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Discussion

Nursing School hours??

I was lurking over in the Fall 08 Application thread and I was a little surprised. I've always thought NS was a fulltime deal - like an 8-5 job in a way (not really 8-5, but early in the morning into the evening, same hours everyday). So am I reading this right that its more like part-time? 1-7 2x a week and a couple hours the other 3 days? Now how cool is that!!!! I have been stressing out b/c I thought I would have to go to school all day and get a job at night. But if school is more part-time, then I could still keep the job I have now (which is an 8-5'er) just work part-time. Oh that would aleviate so much stress.

Not that I've even applied to NS yet - but I'm trying to plan ahead. :D

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  • Expert

Well, it's not really that simple. Of course, there's lots of studying to be done outside of class. In addition, lots of schools require that students go to the clinical site/hospital the afternoon/evening prior to clinical to pick up your assignment and review the charts of your assigned client(s), and then you are expected to research the diagnosis, medications, procedures, etc., and plan the appropriate nursing care for that client before you show up for clinical the following AM. Plus, there are skills labs and other types of assignments/responsibilities that you will have as a student in a nursing program that aren't reflected in the basic schedule of classes and clinicals.

Also, lots of schools have clinicals in the evenings, so you can't plan on being in school during the day and having your evenings free.

Nursing school is definitely a full-time deal (and then some!), and any job that you have during school will need to be very flexible about your scheduling/availability, because your school schedule will most likely change each semester.

Nursing school certainly does not require the number of hours that it did when I went. Which is why I have had many students during clinicals complaining that they feel overwhelmed and unprepared to work because they don't get as much clinical time to feel more confident and very little time practicing procedures compared to the older days of school.

I just got out of nursing school and it was very FULLTIME. Sure the hours don't sound fulltime.....but going to the hospital twice a week to pick a pt the day before clinicals takes at least a couple of hours.....then you have to go home and work up a bunch of paper work the night before clinical. And if something happens and that pt gets released after you picked them....well, lets not even go there. Preparing for clinical would sometimes would take me 3-4 hours. There are also clinical assignments due (process recordings, nursing care plans, teaching projects, etc) that take several hours out of what you think is a day off. You'll see.....it is FULLTIME without question. If you want to pass.....you may want to forget about working. Most everyone that I knew that worked failed. Some make it by working, but I only know of one.

haha, u think its part-time..i thought the exact same thing...oh were only taking 13hrs a semester, thats gonna b soo easy...boy was i wrong...TRUST ME, ITS A FULL TIME JOB!! just b/c ur not in class, all day, you still have soo much to study that it makes up for it, and lets not forget about clinical...

  • Expert

trust me, nursing school is a full time deal even though you won't be spending all that time in clinicals or classes. by the time you total up all the hours you should be putting in studying on your own you will come to way more than a 40-hour work week. instructors are not always going to stand over you and say "remember to study this", or "did you remember to read this?" you are often on your own to take the initiative to crack open the books and learn things on your own. nursing school is not like other classes or school courses. it is very different; nothing really compares to it. it is very unlikely that you will be able to maintain a full time job and keep up with full time nursing school studies; at some point one of them is going to have to be sacrificed so the other can survive. i worked a weekend nursing assistant job when i was in my aa nursing program and it was rough. when i went back for my bsn i cut my work hours again to weekends only and was so glad i did. i decided that school came first and that was where i put my priority and energy--it was career training, the right thinking and served me well for the next 32 years. school is only for a few years; a career is for a lot longer. you only have one crack at nursing school--you don't want to blow it because you can't retake the classes unless you flunk them. what i mean is you can meander through and pass by the skin of your teeth, be a mediocre nurse, but you don't normally get a chance to go back to school and re-do it--so put your best efforts into it from the start.

So am I reading this right that its more like part-time? 1-7 2x a week and a couple hours the other 3 days? Now how cool is that!!!! I have been stressing out b/c I thought I would have to go to school all day and get a job at night. But if school is more part-time, then I could still keep the job I have now (which is an 8-5'er) just work part-time.

It's really not that simple. You may not be in classes all day long, every day, but NS still takes up a whole lot of time. You also have clinicals to go to, which are always at least 8 hours a day, if not 12. Not to mention all the paperwork that goes along with clinicals. Then you add on all the time spent studying, writing papers, and doing other things for school. NS ends up being a full time job.

I'm not saying you can't work part time in NS, plenty of people do. I'm just saying it will be difficult. You may want to consider taking the first few months of NS off of work so that you have time to adjust to school. NS is unlike anything you've been through before, and it does take a bit of adjustment. Many of the people I go to school with didn't start working part time again until second semester. Additionally, many who worked first semester wished they hadn't.

Just some food for thought.

Yeah...clinicals are 8-12 hours a day and preparation for them usually takes hours. Nursing school is way more than a full time job.

  • Author

Thank you all for your replies. :)

My nursing school schedule was as follows:

Mon- 9a-12p class, + 2 afternoon classes

Tues- clinicals 7a-3p

Wed - 9a-12p class + 2 afternoon classes

Thurs- Clinicals 7a-3p

Fri- off

Just nursing courses can seem like a part time deal, but you need to remember you also may need to take some non nursing courses as well, depending on how your program is. My first 2 years were mainly pre-reqs/core classes for my BSN, but I also had some the last 2 years - religion, psych, sociology, etc.

I did manage to work at least 24 hours a week. I worked Tues/Thurs after clinicals from 3p-9p, and would do Fri night from 3p-11p. Occasionally I would do sundays as well.

As long as you can prioritize your assignments and studying, you should also be able to work. Not procrastinating also helps bigtime. I knew many large assignments in advance, so they were always done in advance on the weeks I didnt have a test to study for.

Good luck!

I agree it is definately NOT part time. I thought the same too, what a sweet deal going to class only 4 days a week...well the other day I spent typing up my databases plus I had to go in early the day before clinicals to pick a patient and prepare. One semester I was doing nursing stuff all day 6 days a week and almost checked myself into a mental institution. It was ridiculous.

So I would probably be able to drop off and pick up the kids from school myself?! As long as I have that, I can work around the rest.

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