Part-time or hungry?

[cleanmedia]

I teach high school math and want to become a nurse. So two questions really. First, does anyone know if there are any part-time programs out there - LVN or ADN (RN), so I could continue to eat while schooling? Second, since I am not in bachelor's degree mode any more, rather in real-world working mode, (know what I mean?), how would you complete a nursing program full-time - financially speaking - in terms of the personal expenses, even if your bills aren't huge? Work part time, with private loans to cover the rest? Will banks make loans for personal expenses while in school? (I did not take any loans while in undergrad) Not sure how this works. Thanks so very much for everybody's kind consideration and thoughts.

[RunBabyRN]

RNsRWE do you have statistics on that? What confuses me is there are X amount of nursing schools that can only create X amounts of students. So even if there is a 10 year waiting list you are still only going to have X amount of new nurses who graduate. I graduated from the East coast in 2007 and I have worked since day 1. In Boston and DC they are still hiring new grads constantly. And still the med surg units are always scrambling for staff. I just don't get the thousands of new grads how that is different than before. Are there hundreds of new universities? I just don't understand it. As the populating of elderly is skyrocketing..Are you talking specific jobs or even LTC facilities? Just curious.

Try applying for RN jobs in CA as a new grad. I am a new grad with several years of healthcare experience. I also have good connections. I've applied to over FIVE HUNDRED jobs. I have one VERY part time job doing health fairs at HALF the going rate for nurses in my area. Forget trying to get into my desired field. I'm still applying like crazy. RNsRWe isn't kidding about the unemployment rate for CA new grads. It's about 47% last I heard. This article from last year says 43% for the first 18 MONTHS. For nursing jobs, new grads need not apply - Jan. 14, 2013

It's no joke, and not for the faint of heart.

Yes, the population is aging. However, we're also releasing people from the hospital MUCH earlier than we used to. We're not admitting people that we used to admit. The retirement accounts of nurses are still recovering from the 2008 crash. They can't afford to retire, even now (I've spoken with several seasoned nurses about this).

Additionally, about programs in CA, within the California State University (CSU) system, the stats in 2011 and 2012 (when I was applying) were that most schools received about 10x as many applicants as they had slots. So for one program I applied to with 80 slots, they received about 800 applicants. It's EXTREMELY competitive. As far as the wait lists go, some schools keep a running wait list, but others make you keep applying, and you just have to hope that the caliber of candidates is lower if you didn't get accepted the last time.

Take a dip in the California forum. It's QUITE different from Georgia.

Also, OP, don't forget about out-of-state tuition, depending on where you move. You will need to establish residency if you want to avoid this. I know in CA it can be very high, and I'm sure this is the case elsewhere as well. You're also right about the cost of living, in most places. If you choose the central valley, like Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, or other areas like those, you will find it's much less than, say, San Diego, San Francisco, or Los Angeles. Poke around to get a sense.

[Spangle Brown]

I'm sure you all ready thought of this, but you can be a substitute teacher. If your program isn't M-F, you could pick up shifts at the local school. Some people pick up jobs at their local hospital to help pay the bills and get their foot in the door.