Is nursing school worth the strain on family

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 27, 2016

It's all relative. What is a strain for you and your family is SOP for another.

The desire/drive/motivation to be a nurse is totally an individual thing that cannot be compared to anyone else.

Available finances & resources are so varied from one person to another.

Only you can decide within your own mental, financial and practical circumstances if nursing school is "worth it."

Sour Lemon · Dec 27, 2016

I am currently a stay-at-home mom, although I have recently been accepted to an ADN program which commences mid-January. I have been very sure for many years now that I want to be a nurse. Despite my great desire to be a nurse I do not want to do it if it will be to the detriment of my family. I am somewhat nervous about leaving my 15-month-old with a sitter/daycare, and my situation is fairly complicated. My daughter and I will be living with a family friend during the week for class and then home with my husband on the weekends. I am wondering if anyone out there has had a similar experience, or if anyone can offer advice whether or not in the end it was worth the strain on the family, or if they would do it again. Thank you for your insight!

School was a strain for me with no kids and I only worked six hours a week. Being broke was a bigger strain, though. Other people in my program worked 40+ hours and had kids on top of that. Some passed through fairly effortlessly and some dropped out.

ottersloveoysters · Dec 27, 2016

Say you decide not to go to nursing school for a moment. What will you be doing in 5 years? Will you be happy with that job/work/career? There won't be a perfectly convenient time to go to schooll. If this is what you want, go for it.

whiteorchid81 · Dec 27, 2016

I'm in my 30's, married with 3 kids. I just graduated with my ADN this year. Nursing school was very stressful. The hours were unpredictable, the tuition was high, I worked 2 to 3 part time jobs (I quit my 3rd job after I was able to catch up on my tuition payments), my family missed me, and my husband was stressed, supportive, but stressed with my schedule. My father in law lives with us to help with babysitting so we didn't have to pay for daycare. But he is a stubborn, non-compliant diabetic with other health issues which added to my stress. I had to make sure he saw his doctor and took his meds on time. Nursing school is hard. It is much worse when you're married with children and don't have enough money to cover the bills. But this was something that I wanted for a very long time. You have to want it enough to be able to get through it.

Now that I graduated and passed the NCLEX, I am so happy that I went through with it. Ask yourself how important is it for you, how much work are you willing to put into it, do you have the support, and how much are you willing to sacrifice.

It's not east but it is doable. Good luck.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Dec 27, 2016

OP: You are the only person with the appropriate insight to answer this question.

LovingLife123 · Dec 27, 2016

Why would you have to live somewhere else during the week? That is going to be a strain.

I waited until my children were older. For numerous reasons. For me personally, I did it so they could understand what mom was doing. A small child cannot. And let's face it, small children are needy. As they should be. They can't do things for themselves.

It was a strain as my clinicals were weird hours and I had so many different things due all the time. Care plans, papers, testing.

In my area, most new grads start on night shift. You stay until you get experience and a dayshift position opens up. That's way worse than any time in nursing school.

I love my job though. Just miss my family.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Dec 28, 2016

For me nursing school will be worth it (I'm going to bridge). My husband works as a correctional officer & doesn't make much. So when I graduate we can both support our family & quit living paycheck to paycheck.

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2016

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to a the starting RN class of December 2019. I shared with that what I'm about to share with you... of all things in life, this is one of them where you know when the light at the end of the tunnel will come to pass. It's a short tunnel given many other things in life. Take the journey, conquer the dream!

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Dec 31, 2016

First as a 3.5 yr biology major, and working in phy. Office since I was. Senior in high school, prior to nursing school, a diploma program, was a breeze....I was charge nurse in CCU, the same day I graduated at 11am, on the 3-11p shift...... Gasp... I had spent 9 weeks getting charge nurse experience in the same unit..... I v been RN since 1972..... Today I got 2-3 job offers a week.... But that has only been the case last 5-7 years....I can afford to pick and choose....l honestly I was single most of my nursing career prior to the 90's..... So it has never been a family challenge for me...... there are many nurses, that were in a dynamic family relationship.... I do not know how they did it......but they did without much drama... The good thing about nursing is the diversely of clinical options......now I will be 68 in 3/17...... How many, Wish to work that long..... I don't know, but

I work today because I want to....& can.........decades ago, that was not always the case..

best wishes

sally

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2016

Why would you have to live somewhere else during the week? That is going to be a strain.

In my case, it is because I attended school out of state. I lived in Texas and commuted 225 miles one-way to school in Oklahoma, so it was easier to stay in an apartment near the school three days a week. I kept my job in Texas and worked there 32 hours every weekend.

People may wonder why I simply did not relocate to Oklahoma for school? I had a house and a well-paid job in Texas. People may then ask why didn't I attend school in Texas? It is because my 3.6 GPA was not competitive for admission into local programs; however, it was more than enough to get into school out of state.

Palliative Care, DNP · Dec 31, 2016

I had been a stay at home Mom for many years. I have 4 children and went back to school when my boys were old enough for preschool. It was tough because mine were 9, 5, 3, & 3 and children do not always understand why you need to study. I will say earning my ADN was worth it though as that was the gateway to continuing my education. What was harder on my kids was the 12 hour night shifts once I was finished with school. The best thing in my career thus far has been making the move to advanced practice. I have the 8-5 schedule, no holidays, and only every 4th weekend do I take call. Call weekends will be going to every 6th weekend once all the new employees are up to speed. I have a much better work-life balance now.

As a side note, going back to school was imperative to me. One, because while my husband makes good money if he dies there are still 4 children to care for and life insurance does not last forever. Two, I wanted to be an example to my children that its never too late to learn. In my opinion, women need to be educated and independent these days as there are too many unpredictable circumstances that can occur. Better to be where you are because you wish to be there than because you are dependent and have to be there.