Moms in NP school - FT or PT?

7starbuck7 · Dec 5, 2007

I am just starting the ANP program in January. I am planning on taking 6 credits a semester and summers off. I work FT (three 12s). I plan to go to weekend option during the last year (clinical portion) if necessary. I have two kids, my son is in school and my daughter is in pre-school/daycare.

I had planned on finishing the program in 2.5 years by taking 6 credits a semester year-round, but my school is backed up on clinical sites, so I cannot start clinical until 2010. So I will actually take 3.5 years to complete.

D

carachel2 · Dec 9, 2007

https://allnurses.com/forums/f34/can-you-work-full-time-while-attending-np-school-262567.html

Go check that link out for more opinions on working and NP school. As one poster put it, it just depends on your tolerance for a REALLY REALLY busy life and if you have kids......your tolerance for having to tell them you are busy with school.

jlhhappy · Dec 16, 2007

I think you summed this up well and certainly, everyone has different situations. My plan is to start school full time this January and continue to work three twelve hour shifts every F, S, and Sun 15-03. My two girls are 3 and 18 months. I completed my BSN this past August via an online fast track program over the course of one year and it was challenging, to say the least. I am anticipating that grad school plans may need tweaking and I will do that as needed, particularly as I get closer to clinicals. I personally found that the younger the girls were, the easier it was for me to juggle everything. I feel compelled to mention that my husband pretty much took over all of the household chores including all of the cooking and he works part time. Support is an important factor! I would not have been able to do what I did without his support on the home front.

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Dec 17, 2007

I'm not a mom yet but am an ACNP student. I have friends in the program who are moms who are full time students, work 32 hours per week, have 3 kids and are doing fine...yet others who have all that on their plates are not doing as well. Other moms are working per diem or part time and are also doing fine. I think it just depends on you as an individual and how much time and energy and patience you have...and what you are willing to sacrifice, your financial situation, and also how quickly you want to finish your NP program.

Spacklehead, MSN, NP · Dec 19, 2007

When I started the program, my children were 1 and 3 years and I worked every weekend. I chose to do the NP program part-time so we hired a sitter to be with my children for about 3 hours the two days/week I had non-clinical classes on campus.

Now that I am in clinical courses, I only work per-diem, have class once per week on campus and 1-2 days of clinical (8 hrs/day) per week. I typically only work on the weekends and have a sitter for when I need to be at class. I am lucky enough that my parents come to stay overnight when I have my clinical days or my dh takes off to help me out, so we didn't have to find a sitter who could spend two whole days with the kids. My dc are now 3 and 5 years, so it seems like doing it all has become a little easier since they are at the ages where they enjoy entertaining each other.

It is VERY doable, especially if you have a strong support system in place (my dh and my parents). For me, it would be very tough if I didn't have them to rely on.

txfnp12 · Sep 26, 2010

thanks for the input. I will be started school in January. I am glad to here that you have been sucessful balancing family, work, and school.