Reality of being an RN + full-time student?

B52, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 23, 2025

I worked full time while studying for BSN and MSN. You just have to set priorities.

Robmoo, ADN, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2025

I did the Texas Tech ADN to BSN program while working full time and married with kids. It was a lot of work, but very manageable. If your program is similar, you will be writing a lot of papers. I recommend PERRLA for organizing and tracking your references. It interfaces with Word and puts the references into either APA or MLA format. Keeping a history of your reference is useful because finding references can be the most time-consuming part of paper writing, and you will find that article that you reference in the previous class paper will very likely be helpful for other papers. Good luck!

Brewingbiker, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2025

I decided to become an RN late in life (I graduated as an ASN in my later 30s). I was working full time while going to school full time. Later, my hospital required a BS to keep my job (they were working to achieve Magnet status). Again, back to school full time while working full time). The BSN was achieved via an online program which was not as stressful as the initial RN program (fewer clinical hours -most of the program (nearly all) was online, some of it live, most of it not).

Stressful? Of course. You have to really balance your time -make time for homework, clinicals where applicable, and as for a 'life' balance, well, not really much time for that. But always keep in mind you have a goal to achieve, and your life will be better for it. You work hard now for a better tomorrow.

That is not to say you have NO life -during my bachelor program, I used to bring my laptop with me if we were going somewhere, and read studies, research information, and write papers (when no internet was available, Id head into town and use the wifi at a local McDonalds or other place just to upload (or download) my assignments.) But for the most part, you are in school full time, and you are working full time -your remaining time is homework and sleep. This is the price for professional training.

What would I do differently? I would not have waited until I was older. I'd have done it much earlier.

Sandy O · Oct 11, 2025

Similar to other posts, if you want to work full-time while pursuing your BSN, it is definitely achievable—but it requires sacrifices and changes to your schedule. Maintaining balance will be challenging, but it is only temporary. You can give it a try, and if you find it's too much, don't overexert yourself. Consider going to school part-time or working part-time instead—what matters most is aligning your approach with your goals and what is realistically feasible for you.

akulahawkRN, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Oct 12, 2025

I would have to say that pursuing the ADN full time while working full-time was not exactly ideal. I think a large part of that is just simply due to the time commitment that is required for full time study and working full time. I have not yet begun to pursue the BSN at this point, mostly because I don't yet feel ready to take on a 2nd Bachelors. I already have a Bachelors and aside from some specific nursing components, I feel like I have already had most of the didactic material. My Bachelors is in an allied healthcare field and included lots of writing, research & statistics, leadership, and the like.

All that being said, since I do already have a Bachelors, and an ADN, I would hope that "upgrading" to BSN would be relatively easy, or at least shorter than if I'd never pursued a Bachelors in the first place. 😉 Yes, it is my future but not at this particular time and if I did, I would probably decide to pursue a Masters degree, possibly to widen some career possibilities in the next few years.

Most of my colleagues that have returned to the student life to obtain a Bachelors (most continued in nursing) while working found it to be somewhat time-consuming as they do have to blend their school and work schedules. As online options are fairly common, I do see them working on their personal laptops or ipads/tablets during their breaks just so it's not too overwhelming when they're not actually working. Remember that typically for every "unit" of "classroom" time you're expected to do roughly 3 hours of "homework." That's why 12 units are usually considered full-time... so a part-time semester or quarter schedule becomes the norm and while that can extend the amount of semesters/quarters needed to attain the degree, doing it that way is MUCH less stressful on work life, home life, and any other aspect of personal life you have.