Is it worth it, starting NA program to advance

[oliveNA]

I am a 41 year old mom of two (ages 5 and 7). I have been out of work as a SAHM for 7 years and previously worked in corporate HR. My youngest just started Kinder. and so I decided to return to work. I have always had a interest in health care so I decided to pursue Nursing and started CNA classes to kinda get my feet wet, so to say to be able to earn money while I advance my schooling. An opportunity just presented its self and I got a job offer to train as a Clinical Assistant at a major hospital in the Med/Surg unit. No experience or certification required but a year commitment to the hospital is required or you have to pay back the program costs. I was really excited but now I am very nervous and full of doubts. My long term goal is to continue my education and this opportunity will allow me to see different roles in the hospital to help guide me into pursing a field I am passionate about. The hospital has great benefits, tuition reimbursement after 6 months, scholarships after 2 years and job security. The biggest factors for me on the downside is the 13-14 hour shifts (3 days on/ every other weekend requires), which will require my kids to be put in aftercare and my husband responsible for all morning/evening care for kids as I will leave for work before they wake up and return home after they are in bed. The commute is 45 min- hour away. With the low starting pay and commute and after care I will basically just be working for the insurance (maybe 100.00 month bring home pay). And I have never worked a job that I didn't get a full nights sleep lol. So I guess I am just looking for advice from those who have maybe had similar experience and rather it was worth the sacrifices professionally and personally. One more thing to add is I am a bit of an introvert. It takes me a minute to know people and people to know me. I'm friendly. Just reserved. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[BrendanO, MSN, RN]

Wow, that's a HUGE time commitment to start all at once. Are you in a rural or far suburban area (i.e. is the long commute basically unavoidable if you want to work at a big hospital--regardless of the type of position)?

It sounds like the job has great benefits, but how would it work for you later on when/if you wanted to start nursing classes? You'd still have to be working 36+ hours a week (to get the tuition/scholarship benefits) AND be attending school on top of that?

Are there other CNA/MA programs closer to home? It doesn't sound like you necessarily need the money that this job will bring in, and you can probably get a CNA elsewhere while not missing a minute of time with your kids. Where I live, there are about 15 different programs that train CNAs in under 6 months, for $600-1200. Then you might potentially have options for jobs closer to home, and you could still try to shadow nurses at the hospital (on a less time-intensive basis) to get a feeling for their work.

I don't have kids, but I am very protective of my home time with my partner. I worked full-time (in education) through all of my pre-requisite classes, and it was pretty stressful. I can't imagine adding kids on top of that. For whatever it's worth, I'm a little bit older than you and am intending to start MSN/RN full-time in January (admissions decisions next week!).

But, that all said, what's the worst that could happen? If you can afford to pay back the program costs (it would be a BIG red flag to me if the program costs are more than $2k), there's no other risk in dropping out if you miss your kids too much and/or hate the commute, right?

You have a tough (and exciting) decision to make, but it sounds like you have great options and a supportive family. Good luck with whatever you do!

[MechelleMyBell]

I just want to add.... most ppl don't know how back breaking work it is to be a CNA. That's one reason I stopped doing it. I'm 47 and not a big person and my back just couldn't handle it. Going to school now for my MA. Not that nursing or even MA isn't a tough job bc it is BUT I've never worked as hard for low pay as I did as a CNA. I'm in Texas and CNA and MA do not make good money at all. It's a sad reality. I just wanted to mention this bc some ppl don't know how much work it is. Lifting ppl out of bed twice as big as you is hard. If your in shape and strong then it's prob not an issue. I've worked 2 jobs before and raised 2 kids alone being a single mom and it's doable if you're committed. But when your not depending on your salary to feed your kids it's would be hard for me to stay motivated. My advice is to look at the reality of it. Jobs come and go but your kids are only this age for a moment in time and I missed so much. I would take look at other day time jobs or classes to do while they are in school and not have to pay for day care! My daycare bill was half my salary! I would just take your time and think it all the way through.

Not trying to be a downer. I'm a realist lol good luck tho and I hope it all works out for the best.