Should I quit my manager job to finish my Master's?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I need advice on what I should do? I can not manage graduate school and the job I am currently in at this time. I need to complete my MSN, but I also enjoy my leadership role (OR Clinical Nurse Manager) at work, but both are too challenging to do both at the same time. Would you recommend I resign from my job and focus completely on my studies for the next 6 months to get ahead and complete? Or should I stick it out in my leadership role so I can have it to project me forward for better jobs in the near future?

Dear Can Not Manage,

I would pretty much never advise anyone to quit their job and be unemployed for 6 months as a career move. You would certainly be able to give a credible explanation "I was getting my Master's degree" but what about employers who reject candidates with employment gaps out of hand and never even ask for an explanation?

What if 6 months grew to 9 months...or longer? It is harder to land a job when you are unemployed, and leadership roles take longer to land than non-leadership roles. It's just too risky.

Secondly, the first thing an employer will think is "Why did she have to quit working to complete her Master's? Most people do both at the same time." Indeed, graduate programs are designed for working adults. So the employer may judge you as someone unable to handle stress and a heavy workload.

You are framing this as either/or: either work or get your Master's, and I'm asking you to broaden your options. Could you take fewer classes per semester? Can you stepdown from your manager role and take a Charge Nurse position?  There's no shame in that.

Can you find ways to work smarter, not harder? OK, I'm sorry I said that, I hate when it's said as a way to minimize a too-heavy workload, but could it be there is some schoolwork you could complete in less time ? Could you delegate some of your managerial tasks to your charge nurses or staff nurses?

What about lifestyle? What can you let go off, what can you ask someone else to do, or what can you pay someone else to do for you?

Consider managing your job and your schooling together as a needed skill for your next leadership position. Juggling. Prioritizing. Delegating. The higher up you go, the more responsibility you will have. To be an effective leader you have to learn how not to get lost in the weeds, the minutiae.  And that means you have to delegate effectively.

I think you can do this! Hang in there for 6 more months :). I promise once you reach the finish line you will not regret it.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

[JKL33]

IMHO another factor that might pertain to a few people in this general situation is whether or not the role(s) in which you will wish to practice after your graduate degree have the same type of focus as your current role (in this case leadership/management). I suppose in this case it's likely that someone already in a leadership role is pursuing a leadership-focused graduate degree. But some people who are seeking a graduate degree are changing course.

 

On 9/19/2020 at 2:16 PM, Nurse Beth said:

Secondly, the first thing an employer will think is "Why did she have to quit working to complete her Master's? Most people do both at the same time." Indeed, graduate programs are designed for working adults. So the employer may judge you as someone unable to handle stress and a heavy workload.

Part-time programs, definitely. Full-time programs seem to care slightly less about being completely workable so that other commitments don't have to be altered.

If I 1) was changing course 2) attending a full-time program 3) quitting a position that did not tangibly have much more to offer in the role being pursued with the graduate degree...I wouldn't have professional qualms about quitting. I would tell a future interviewer that I felt it was crucial to devote the time to studying and truly learning critical information. But that's me and I would take my lumps if they didn't want to hire me for that reason. Actually, knowing me I'd probably view it as having dodged a bullet if I didn't get hired by an employer who couldn't understand why I didn't want to do a half-assed job at both my educational work and the job was being paid to do. ??? [Obligatory statement: I'm not saying that everyone who does school and work together is doing a poor job--just that if *I* quit, it would be to avoid that risk, or in my case likelihood.]

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

There are so many online programs out there: GCU, WGU, and Phoenix. I got my masters at WGU and can recommend. Like Nurse Beth said, this isn't an either/or situation. Look into online schools and jump in!

[londonflo]

On 9/20/2020 at 10:55 PM, JKL33 said:

 Indeed, graduate programs are designed for working adults. 

That is the tag line for on-line programs like Walden and UOP.

On 9/20/2020 at 10:55 PM, JKL33 said:

But some people who are seeking a graduate degree are changing course.

I am from the 'old school' where schoolwork should come first. If you want to attend a full-time program, you should limit your outside work. That is the way you 'immerse' yourself in the new world of academia. In the course of my career I have met a lot of graduate students and MSN RNs who really didn't invest themselves in the new role they want.And I hear the awful refrain "but I was working fulltime". It shows in their ability to do a review of the literature and critique of research studies. Heck, it shows in the limited understanding of their new role and what it involves and a certain petulance when they are asked to do more work. (Obligatory statement: not all MSN graduates are like this)

I wonder if we have shot ourselves in the foot with the proliferation of the DNP programs that often have the exit objectives of previous MSN programs. (not all DNP programs are like this)