My husband and I have been trying to conceive since February. Although, we recently made the decision that I should go back to school. I currently have a Bachelors of Arts degree in an unrelated field (Comparative Religions & Psych).
I have applied to an accelerated program that would have a start date of May 2016 (it is my assumption that because this is entrance into the nursing program itself (no pre-reqs) that it will be 3 semesters of work - including general nursing courses and clinicals) This is an ADN program - so upon graduation I would find a job and then work on a bridge program from RN-BSN.
I have also applied to a school for a BSN program. It will take 3 years - 1 year to complete general science and pre-reqs and then 2 years for the upper division nursing program. I would graduate with a BSN.
So...my question for those in school or out of school - should we stop trying for a baby? Should I put our baby plans on pause? I'm currently 28 years old. I have one son who will be 6 in August.
I was really excited about trying to have another baby, but I'm also excited about Nursing School. I don't want to jeopardize anything, but I also don't want to put my family goals on hold. I know that I'll only be 31 when I graduate, and I could possible get pregnant in the last semester of school and have a baby shortly after graduation...I just am unsure. I'm excited about school, but sad about postponing a baby.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I also would be interested in hearing from second degree students on the timeline for their RN or BSN.
Will this work even if someone got it in arts/ linguistics etc? like something not related to science?
The difference is structure of program. If you go for a degree with the ability to schedule classes more flexibly, or even online, then I do believe both at once would be possible, and maybe even a good idea if you want your family before starting a new career. With nursing, you don't get much of a choice in when or where you need to be. You will have 8-12 hour clinical days often 2+ days per week. It's just not as flexible if you have a need for down time or, forbid, you need bed rest or have a premature or difficult birth experience. You will also not be able to bring baby with you to clinicals if you breast feed, so you'll need to pump, which may be awkward if your cohort doesn't "get" how that works or how time consuming pumping is. It's just different. Different demands, different schedule, different culture. Not impossible, but much harder.
Will this work even if someone got it in arts/ linguistics etc? like something not related to science?
An Accelerated BSN is entirely possible even for someone with a non-science background. My first degree was a BFA (read - no math or science courses at all). Most ABSN programs care that you have a bachelor's degree in something, but they don't really care what it is. It might take a little longer to get through the prereqs, though, if you didn't take sciences in your first go-round at college.
I spent about a year and a half on prereqs (but I was also taking prereqs for multiple programs, just in case, so I probably could have done them in a year). Then I spent a year in my ABSN.
An accelerated BSN is entirely possible even for someone with a non-science background. My first degree was a BFA (read - no math or science courses at all). Most ABSN programs care that you have a bachelor's degree in something, but they don't really care what it is. It might take a little longer to get through the prereqs, though, if you didn't take sciences in your first go-round at college.
I spent about a year and a half on prereqs (but I was also taking prereqs for multiple programs, just in case, so I probably could have done them in a year). Then I spent a year in my ABSN.
Oops.... It appears I read the question and misunderstood it completely. This answer is true of the program local to me. I thought she was asking if pregnancy would be easier/doable in an arts program vs. nursing.
OP, I'm a second degree student who got pregnant during nursing school.
I think you're going to need to figure out how to time it. Nursing school is much less flexible than the "real world." You really can't miss clinicals. No way can you miss several weeks of clinicals for even a relatively short maternity leave. If you do, you run the risk of having to withdraw for the semester, and, depending on how the program is structured, you may need to wait another full year before you have the opportunity to retake that course.
The only way I would tell you it's okay to have a baby during nursing school is if you somehow manage to time the pregnancy so the baby comes at the start of a long break (like if you're doing that BSN program where there are presumably no summer classes, and you can manage to have the baby in June, recover over the summer, and go back in August when term starts again). But even then, you're going to be dealing with an infant who probably doesn't sleep through the night. Nursing school is hard enough without adding in the sleep deprivation of new parenthood. You will definitely need someone else who can take care of the baby so you can get study time, too.
I got pregnant my last semester of nursing school. The timing was not great. I was often light-headed and nauseated at clinicals. My increased sensitivity to smells made it difficult to deal with the ordinary bodily fluids of a med-surg floor. There were times I couldn't take a particular patient or even go into a particular room because a patient had a disease that could potentially harm the developing fetus. Because I was obviously pregnant by the time I passed the NCLEX, I was sidelined for several months while my classmates got jobs and I waited for the baby to be born. Fortunately, I was able to land a job during that time, and the hospital set my start for 12 weeks past my due date. So, basically, they gave me maternity leave before beginning work. I would not have been eligible for FMLA had I started earlier.
I think you need to either have the baby now and then go to nursing school, or wait to have a baby after you finish. You'd probably be okay getting pregnant about 6-8 months before graduation, struggling through your pregnancy, and taking some time to be with your baby as you job hunt after graduation. You don't want to be like me and have too much time between graduation and the time you are available to start work because you risk getting 'stale' in the job market.
I am in an ADN program; it took me 2 years to complete my pre-reqs before I could apply for clinicals. I was denied the first time I applied, so I reapplied, and got in the 2nd time. I just completed my first semester of clinicals.
I, personally, would wait until you graduate or are close to it, to continue TTC. My 2nd pregnancy was MUCH harder on me physically than my 1st. I would definitely have had a hard time being able to devote the time and energy needed for nursing school. In addition, you never know what will happen. I was actually working on my pre-requisites when I got pregnant, and at the anatomy scan, my daughter was diagnosed with a potentially fatal birth defect. I spent the rest of my pregnancy in a state of panic, and she then required extensive medical care for the first six months of her life. I had to drop out of school, because I was not able to concentrate at all.
ixchel
4,547 Posts
The difference is structure of program. If you go for a degree with the ability to schedule classes more flexibly, or even online, then I do believe both at once would be possible, and maybe even a good idea if you want your family before starting a new career. With nursing, you don't get much of a choice in when or where you need to be. You will have 8-12 hour clinical days often 2+ days per week. It's just not as flexible if you have a need for down time or, forbid, you need bed rest or have a premature or difficult birth experience. You will also not be able to bring baby with you to clinicals if you breast feed, so you'll need to pump, which may be awkward if your cohort doesn't "get" how that works or how time consuming pumping is. It's just different. Different demands, different schedule, different culture. Not impossible, but much harder.