Part time nursing?

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I am at the very beginning of my nursing school (still working on pre-reqs) and I am already worried sick. Since reading the majority of these posts it seems that I am justified in my terror.

My friends and family seem to be confident in my ability to handle not only schooling but the overload of stress none of us can even comprehend at this point. But, in reality. I have been diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder for the past ten years. As a matter of fact, I have been receiving disability for said Bipolar.

I have a three year old daughter that I want to give as much as I possibly can to. Financially and Emotionally. I feel like I am committed to school, I feel like it will require an enormous amount of effort on my part that I am willing to take on.

But I am not a dillusional optimist. If the average intelligent woman who doesn't suffer from any diagnosed mental disorder wants to walk out before a solid year on a med-surg unit. Is there no hope for me at all?

My mother went through Hospice care. And I was fortunate enough to be there with her throughout. I dont know what the nurses did behind the scenes, but there with her they were all angels and eventually I would like to be a part of the strength that helps people at the end stages of life.

I am definitely caring and compassionate but I feel that perhaps in these times that might actually be a downfall for a nurse and the ones that do succeed are the coldhearded unbreakable types. I hope in time I will learn to be less sensitive and thicker skinned but even so, I will still be bipolar.

The bottom line is, I need to earn a good living wage, I need to provide a good life for my only child. I need to overcome the obstacles that God has given me. But at the same time, I have to be realistic and take care of myself and my own sheer sanity. How possible is it for an RN in a hospital setting to work part time? Approximately 30 hours a week? Is it absolutely unheard of? I live in Michigan. Every post in the paper is for an RN.

At this point, there is a three year waiting period for clinicals at Mott Community College, so in the meantime I could get an associates in a completely different degree to fall back on. My heart is telling me nursing. I know there is no crystal ball, I'm just looking for input.

Thank you for listening.

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If it is Hospice care nursing that you want go directly there. You could start as a volunteer. Many good hospice groups have volunteers that sit vigil with patients in nursing homes; they provide comfort and caring in the last days or hours of life. When I was a LTC nurse I made use of the vigil sitters as much as possible. Some were great; they played peaceful music softly, rubbed lotion onto dried out skin and lips, in general provided a human presence for the patient and family. These vigil volunteers are not usually health care types, but health care is not the important piece, comfort care is. So try volunteering, or get a position as a hospice health care aide, they provide more care to the patient near the end of life than staff CNA's and Nurses can. There is lots of conflicting advice whether all nurses need to do their time on a med-surg unit. If you are sure of your direction, there really is no need for that. Research your local hospice care organizitions for more direction and look at allnurses hospice nurse thread. Good luck.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Please reinforce your coping skills. Please make sure you take your medicines. Please make sure you have ways to relieve your stress.

That being said. (I am VERY PRAGMATIC)...

Good luck, it's doable. And YOU have to realize that although you have this "challenge" it will be up to YOU to make sure that you are able to handle it. Your future colleagues will thank you.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

And yes, to "survive" this career and prevent burn-out, you have to reconcile that you can't save everyone and it's NOT your job to save. It is your job to be effective in providing compassionate care, to the best of your ability; and your job to move forward, no matter the outcome.

That's it. Simple? Yeah, in theory. Realistically? That's where coping comes in.

Again, good luck.

Jo

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thank you for your responces, I will find out about going to straight to hospice. Still dont know whether or not part time is possible, will find out eventually. Thanks again. God Bless.

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If your heart, as you say, is telling you that nursing is it, then stick with that! This profession is ever-evolving, and in 3 years the job market will probably loosen up considerably.

Regarding working part-time: I graduated with a gal who had 4 kids at home, and she was able to go part-time (right after graduation) at a local hospital on a PACU floor. She just knew that full-time hours would suck too much time and energy away from her kids. She is coping well. I work (pediatric home health) with a couple nurses who piece together 2 part-time jobs to make a full-time schedule, simply because they like the variety of working in a couple different areas.

By the way, I do not know of *any* people in my graduating class (we were small....about 12 or 13) who went straight to med-surg.

Best of luck in your journey!

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If your heart, as you say, is telling you that nursing is it, then stick with that! This profession is ever-evolving, and in 3 years the job market will probably loosen up considerably.

Regarding working part-time: I graduated with a gal who had 4 kids at home, and she was able to go part-time (right after graduation) at a local hospital on a PACU floor. She just knew that full-time hours would suck too much time and energy away from her kids. She is coping well. I work (pediatric home health) with a couple nurses who piece together 2 part-time jobs to make a full-time schedule, simply because they like the variety of working in a couple different areas.

By the way, I do not know of *any* people in my graduating class (we were small....about 12 or 13) who went straight to med-surg.

Best of luck in your journey!

Carl!

Very insightful post. Thank you! There are so many options available with nursing, and I do so appreciate hearing about them. Thanks for taking the time to tell me about you and your colleagues situations. I do have a long journey, but I am excited about the process.

Have a great evening.

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