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Discussion

Is it possible to work full time as an RN while attending college full time for BSN

I'm in my second week of nursing school to become an RN, and I've had my first test. I'm doing well, but nursing is very difficult which causes me to wonder... How possible would it be for a RN to work full time while going to college full time in order to get a BSN and eventually a masters and doctorate in nursing? I'm sure someone has done this before, but is it a realistic idea or should I just drop it?

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    I did it- 2 kids under age 10 and divorced. You can do anything you set your mind to. Remeber that you will be trading - time with your family, time to sleep with time spent working and studying. I went to school with many students who had to work full time in order to continue to feed their families - I have taught many students at the ADN level that have to work in order to keep paying their mortgage. But always remember that there is a price - very little sleep, need to keep focused on why you are doing it and what you are being paid to do so that your attitude doesn't suffer.

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    P.S. I have an MSN (nursing education) and am now working on my post Master's certification family nurse practitioner. My kids are grown (19 and 22) and they have said that I was often grumpy, demanding and always tired. I don't know if that would have been much different without the added pressure of school as I would have been single mom working full time anyway- might have worked more to have more $$ instead of spending the time at school. :)

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    • Experts

    Every BSN completion program (for RNs) I've ever encountered was set up with the assumption that students would be working full-time as RNs (many of them require you to be working in order to be qualified/eligible). Many MSN programs can be done part-time while you work full- or part-time. Most of the people getting doctorates in nursing that I've known have worked full- or part-time while working on the doctorate.

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    • Author

    Thanks... that was very encouraging!

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    • Experts

    My experience is that students who try to do BOTH full time often end up doing a "not so great" job of each. Yes, it CAN be done ... but it requires great sacrifice that most people don't want to make.

    It is more sensible for most people to plan on doing at least one of them on a part-time basis -- particularly if you have outside interests (such as a family) that will also require some of your time and attention. A lot of educational programs are designed to be quite do-able on a part-time basis by someone working full time.

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    4 hours of sleep per night, and no days off!!!

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    • Experts

    Is it possible to be both a full-time student and full-time employee? Yes

    Is it a wise decision? That's debatable.

    I'm of llg's mindset: I think doing both full-time would spread yourself too thin as well as compromise your performance, and that it'd be better to do one (or both) part-time instead. I'm a full-time RN who's going for the BSN part-time...with all the papers I have to write, there's no way I could have been a full-time student and keep my job, my grades, and my sanity.

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    i work ft and attend school pt. it allows me to get good grades (the "a's" needed to further my education) and i am able to pay cash for my tuition, fees, and books. my peers who attend the same program ft, on the other hand, struggle to get through their course work and usually arrive to work half asleep. they are not getting a's but they are passing. also, most of them are using the hospital or financial aid to pay their tuition so they not only owe a work obligation to the hospital they will also have to pay off loans.

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