New Grad Per Diem, Now School or 2nd Job?

[nurseinstinct]

Hi community,

I graduated 6 months ago. Since then, I have worked a summer camp RN job and I now work per diem as a Nurse Advocate in Resident Health & Wellness. I have seen critiques about new grads and home health but I have built upon my confidence and am grateful to have more exposure to one-on-one NP/MD coordination, care management with billing, etc. I plan to return to school as a clinical nurse specialist, nursing professor, NP, who knows. All this management exposure validated my gut feeling that I may like outpatient more.

My question is: Would you recommend a second PD/PT job or pursuing my graduate career sooner than later? (I hoped to wait 1-2+ years.) I pay monthly fees on apartment, car, etc. I have enough savings to hold me over temporarily. I feel uncertain about what to do because while I should make more money for graduate school, I don't want to pursue 2 part time jobs, one job which I will need to drop for school later on. Also, I'm not sure if taking a second job would be unwise or rude to this new Wellness job that already has me on a semi-structured schedule. I recognize that I have not really stayed with a company more than 2 years and I want to change that pattern. All feedback is welcome, thanks for hearing me out.

[firstinfamily, RN]

Have you considered on-line college to continue your education? I find this method of education is very thorough and challenging, plus the benefits of communicating with other nurses throughout the country. The tuition cost may be more than the block college, but you would not be paying for meals, parking, travel with gas expenses etc. Plus, there is some sort of gratification when you can attend class in your pajamas!!! I would look into continuing your education as the healthcare field is changing it seems nurses with advance degrees and practice will be the ones who will be in more demand. Depends what your financial needs are now and later.

[nurseinstinct]

I agree with your view of the healthcare field! Especially with the baby boomer situation, I'm glad to be in a health and wellness setting to see the span of independent to completely dependent residents. I've looked into your suggestion and Georgetown has online FNP/ Women's Health NP programs. I saw someone posted, "I applied to Simmons as well and their format is EXACTLY the same as Georgetown and their on-campus program has had a consistent 100% board pass rate for FNP, and they are almost $35K cheaper, so i'm holding out to see if I can get accepted at Simmons" so I'm not sure where to go from here. Anyone have online graduate program advice?