School and Working

It is always possible, I suppose, to work and go to school. During my first college experience, I worked 40-50 hours a week and took 18-21 credits a semester and still received straight "A's." (I also got very sick ;-)

I am approaching my last semester of nursing school and can honestly say that I could not have learned anything with excellence had I continued working last semester. Many students had to keep working, however.

The problem, in my opinion, was that these students sacrificed their ability to learn in the process. The majority of them struggled to maintain their grades or just "barely" passed.

"After all," they said, "C equals RN."

This is somewhat understandable. It is also disturbing. I believe that since we will be working in close proximity with patients whose lives may depend on our knowledge that we are truly responsible to learn what we do with excellence.

In nursing school, my attitude has changed considerably from my first college expereince. I have studied for 6-8 hours at a time in order to...not just pass...but truly comprehend what I am being taught.

Now, some people say they don't have to study at all. With a class average of low "C's," I find this doubtful.

More power to you, whatever you choose. If you must work, then I am sure that your perseverance will benefit you. If working is not an absolute necessity, then take that time to study!

I worked part time nights throughout the LPN program last year and plan on doing so again for the LPN to RN program this fall. I should also say I have a family with a then 6yo child, hubby and 2 dogs. The 6yo did not have to scale back activities, we still managed school programs, scouts, 4H and softball. I will admit to spending ball games in the bleachers with a book in my lap, and studying in the chuch lobby during scouts and 4H meetings. I passed my boards with the minimum 85 questions.

Um, oh yes, I graduated with a 4.0 even with all this. It CAN be done, and it can be done with excellent understanding/comprehension. It depends on what you are willing to put into it. Was my situation optimal? No. But I could not stop the entire family from functioning while I was in school. I needed to work to help pay bills for us to keep utilities on, roof over head, vehicles, etc. Hubby worked FT and basically carried the major financial load while I was PT. We cut back on a lot of things, but still needed my income to help, especially since I had an 80 mile commute every class day and gas prices went nuts. Housework became the lowest priority. If I could have trained some of those dust bunnies to do the cleaning I would have had it made! But, we always had clean clothes and dishes. A lot of nights dinner was hot dogs, mac & cheese and we used paper plates!

I do admit to being 4 weeks from graduation and mentally/physically exhausted, but I kept pushing on and made it. I guess my point in all this is that YOU can choose how you want to approach school. Many have worked and achieved academic excellence as well, you can as well.

Best of luck to you!

This is my last semester in th ASN program (December I will be done!) Because of health issues I have not worked this past sememster, but previous semesters I worked two 16 hour shifts on the weekend and had clinical and lecture Mon, Tues, and Wednesday along with a semester where we went Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thursday. (I was also a member of the student government and student nursing club and didn't slack in my GPA either cummulative 3.75.) It's totally possible, but you have to be willing to study after school longer than other classmates because you don't have the extra weekend time that others may have if they are not working. One thing that it teaches you is time management. Good luck!!!