How far is your school, and how do u fit in work?

HippyDippyLPN · Jun 7, 2013

When I was in LPN school I was 19 and it was just me then so I literally rented an apartment on the same street, it was not even a 30 second drive. I worked 16-24 hours/week as an STNA on second shift. Most of it was on weekends so it didn't interfere with my class schedule. I took out a student loan to pay my cheap rent for a year and used my work money to pay for my minimal expenses. I was able to live off of $400/month and this was in 07-08.

Now that I have kids, husband, and bills my bridge program will be much more complicated lol. Good luck to you

HippyDippyLPN · Jun 7, 2013

You will be surprised how fast you get used to the commute. I have a 30 minute commute to work now and it doesn't bother me a bit really

ILoveHealthCare · Jun 7, 2013

The good news: LPN school starts in August and the tuition is awesome!
The bad news: The school is 38 miles away.
Class is in the morning for three hours. I am trying to decide how realistic it is to work with this schedule.....what do u all think? I think this commute will take some energy out of me, but I can't afford to quit work completely. However I don't want to work TOO much and take away from study time.
How much time should I budget to study every day, and how many hours a week do u think I can work if I am in school 3 hours a day M - F with this commute?
Any experience/tips are appreciated. Hope everyone is having a great start to the weekend!

My school is 50 miles one way! I have class for about 8 hours a day! I work Saturdays and Sundays but now that term one is almost done I'm stressing to get everything done. I wouldn't work during the week if you don't have to. It's nice to catch up on sleep. As for studying different subjects need more time than others. Good luck with school.

It's a beautiful day to save lives.

Iâ™¥Scrubs, LPN · Jun 7, 2013

I live abut 5 minutes away from the actual school. For almost all of my clinical sites I was about 40 minutes-1 hour away. The first 20 weeks I worked every other weekend and during the week so anywhere from 15-26 hours a week. The second 20 weeks, I only work one day a week for 4 hours. This is only because I had put in my notice to leave my job and they asked me to stay, even if I only worked one day a week. So that's what I do now. And my clinical is from 0640-1440 twice a week and classes are 0800-1430. As for studying time, it really depends person to person. I study about 17 hours a week, including weekends. About 2.5ish hours a night, and I have a 95 overall average and I am third in my class, however, I know other people who do not study more than 30 minutes and they are failing. I also see people study all the time, on breaks, at lunch and some even study at work and then have mid 80's. So it depends. It's not the same for everyone. Hope this helps, good luck!

**Side note:Some of the people in my class work full time and do fine with class. In fact the person who ranks 1st in our class is one of the people who has a job!

Kathy08 · Jun 8, 2013

My school is about an hour and twenty minutes from my home! I plan to work just not sure my schedule yet! I plan to possibly stay with family a few nights a week if able. I have class m-w and clinicals are thurs and Friday!

michigannurse1 · Jun 10, 2013

My school is about 40 minutes away and I then another 35 minutes to work where I work 8 he's plus spending time with family and studying.

MaleriAnn · Jun 10, 2013

I'm in an RN program, my school is about an hour away, and I generally work anywhere between 20-40 hours a week during the school year. Our clinical locations are pretty flexible though, and some locations are closer to my home than others; I've never had an issue with traveling to and from class or clinical.

berk15 · Jun 10, 2013

That's a hard question to answer...it's all your preference how much you're comfortable working during school. I worked 36-50 hours a week during my two year RN program. It's definitely doable if you put your mind to it! And my school was 30 minutes away with clinical sites up to an hour away. Good luck for the remainder of your schooling! :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 10, 2013

I lived 95 miles away from the LVN program each way, or 190 miles round trip. The commute took 90 minutes each way when traffic was flowing smoothly.

School hours were Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 3:00pm. I did not work during the 12 months that I attended this school. Instead, I lived off unemployment payments and my savings, which were enough to pay my mortgage and other bills during that year.

While attending an RN bridge program I worked two 16-hour shifts as an LVN every weekend. School hours were Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm, and clinical shifts were every Wednesday from 6:00am to 2:00pm. I lived 225 miles away from this school each way.