Is it possible to go to LPN school while living on your own with a part-time job?

[Kohai]

I'm a pre-nursing student and I plan on going to practical nursing (LPN) school in 2020. I still live with my mom and have a lot of time to finish my prereqs, get a good job, and SAVE MY MONEY before I go.

The thing is, I want to move out and be on my own before starting nursing school. I know that I would save a lot of money during nursing school if I stayed with my mom, but the house is very chaotic and stressful. I live with my mom and teenage nephew who is basically a delinquent. They bump heads quite a lot, and it even turns violent. Almost every day. I literally can't study or concentrate living with them. I enrolled in three classes this semester and had to drop two of them because of my mental health (stress) and lack of concentration. Lucky, those classes weren't super important, but that's not the point.

I always kept good grades before all this happened, at least when I was living on campus at my old school. I know that if I lived on my own, I could concentrate better on my studies.

But I was always told that nursing school was very hard and it was best not to work during your studies. However, it's hard to study now with just prereqs and I live at home for free while working.

I'm torn between taking a chance and setting myself free or staying at home and risking failing due to too many distractions...and possible mental breakdown in the near future if I'm being truly honest here.

Should I move out before starting nursing school? Is it possible to do LPN school while supporting yourself?

[RNperdiem, RN]

A lot depends on the cost of living in your area. My sister did live on her own and put herself through community college, but she had to work full-time at a night job to do it. The area she lived in did have fairly low rent, but my town is a boom town and housing prices are rising.

Since you don't start LPN school until 2020, the delinquent cousin might move on by then.

Are you afraid for your personal safety? This alone would be a big reason to move out.

Do you know anyone who can be a roommate if you moved out?

Is avoidance a possibility, you know where you leave early in the morning, study in the library, go to school, work a part time job and are almost never home until late?

[shiftingtides]

I think that this will depend on the program. I would chat with the schools you're interested in and see what they recommend to students.

For myself, I don't think I'm going to be able to keep up a job and school. I'd really like to get the best grades possible, so I'm going to (somehow) focus on that and let the rest work itself out.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

threads merged

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

I would just like to suggest perhaps thinking of where you live now as a crashpad and that's it. You can study in the library or a cafe (Starbucks?) where like-minded people who just need to study are at.

Hopefully you live nearby to where your school is. You can just go home to fix up something to eat and then go back to the library.

I know it's not an ideal situation almost being a stranger in your own house, but think about it as being a temporary situation until you graduate, get a good job and get out of there.

I agree w/ the other poster............in 202o, the delinquent nephew will hopefully be long gone!

Good luck!

[AnnieNP, MSN, NP]

I agree with using the Library!

[carrienoka]

I worked full time while in LPN school and LPN to RN. You wont have a life, but that's ok. To be fair, while I was in LPN school I stayed with my sister, but mainly because I had a lot of debt and took a pay cut for the career change. It felt mostly like a crash pad as someone above stated. You could always try to find roommates and somewhere cheap. I worked evening shift in a group home where I could study for a bit after the kids were in bed most days. You may be able to find something that allows you to work enough to pay your bills and go to school.

[Neo Soldier, BSN, RN]

Is avoidance a possibility, you know where you leave early in the morning, study in the library, go to school, work a part time job and are almost never home until late?

I'm in total agreement. Nursing school is a bit of a challenge and if you can help not having to work to pay rent and buy food, the better. Let your house be a place you go to sleep, shower, and do laundry. Take advantage of the public library. Is there a reason you're going for the LPN and not RN?

[Kohai]

Thanks for the advice, but my *nephew is under my mom's guardianship. He won't leave unless my mom takes him away which I highly doubt she'll do because she always uses every bs excuse she ca think of to keep him here instead of somewhere he can get help. I live in an area with fairly low rent too, or at least the places I'm looking at has it. Avoidance can be a possibility but it also can't because my mom's overprotective and demands I be at home for a certain time (before dark) and they constantly go at it even in the middle of the night which is also a reason why I don't wanna live there so that's why I'm thinking about going to such extremes like saving a s***-ton of money just to move out by the year I go to LPN school.

[Kohai]

I already avoid going home all day, like a lot, but I still have very little confidence I'll pass nursing school living with my family. I'm scared that my avoidance lifestyle won't be enough for nursing school.

And to answer your question, I may or may not go to RN school. I'm already doing prereqs for it but I might do LPN instead or as a backup just in case I don't get into RN school. Plus, I'm in this grant program that pays for either-or and it will end before I'm done with RN so I thought I'd do LPN which I'd finish before the program ended. Then I'd do an LPN to RN program with better income to take care of myself. Do you think that's a good idea? I'm a first generation student so I really have no one close to me to talk about this with.

[Neo Soldier, BSN, RN]

Plus, I'm in this grant program that pays for either-or and it will end before I'm done with RN so I thought I'd do LPN which I'd finish before the program ended. Then I'd do an LPN to RN program with better income to take care of myself.

The LPN takes a year (or slightly more) to complete. The RN takes about two years to complete. You're not saving a lot of money in the long run if you get into the LPN program so you can bridge later. That's an added year (or more) if you get in the RN program, and that's more money spent. Do you have family that will let you live rent free while you go to school?

[ShadowNurse]

It's very possible. I worked full-time and lived completely on my own during my RN program, and was homeless during my LPN program (I lived 9 different places in the year that I took for my LPN). Now, possible doesn't mean you should do it. It took a big toll on my health to try to juggle that large amount of stress. If you're a student who struggles with school, don't even attempt it. If academics are your thing, however, it can be worth a try. Trim down the stress as much as possible, be realistic and know your limits.