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!

I had a group of study partners in A&P 1&2 but those ladies have gone separate ways and one has already graduated and is an RN. I can not wait to get started on this journey and i hope to make good study partners because i did not get a good group for one of my classes and it was bad. But i have learned that its ultimately on me for knowing all of this information. At this point, it would be lovely to have a study group but at the same time I'm relying on no one.

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I currently work full time overnights and have two children ages 8 and 12. I think the only reason I am succeeding with this schedule in nursing school is because I have independent children that don't require constant supervision. I can not imagine doing it with a 10 month old without having extensive support. I'm sure it can be done but I think you would sacrifice a lot of your own self care to achieve it.

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What do you mean by self care? My sanity? Lol all i know is that all of this is for our future and it has to be done. Plus its what i love to do.

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What do you mean by self care? My sanity? Lol all i know is that all of this is for our future and it has to be done. Plus its what i love to do.

As someone who is in nursing school right now, I can tell you the most important key is TIME MANAGEMENT. You NEED time to study, to sit down and read, to look over the powerpoints, to do practice questions. I study EVERYDAY for 3-5 hours a day. I cannot imagine working nights, getting off of a long 12 hour shift, tending to a baby that young and STILL finding the time to study. You're going to be exhausted. I'm not saying that it cant be done, but that type of schedule is going to be EXTREMELY draining on your mental, physical and emotional health. I wish you good luck.

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Yes, It is sometimes now! heh I didnt bring that up at work but I believe i can work my way to that. I agree with you I should not work over night and do this because ill lose my mind. My son sleeps at night. I now have broken 5 hours of sleep when i work. Meaning I go to bed at 9am after work(7p-7a) which is after I feed him breakfast. Then, I wake up to feed him lunch at noon. Then I am awake for the day at 2pm because I have homework, laundry, dishes, ...etc then i go back to work. I have baby proofed my livingroom and i lay on the couch. He now slaps me in the face to let me know if he needs something which is usually around 11 am when he poops... Its not the best but right now I do what I have to and I understand that this wont be forever but will benefit us in the long run. I can't enjoy raising my son when I have to work 24-7 for CNA pay when there is more I could possibly do now to change that!

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I'm a mom and I work PRN and there is no way I would be able to work full time and go to school. There is so much time spent outside of class studying that I would be more burnt out than I am without working that much! Kids get sick, you may get sick, nursing schedules and clinicals change all the time literally without much notice. I would really reconsider working full-time. Maybe once a week, as that is what I am able to manage and that is with a ton of help from my husband and family. Good luck.

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Yes, i think that is where i am headed. maybe one day a week but one 16 hr shift and just suffer that day.. it really depends! How do you feel about being a CNA while in school? Do you work in a hospital?? I am on the float team so I have the ability to go to certain floors to pick the nurses brains.. :)

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That sounds really, really tough. I was working overnights in LTC during my prerequisites, but I resigned before the holidays because I start my ADN next month (I have a 2-yr-old and an 11-yr-old in competitive gymnastics). This may not be a viable option, but I make decent side money selling plasma, doing surveys and mystery shopping. I also use rebate apps like Ibotta and sell stuff on EBay when I can. I net $400-500/month this way. Maybe you can scale back on your hours and cut back somewhere else, or do a couple of the things I mentioned?

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