MSN/FNP Student needs advice...stick with it or quit?

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BSN/RN IN NEED OF ADVICE... I am currently studying for my MSN/FNP through an online program at Tennessee State Univ. I am a stay at home mom and pregnant with my third child in four years. I became a RN, worked eight months at Vanderbilt, then got pregnant and had hyperemesis. I've been home since then and plan to stay home until my unborn (youngest starts preschool). In the meantime i'm working toward the MSN.

This to say, by the time I have to leave for clinicals I will have a 4, 2, and 1 year old at home. My clinicals will require me to be gone 40 hours/wk for four consecutive semesters for 3wks, 6wks, 3wks, and another 6wks...and after these four semesters i'm finished. Both grandmothers will have to fly in to be with the little people while i'm away as we have no family here being former military. This will strain both sides of the family but they are all willing to help.

My dilemma is this...should I proceed with the MSN or walk away. I am struggling with leaving my little people at such a sweet time for so long (I know this sounds ridiculous to some...but being home with them is all I know and such a blessing). I am happy with my current degree and licensure and can make a great living as a second income with what I have. On the other hand, I can't foresee in five or ten years what my career will entail. Will I regret not knocking out the MSN while my kids are babies or will I be just as happy being a RN? I don't want to go back later, it is now or never for three reasons. One, I have a 6 year window to finish with TSU and if I don't proceed that will close (don't want to retake those core classes). Two, I don't want to wait until the kids are in school because I want to enter the workforce in my mid 40s instead of STILL being a student. Third, if I wait NP will require the DNP and well, enough said. RN VS FNP...what role do I want? Both are appealing and I have equal respect and admiration for both roles. The money isn't a consideration in the immediate...but in 15 to 18 years i'll have children entering college, elderly parents, and be pushing retirement age myself, all at once. At the same time my husband is in healthcare as well, and we would be fine with whatever I decide. Will it be worth leaving my sweet babies in the long run? Is there a NP out there who has been a RN with advice? Have any of you been home with little ones? The time is fleeting and I want to soak it all in. But I have to decide now...my 6 years to finish this degree with TSU is closing. Do I proceed or quit? Do I stick with the education and licensure I am blessed to already have? Do I go for the MSN and suck up the heartache of leaving my babies...to think that in the long run it will be the better road?

Help!!! :banghead: p.s..I posted this in post-graduate hoping to gain additional insight from a NP already in the field.

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Specializes in Plastic Surgery, ER.

a.malone,

I'm kind of struggling with the same thing, except I only have 2 kids (11 and 6 months).

I worked full time and went to school full time while beginning when my son was 4 months old. He spent a lot of time with the sitter and grandma. At that point, school was something I had to do because I was a single Mom and needed more income.

Now, I am married and school is optional. My husband is also in healthcare and extra income is not a deciding factor in continuing education. It is a personal goal. I found out I was pregnant 2 weeks after starting my first semester of grad school. So far it has worked out ok. I left my M-F job and went to 2-3 nights per week. However, the next 3-4 semesters look really intense with reading and clinicals.

I have really enjoyed being home with the baby and really dread clinicals simply because of the time it will take away from her. I promised myself I would cut back my course load if it became an issue, but I'm already in the curriculum spread out over the most semesters. I also only took one class last spring while she was a newborn. I'm having to make that up this semester which means 9 credits!

Right now I plan on plugging forward and hope it is the best decision. I'm doing an online program so only clinicals actually take me away from home, but the other assignments and reading are getting more difficult with the little one becoming more busy!

Sorry I don't really have an answer for you. I guess I just vented right along with ya and hoping for the best.

Good luck to you whatever you decide!

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.

Honestly?

Your kids are little only once. Nursing can wait.

I know the DNP program sounds daunting, but don't let that push you into completing a MSN if you're already so stressed. Take some time. Enjoy your children, husband and home. If you choose to go back into nursing when there's more time for you, there will be programs. You may need a refresher course. And you may need a stint working in med-surg, OB, gerontology, whatever to help you regain any clinical skills you lost over your hiatus.

No education is ever a waste. Even if you don't finish your MSN now, you still have the knowledge you gained from your courses. Plus, if the DNP becomes standard, you, as an MSN FNP, could stand to lose out on jobs for which you're qualified---but competing with DNPs.

Please take care!

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Specializes in Pediatric Intensive Care, Urgent Care.

Honestly, in reading your post I think you've already made a great point for getting done now. There is no GOOD time. There's only tough and slightly tough...so if not now then when? When they're teenagers?? Yea good luck with that...they will actually need MORE guidance and MORE of your presence then. Four semesters doesn't sound like a long time. Take it while you can get it. But, again it's your decision...don't delay the inevitable or you just might succeed in it becoming evitable.

Mex

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All of you have such good points, thanks so much for your reply. I roll all of this around all the time. If i'm going back it has to be this Jan to make my 6 yr window...and i'll JUST be sleeping through the night with the newborn. I won't start clincals until the fall though..

92mxmom: yes the course load is worrisome to me. I think I can suck up the time away...what worries me more is that i'm going to be nutty like I was in undergrad nursing. My BSN about pushed my husband to the brink of sanity because it usurped every ounce of energy I had, physical and emotional...anybody else go through this? So far grad school has been easier...I wonder if it is because I took research to get my BSN and had a crazy hard class and was well prepared for the grad level. I wonder if the other classes will follow suit? Do any of you out there know...grad school so far is like a refresher of the BSN with just a little more reading and a bit more free thinking...will the courses linked to the clinicals be as painful as the BSN adult health and maternal child...or will it be the diagnostic/assessment driven side of the same material? 92mxmom and I could really use an answer on that I think..? Good luck to you 92mxmom in your decision also!!

Moogie: I hear you!! I thought perhaps I would go with RN and just say heck with it. The DNP won't be too much more than the MSN...my husband is grand-fathered in as an OT with his masters and the new OTs are all DTPs now...but it hasn't hindered him at all...experience in HIS field still pays much more and from what he has gathered they have more education but not much...The "D" makes the public feel warm and fuzzy I guess. So with that to say...I don't think the DNP will be any more daunting than the MSN...just might take longer!! Indeed nursing has to wait...my husband told me yesterday that I just need to have this baby in October (our third), reapply for spring, and see how the next three or four months go. Thanks so much for your insight and honesty. You sound experienced...any answers to any of these questions?

Mex: you present the flip of this coin...knock it out because when they are teens I REALLY want to be able to go on fun vacations in the summer and have the pursuit of education be all about them. I just REALLY want to have moved on in life and not have that feeling like i'm still waiting for tomorrow. When I get this then i'll... You know? Thanks for your opinion!!

All of your opinions and ideas are so helpful...can any of you help to explain how hard or how doable the classes associated with clinicals are? I'm good with academics and actually struggled more with clinical rotations in undergrad. I can recite the text but can't start an IV..lol. Sad but true. Any insight into the real world of NP and how family friendly or lucrative it is vs. staying at the RN level?? Thanks!

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Specializes in ER and family advanced nursing practice.

i started fnp school when my son was 3 months. i also worked full time (three 12's/week) and then when my clinicals started i went to two 12's a week. believe it or not you will still be able to spend time with your family, but you just have to really regiment that time. make a schedule and stick to it.

my initial reasoning was that i wanted to have more options (advanced practice, teaching, or management) that you get with a msn/fnp degree. this helps the children as much as it does us. i also reasoned that i didn't want to miss out on things when my son got older.

there really is no good time, and your studies will go by fast. i have three months left. i can't believe it. i have been able to be an active participant in my son's first years. when i graduate, i will be able to provide just that much more for him. i say go for it.

ivan

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Hello,

I can truly say that I know what you are going through. I had a 9 year old child when I entered my NP program. I was going full-time for the first year and a half then I got pregnant...TWICE for the remainder of the program. I was commuting 60+ miles for both my clinicals and classes (each way from and going to home) and returned 2 weeks post-partum to resume both clinicals and classes. I can truly understand how you feel caught in the middle with both your obligations. I cannot exactly say what you should do. But I can share with you that I have experienced something similar to what you are going through right now. I had to carefully consider my family commitments and my future career choices. If you have a supportive family who is willing to watch your children, I think you are very lucky at this point in your life to have that, whereas, I didn't. You may also need to think about as you said how the DNP will be the entry level for future practice and also that it will become more competitive to enter grad school, since the nursing shortage will effect nursing education as well (i.e. limited grad school admissions due to shortage of faculty). If finances and support are not currently an issue...and the door is open for you to advance your education...I think it would be a great investment in your career and as a parent. Yes, grad school is very time consuming but if you are not working, you will eventually find a routine (which requires a lot of planning ahead) that will make this work out for you. And in the end you will be soo glad you did it! I just finished my program and I am so glad that I didn't quit! There is no wrong decision in your situation, but you have to know that if you decide to pursue this, make sure your partner will be very supportive and understanding of your decision. Because support is so crucial in times like this. Good luck and I wish you the best in your decision.

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Thanks Ivan and Water Lily..good stuff. I really appreciate it! I think we have decided to not decide! I am going to push pause on this decision until our oldest starts preschool and we have the last baby..all this fall. Spring semester, Jan, i'm going to commit or quit and plan to return later. Your comments are very encouraging to me! I think it would indeed be worth it and I have one grama retired and one retiring this fall....I think we can do it!

Blessings!

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