I'm currently working on my prenursing classes. I have 2 young children (1 & 3) and I've been taking 8 units per semester...it's been manageable and I'm able to maintain As but my husband thinks I should start going fulltime in the fall because at the rate I'm going now, it's going to take me YEARS to get my prereqs done.
If I go full-time, I'll probably be taking 16 units per semester. Though I have to pay big bucks for childcare, the daycare they are in is really reliable, flexible and good with my kids so I know they will be fine there. My husband said we'd send them to daycare fulltime 5 days a week so I can have time to study when I don't have class....
I'm just not sure how hard it will be to juggle school full-time, homework, studying and spending enough time with the kids...anyone else doing it? I know it must be hard...but is it manageable?
I've very dedicated to my studies and determined to become an RN so I'm willing to work hard for it...I just feel bad for my kids and leaving them in daycare for so long...my reasoning is that by going back to school full-time, the sooner I can become an RN and the sooner I become an RN, the sooner I can provide them with a better future....Am I making the right decision??
Although my kids are older 9 and 11 I do feel guilty. I started working on my nursing degree summer of 2004 and I will be graduating this Dec. I do know in the end it will all be worth it. Getting this degree has been something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I know that I am setting a good example for my kids and I will provide them a better future as well. I would be fibbing if I said that it was an easy process. Nursing has taken a lot of time away from them. I spend a lot of time locked up in my room studying. I am very lucky that my husband has been supportive and I have not had to work. Hats off to single parents who work!! We are a military family so my husband does travel often, but it has been manageable. If you have family around (I don't), do not be afraid to ask for help!! Good luck!!
I have a son who is almost 2. I am almost done with my pre-reqs, I take my son to a daycare at school, he loves it there and I just go pick him up when I am done at school. I do feel bad sometimes when I have to study and be away from him but its something that I know I have to do and I want to do. I guess you have to make sure the time you spend with your kids is quality time.
2 children - 3 yr & 18mo. Have been going to school full-time since June of last year getting all of my pre- req's completed. I did work full-time prior to going to school. The babies are in daycare full-time and I feel bad, but sometimes they are the first ones there and some of the last to be picked up.
I try to make myself feel better by saying, in a few years when they want to go to Disney World, we will be able to do that and hopefully not living paycheck to paycheck anymore like we were even when I was working. Also, when they are at daycare, they are with some wonderful caregivers who spoil my 2 rotten and all of their teachers know it. I feel bad, but I know that they are happier at school than at home with a stressed out mom who is diligently trying to study. Instead, they come home, dinner is ready - a good dinner homecooked while I am studying and I get several quality hours with them, no books no tv - just the babes and Mommy. I love that time together and they don't mind since they love "school". My son cried while we were on vacation that he needed to go to school so he could tell all of his friends about his trip :) (It was our 2nd day)
Our house is a mess but that's another story - I still get all of their "moments" and treasure Saturdays and Sundays because I don't study until naptime or after bedtime. So far that has been working, study during the day, study after bedtime on the weekdays and during naptime on the weekends. I took 21 credit hours last semester and it worked out just fine - I got a 4.0 and my son was potty trained - so miracles can happen while in school :)
I see that I am not alone. My husband has decided that he wants to become a truck driver. He will not be home 2-3 weeks at a time.That put me in a bad situation. I don't have any family where I am and I felt like he was being selfish. We need the money so I came up with a plan that just might work. I decided to put my 15 month old in daycare this fall and thankfully my 5 year old is going to kindergarten this fall. My schedule is set up for the fall so I will have 3 hours of study time until it is time fro me to pick my son up and another hour and a half until time to pick up my daughter.I want to have dinner cooked and have them in bed by at least 7:30 so that I can study again until about 11. It will be soooooo stressful until I get use to not having my hubby at home with me. I want this so bad that I have no choice but to work around this mess. Good luck to all!!!
I have a 2.5 year old and a 6.5 year old. I've just finished my prereqs and am now waiting on electives (i.e. Pharm and patho) until I get into a program. I've done online and night classes to avoid daycare up to now. Once I get into a program my youngest will need to go into daycare full time. However, I think he'll be ready for preschool although not necessarily 40 hrs a week of it. Still, for our family, the decision was to stay home with my youngest until he was 3 years old and then get aggressive for school because they are little only once. But every family's situation is different and what's right for one family may not be for another.
Good luck in your decision - I know it's a tough one.
I have only this to say about a specific problem I encountered during my clinical rotations in school (I have a son).....that had to do with the clinical day, and/or the research day running late, which delayed my picking up my son...in other words, you have so much time to research your patients, and spend most of that watching their charts be passed from doctor to nurse to secretary, back to doctor, all the while the clock is ticking. Or, less-than-sympathetic instructors who didn't care if your day ran late - they would send you on some silly task and you couldn't say no. That's the main thing that comes to my mind about juggling kids and nursing school - it's the unknown suprises that blindside your house-of-cards arrangements with them.
I've got a 2 year old. I've been trying to minimize how much time he spends in childcare--I'm not thrilled with him being in there any more than he has to (though I will admit that I do like the occasional break from him). So far I have been able to swing it so I haven't had to put him in more than a couple of half-days each week.
I'm starting nursing school this fall, and I'm really worried about how I'm going to handle the clinical hours. Unfortunately my husband's stationed overseas until February and my family is all up north, plus almost none of the nursing classes are offered online (which helped me avoid putting my son in daycare often), so I don't really have a lot of backups to fall upon--like it or not I may have to put him in daycare full-time, at least for the first couple of semesters.
And in response to the OP, I agree that what to do with the kids is a very individual decision--you need to decide what's going to work best in YOUR circumstances for YOUR family. Though you'll get opinions from everyone ranging from one end of the scale to the other, no one else can really make that decision for you. And don't worry about what others may think or how they may judge you. Everyone's entitled to an opinion, but you're not required to agree with them :)
Hi, I start Nursing school in the fall, and I have 3 kids (6, 4, & 2). I am on a mission to finish school now, so I will go full time. I am 28, and I have the support of my aunt & my sister (I am separated right now from my husband), so I feel that this is necessary to get my RN asap so that I can support myself & family. Right now I work the night/weekend shift at a hospital as a Patient Care Technician so that is 12hours on Fri, Sat & Sun . I still work part time during the week at a different hospital. Once school starts I will only work the night/weekend job. I have had my children in & out of daycare/babysitters throughout and they are well adjusted, happy babies. My youngest also still breastfeeds and we do this at bedtime mostly. Everyone is right about your children needing this time with you, but I also feel that in my specific situation, we all will be better off if I had my RN sooner rather than later, so my mission is to finish as soon as I can. You have to decide for yourself if you can adjust yourself to giving your children what they need, your husband what he needs & also doing for you. But, if you feel guilty about having the children go to daycare, maybe you should stay parttime in your studies.
angel75
75 Posts
Although my kids are older 9 and 11 I do feel guilty. I started working on my nursing degree summer of 2004 and I will be graduating this Dec. I do know in the end it will all be worth it. Getting this degree has been something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I know that I am setting a good example for my kids and I will provide them a better future as well. I would be fibbing if I said that it was an easy process. Nursing has taken a lot of time away from them. I spend a lot of time locked up in my room studying. I am very lucky that my husband has been supportive and I have not had to work. Hats off to single parents who work!! We are a military family so my husband does travel often, but it has been manageable. If you have family around (I don't), do not be afraid to ask for help!! Good luck!!