Published Jul 12, 2016
anchorRN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN
279 Posts
Have any of you attended NP school as a single guy? I am separating from the Navy's Nurse Corps within the year and beginning the application process for NP school in the fall of 2017. I'm single, own a home, car payment, etc I'm wondering if working full-time is doable. I would prefer part-time obviously, but life happens. I will be using my GI Bill to pay for school and it gives me a decent living allowance on top of all my tuition paid.
I realize this has been asked many times on the forum, but would like a single guy's perspective.
mikijam03lpn
22 Posts
I am currently half way my AGNP, and I still work 1 full time and part time, plus gf and I hit the gym 3-4 times a week. However, i wake up 5 am and go to sleep at 11pm, i take advantage of every minute in my day. You can do it!!!!
Awesome. What exactly do you mean by work 1 full time and part time? I'm more worried about working 12 hr days and squeezing in homework time and deadlines if working fulltime. And then the clinical component, since I'll likely be working nightshift I'm wondering how to fit it all in....
I work 3-4 12 hr shifts and a 8 hr part time in a nursing home doing paper work. I work An average of 48-52 hrs per week, 1 day school 5-9pm... And clinical 8 hrs (4hrs twice a week).... You can do it... :-) is not hard at all
I got to the nursing home 6-8 hrs 1-2 times a week
LOL wow. I'm not sure I'm that ambitious but good to know its doable. Do you mind me asking where you attend school for AGNP? I am looking for a program that is flexible and supportive. PM me if you'd like.
I am going to FDU in teaneck NJ. It kind expensive but i get tuition reimbursement... Go for it
Buyer beware, BSN
1,139 Posts
Op: Be very careful with the school you choose. Many schools especially for-profits sell themselves by marketing the "flexibilty" aspect of their Nursing and NP programs. This is a come-on. If any program you choose is indeed flexible as in "we will customize our program to your life-style, work needs"---run fast! If that were true, there would be few schools that could afford to run such a program and pay the bills. Everyone is flexible unless it interferes with their bottom line.
Caveat: #1 If any school is that flexible, maybe they should flex their fingers and put it in writing. That we know will never happen. Too many variables involved. The flexibilty option while tempting is a deception.
Caveat#2. Just as an aside, "pay as you go RN-BSN," one of the latest marketing deceptions. After all, aren't all programs pay as you go?
Caveat #3. You as a vet need to be extremely careful about who you spend your post 9/11 benefits with. Those funds are like the sound of cha-ching to many schools especially the for-profits for reasons I won't get into.
Caveat #4. As a propective NP student , particularly as a male, make sure they have good preceptor connections in the community. FDU is a well vetted school but with any school this is incredibly important and I' m not sure of this aspect of the program. Do your due diligence. Know their graduation and retention rates. A good place to start is on collegescorecard.edu.gov. But also know it's just a start.
Caveat #5. Spend your funds judiciously and well to the most deserving school you can find. VA benefits are an incredible leg-up in the ridiculously expensive world of academia. It's just so pathetic that so many unscrupulous characters in the "academia industry" have chosen to target this often times trusting and dutiful group.
Just one more thing: never ever sign an arbitration agreement with any school as a condition of enrollment. All for-profits require this but probably not FDU. So good luck.
Yea... They do make money off people. There are few schools in NJ that charge 30k for RN a.s. Like jersey college and eastwick college! It is a shame!!!
Don't mind so much the make money concept. They have to pay the bills. But the for-profits expend tons more money on marketing than they do on the actual educational component of school as evidenced by their almost maniacal placement of cookie ads throughout the internet. The downside is this has forced reputable schools to do the same in order to compete with "Wall Street Education, U.S.A. And that's a problem because the hapless students often can't see the forest for the trees and are deceptivly led to believe that all schools are the same. They are not.
YoutubeTheNP
221 Posts
I worked full time and went to NP school full time for 2 years. Worked 3-12s in the ER, my NP program was once a week but class was all day, so i had 3 days to study, do papers, etc. it wasn't until my last few weeks of my last semester that I went part time on my job because clinical was too busy (we had to do 200 clinical hours per semester) by the time I was nearing completion I was working 7 days a week for several months. But I was single back then, had a G37 Infiniti lol, and rented a house. Life was good back then. Good luck!!