widely from program to program, so that's something that I'd ask about at the particular program you plan on attending/applying to.

MsippiSN · Oct 26, 2004

I am currently in my 2nd semester of associate degree nursing. I get every Monday off, go to class Tuesday and Wednesday 11:00-2:00. I go to clincial every Thursday and Friday 7:30 to whatever time everybody gets done with patient care, usually no later than 1:00. I believe that while in the nursing program it does become your life and there is hardly any time for anything else. But as long as you stay organized and prepared and set your priorities you will do fine. Good luck in getting in. :)

JudithL_in_NH · Oct 26, 2004

I'm in an ADN program (previous BA) with all prereq's completed. I spend two half days away for lecture (not quite four hours ea on Mon and Thurs), and two full days away for clinical (a bit more than 8 hours each on Tues and Weds). That includes my travel time of an hour+ round trip. Our program is structured so that we have neither class nor clinical on Fridays, so everyone has a long weekend.

HappyNurse2005, RN · Oct 26, 2004

well, i am in my third semester of the RN program here. we have 6 hours of lecture per week (3 hours monday/3 hours thursday) 1 hour of lab per week(though first year, it is 2 hours a week), and 12 hours of clinical a week. I live in the same city as my college, and nearly all of my clinical sites have been in town. my current one is a 10 minute drive away. Had one though, that was at a hospital that was 30 miles away and that sucked, but that is the only site that is far away from this city. so, not including drive time, im away 19 hours a week. but you have to figure it lots (and lots) of study time at home, time writing care plans, etc etc.

but i certainly am home more than when i worked full time. and im more tired, too!

love,rose

karendemy · Oct 26, 2004

Thank you all for your responses. Here is a little bit of background on what I am doing. I am applying to a traditional BSN program at Virginia Commonwealth University, about 20 minutes from my house. From what I can gather, many of the clinicals will take place at the Medical College of Virginia which is part of VCU. I have already gotten a BS in business administration so I have already taken 36 of the required 120 credits. I consider myself to be fairly organized, and I earned a 3.5 gpa getting my BS in business. Hopefully I can get back into student mode. I know that it is going to be hard, but my daughter goes to sleep at 7:30, so I have pretty much all night to study. I just don't want to miss out on her growing up. Thanks again for your responses, it really helps. I will find out before December 1st if I got in or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

eirthjona · Oct 26, 2004

I know I am not in the states but here is my maths. We have 4 subjects at 4 hours each each week. I am also a mum of 4 and travel about 30 min each way.

most study is done at home and we have our notes for both lec and tuts on the uni web site for us to access from home. My hands love me very little writeing involved.

fleasle · Oct 27, 2004

About how many hours would you say you spend per week away from home going to classes, clinicals and doing school related things?

I would say it greatly depends on your program and how close you are to school and clinicals. For the 1st 6 weeks, I attended 16 hours a week at school with a 1 hr total commute per day for a total of 20 hours per week. Many days we would have to stay a few hours late once or twice a week to watch videos and do computer assignments. So, for the first 6 weeks...roughly 23 hours per week. The rest of the time I studied at least 10-15 hours outside of class. Now that clinicals have started, there are 8 hours of lecture a week and 13 hours of clinicals...but we have at least 10 hours of clinical preparation (i.e. preconference guide...patient workup, meds, care plans, etc.) in addition to the 10-15 hours still needed to study. So, it is an amazing amount of work, but I think if you manage your time well, you can be successful and have family time as well.

purplekath · Oct 27, 2004

Face to face time at uni is about 27 hours per week for me, plus a full day or more of clinicals. But it's different than working those kinds of hours. Lectures and tutes are kinda scattered - this means that I can come home during long breaks (yes it's a bit of a petrol nightmare, but I figure it's a small price to pay).

I also quite often see mother bringing kids that are too sick for daycare to tutes. Also, when lectures are too early for daycare, we have quite a tribe of little ones colouring with crayons in the seats! Most of us are parents (mine are teens) understand how hard it is, and we'll quite often pass an unsettled baby around the class, or let them run up and down the stairs if they are restless.

Having said that, it would be a mistake to think that it won't cramp your style a little and cause you to feel chronically guilty about neglecting your family! What you learn though is to let the housework lapse and use that time to play with your kids instead. You drop social events and study instead. You really just learn to cull your life down to a bare minimum. Study, work and family - if you have time for those, you're doing well. Everything else can get canned until you graduate.