Part-time Flexible Jobs for RN student/single mothers?

[Cruzan_RN, ADN]

I got into the RN program at my school and I begin in August. I am a single mother of a 1.5 year old with pretty much no help when it comes to caring for him.

After viewing the tentative schedule for the course (which is 4dats a week, 5 if we have an exam), getting advice from other RN grads & watching videos and reading articles, I sat down and developed a schedule to help me balance out my week and it was perfect until I realized that there isn't much room for work.

I receive public assistance, but I hate being in this system. I also have bills that public assistance doesn't cover so not working isn't exactly an option. I got a job at a home health agency, which I thought would be great because of the flexibility, but the agency is crappy, they pay no attention to your availability, trying to get scheduled is a nightmare as no one returns emails or calls & I still have yet to receive pay for orientation (it's been a month). I thought I could work a few hours with them Saturday mornings and on the mornings of the set aside exam days when there is no exam, and still be out in time to pick up my son from daycare; but if it's going to be such a nightmare I feel like it's not worth it.

I've read article after article about jobs for nursing students and searched and searched for jobs that'll fit, but companies want one year experience for HHAs/CNAs & I just was licensed so I don't have that. I'm becoming discouraged and have no idea what to do. My advisor only recommended working 8-10 hours of you really need to work but she really doesn't recommend working at all.

are there any jobs anyone knows of that are flexible and don't require a ton of hours

[Pandamom44]

You can try doing private home care. I did that and it worked great for me. You can make your own schedule so that it fits with the rest of your life. Try care.com. best of luck :)

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Look at hospital jobs and try to get a feel for what kind of positions are available. A lot require at least 24 hours a week though. We do have some positions that are 12 per week and some are completely per diem. Most departments ultimately like students but don't necessarily like the headaches of scheduling them.

Try to look at a variety of positions and see what their requirements are. Take a look at unit clerks/ward secretaries/unit secretaries, transporters, ambulette drivers, patient sitters, patient care techs, nursing techs, nursing assistants, etc. There are a lot of positions that may go by different names within the hospital. Even dietary or environmental services are potential options.

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

Aside from looking for hospital jobs, why not look into working at your school as a student worker or see if your school has a "work study" program? I was a student worker (basically tutoring and filing) for about 2 years and I loved it. Staff was amazing, job was easy, not the best pay, but it was better than working minimum wage at fast food place or something and best of all, they worked with my school schedule. Student workers at my school worked no more than 19 hours a week (that was the max) with a majority working about half that. I too agree with looking into doing private home care. I had a classmate that did that the entire program. For her, she worked night shift 12 hours 2-3 times a week as part time. She was used to night shift and she said it was pretty easy because she was with the same client the whole program. Though, working 12 hours will take time away from your child but I'm sure there are 8 hour or less caregiving jobs.

As much I don't recommend getting student loans unless needed to, you can look into that to temporarily help with school and cover immediate expenses over the next 2 years. I had several classmates that had done so.

[Cruzan_RN, ADN]

The main issue I have with workstudy is the pay, since I'm the only one providing for my son I need to make a little more than what work studies offer.

[Cruzan_RN, ADN]

That's what I'm trying to do because it seems like the best fit but the company I work for or got hired for is very disorganized. I've been trying to get scheduled with them but they only call on days I'm not available.