Mom, FT Night Shift With Nursing School?

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What are some opinions about night shift CNA work while attending nursing school and being a mother? I'm sure others have accomplished this. I have a 10 month old son and a full time job. I am unsure what I am getting myself into in a way but I am doing it. I am taking College courses now too. My mind is made up and I am going to make it! I was just curious to know some things that helped other moms through this. Seeking advice and positivity to keep me motivated!

Be very careful working full time nights. Nursing classes and clinicals are held during day time hours. You also need time to study. I recall one of my former students who was working 32 hours a week in a hospital as a nursing assistant to support her family.She was also a mom. Unfortunately=she remained a CNA as she failed out of nursing school as she had too much on her plate.

Good luck!

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I agree with you about working full time. I was trying to pay my car off, i have been working overtime with incentive lately to do so. And if it works, i should finish it paying it off in July, then start nursing school in august. I think at the most ill work 32, if i can. I will do one 16 at the least. I am a float staff member. I don't know if it works this way but my thinking was.. go to the floors that we are studying and bug the nurses with our material-related questions to understand in real time and place it to a real case..

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I'm not sure if you are talking to me or not, so I will just assume you were. During the first and possibly second semester, I worked some evenings, it was rough. Fortunately, at that job, I COULD (and did!) study on my down time. But there were a few occasions where I was so tired, I slept in my car at campus waiting to go and practice skills or whatever. I busted my butt to take no other courses during the semester other than what I had to. Our first semester we had nursing lecture a couple times a week, lab once a week for a couple/few hours, clinicals (two shorter days first semester, one full day later semesters), and clinical calculations once a week, not counting lab practice. Doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it was. I think that was 10 credits. I took all my sciences before getting into nursing with the exception of micro and chem, which I took during the 6 week summer session (11 credits that summer, crazy, but I did it!). My days were not full from sun up to sun down, no. I lived far from campus but worked near campus, so I'd stay there pretty much all day, using my free time to work on things for class, study, whatever. I'd highly suggest not taking any other classes with the nursing courses if you can manage it. Helped me a LOT! I'm very glad I did this. However, if you have to take other classes at the same time, your days will certainly be more full. Night time is a good time to study, do homework, and sleep, lol. When I shifted my hours to weekends, things were easier. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and are already trying to make things easier for you, I understand wanting to pay that car off now and think it's a good idea. Do everything you can to give yourself as much time and breathing room as possible in nursing school... they will keep you plenty busy for the most part. Feel free to ask any questions you want. I'm snowed in. :)

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I'm sorry to hear that!I live in FL, its chilly but nothing like snowy weather. I have taken all pre reqs so those aside, the nursing program I am taking seems very extensive. I was reading some study/prep blogs and one mentioned using an Nclex prep book such as saunders. Did you use one? If so, was it beneficial and do you think i could start one? Ill have summer off waiting for acceptance or denial.:nailbiting::no::banghead: BUT during that time im going to do a TEAS practice book and possibly start a saunders book if i believe it to be worth it.

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I'm sorry to hear that!I live in FL, its chilly but nothing like snowy weather. I have taken all pre reqs so those aside, the nursing program I am taking seems very extensive. I was reading some study/prep blogs and one mentioned using an Nclex prep book such as saunders. Did you use one? If so, was it beneficial and do you think i could start one? Ill have summer off waiting for acceptance or denial.:nailbiting::no::banghead: BUT during that time im going to do a TEAS practice book and possibly start a saunders book if i believe it to be worth it.

Theres no point in buying a NCLEX prep book if you have not even started nursing school. I would use this time to save up as much money as I could and RELAX.

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I wonder if that was me that wrote that, lol. Yes, I did use Saunders, but the comprehensive nclex review one (they have more than one). Saunders is great, Pearson is good too, they are both similar, I found Pearson perhaps a little harder, but they make the NCLEX. :) You don't need both of them. However, I found them a GREAT resource DURING school. I didn't use the nclex review books really when I was doing my hard core studying after graduation and before taking the nclex. In fact, I'd say it is way, way, waaaay too much info to learn and use before the nclex. However, during school it was wonderful! I am pretty sure I would have been the first reading related death had I actually read all the assigned chapters in school. I relied heavily on Saunder's and worked my way through each topic by using their outlines.. they hit all of the really important stuff. So, I'd say once you are in med surg, YES absolutely, get and use saunders. In fundamentals, maybe (I don't remember if they have a fundamentals section, but I think they do). But, for now I think it's too much. I think the best use of your time right now would be: #1 brushing up on math skills (I recommend dimensional analysis), #2 taking any required course(s) you can during the summer (bio, a&p, chem, micro) that are co-requisites a lot of the time (you said pre-requisites are done, but have you taken all the other courses that are required?) #3 having a life, seeing friends and family and, last but not least #4 get yourself a copy of the text they use in your class and start reading it. Probably a fundamentals text. Use that and maybe get one of those fundamentals NCLEX style question books (I *think* Davis makes one, but there are others too), and use those. That is exactly what I would do if I had to do this over. Fundamentals are, well, fundamental, lol. Getting a good grasp on them, AND the material you will be required to know, puts you way ahead of the game. Read the info and test yourself with the nclex style questions, you will be off to a good start, im my opinion.

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There was a friend at work who said they feel fundamentals helped them a lot. Are they all pretty close to the same info or do they differ a lot?

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As another poster said, saving money and relaxing are good strategies as well. However, I am of the mind that if you want to get ahead, might as well try, but I'd urge you not to knock yourself out. This is your last time to relax for a while. I also concur about the NCLEX prep book, I wouldn't use it now.

I don't know if I am understanding your question or not, you asked if all of them are pretty similiar- do you mean are all fundamentals text books similiar? I don't know, unfortunately, but I would assume so. HOWEVER, some texts use Maslow's hierarchy of needs, some use Gordon's functional health patterns, and that can make a major difference in how the info is set up. Our school used Maslow but the text was Gordon's, so information wasn't aligned as well as it could have been. I'd suggest seeing what books the school uses and buying a used copy (not too old) of that online. If you are going to learn it, might as well get it from the exact same source you will be tested on. If you were asking about review books, again, I'd say they probably more or less cover the same info, and which you choose is largely a preference in how it is set up and how easy it is to understand. If you are going to get a review book for fundamentals, I do suggest getting one with NCLEX style questions. Again, cheap option is to buy one online (I like half.com, but be sure to know exactly what you are buying).

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Thank you for the advice, i looked at a few free applications to use for this too. I was just testing on some. I understand quite a bit of this thanks to being a CNA for a while!

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I am currently working nights as a CNA, but when I start the nursing program this fall I will be going to evening hours since my classes will be during the day. I can't afford to work less than 32 hours a week, so hopefully Ill be able to handle it. No kids. Has anyone else worked evening shifts while going to nursing school and how doable is it?

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Someone mentioned that it was very hard on them but doable and probably wouldnt be able to with kids ... stay focused! :yes:

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It can be done. Every school is a little different and every person is a little different in what they can make work. It can be done, but the more you have going on, the harder it will likely be. A lot of people cannot take the pressure and pass the course or quit themselves. It's all about perfecting time management. The more together the school, the better. The best source is students from the program you want to go to.

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