Single mom planning to go to school

lovesbunnies · Jun 13, 2015

What kind of job will you have after you move? Would it be possible to take the time to do the CNA course after you move, or will your work schedule still be the same?

I don't think you should give up on pursuing the nursing degree if that is what you really want. Since you will be living near your sister, talk to her (and any other family members who live nearby) and see what she might be willing to do to help you. Having support from family while you're in school will really help you to be successful.

I am also a single mom, and my twins will be almost 2 when I start nursing school this fall. I have read many posts here from other single moms, and the most important thing in being successful seems to be having a strong support network.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 13, 2015

CNA courses are skill-based, task-based courses, so no you are not going to find one online. You must demonstrate ability to perform the learned tasks prior to receiving the certification.

These courses are anywhere from 6 weeks to a few months; I honestly have never heard of one that can be completed in 2 weeks....I suppose it would have to be an intensive, full day, every single day kind of program, for which childcare might be an issue.....unless you wait to do this until you move and have family support for childcare.

Take a good look at employment prospects for LPNs and RNs in the area in which you would like to move. You do NOT want to take out excessive loans if you will be unable to pay them back (with interest, of course), within a short amount of time. If you are looking at LPN programs, it will certainly cut down on the pre-requisite courses you'd need prior to acceptance into the program, and cut down on the expenses as well. Just make sure that the job market is decent before venturing in that direction.

For RN programs, you'll need to complete a year or more of pre-requisite courses prior to acceptance into a college nursing program, and admission into these programs is typically quite competitive: very high GPA, high entry-exam scores. ALL of that is doable if you have a good family support for childcare (otherwise, costs will eat into your available funds); I'd expect you MUST work in order to support yourself and your child as loans or grants alone isn't likely to cover it (nor make a good financial plan, either).

Respiratory Therapy is something of a dying industry; healthcare cutbacks have led most facilities to use their RNs to the full extent of their scopes of practice, meaning that RNs will do the RT work while the RTs are terminated or not hired in the first place. Be careful of that.

You have a lot to consider, but you also have A LOT of research to do first before making any solid plans. Job prospects, cost of tuition and childcare, length of time required for pre-requs and their costs, likelihood of admission into a program....all of this will factor into your decisions.

Good luck!

misskristy33 · Jun 13, 2015

I was looking at housing that is specifically for single parents in school. You must be enrolled in school among other things to qualify. Also I really wanted to be enrolled before I move. I can look into if the same school has a CNA program. I cannot move until right before I start school because of money and my apartment lease isn't up for a year. I'm unsure about going to school full time and working with a child (he'll be about 3 then). I wanted to see what others did.

misskristy33 · Jun 13, 2015

I will look into the prerequisites further, but I think they are preferred but maybe you can take them along with? Will have to look into all this. Any recommendations of a good way to get accurate information about jobs, etc?

And thanjs everyone!

Ludim · Jun 14, 2015

Did anyone here in Arizona attend Phoenix College for their associate's degree in nursing

? I'm trying to hear more about their program, how good or bad is it?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jun 14, 2015

I will look into the prerequisites further, but I think they are preferred but maybe you can take them along with? Will have to look into all this. Any recommendations of a good way to get accurate information about jobs, etc?
And thanjs everyone!

Prerequisite coursework is just as the name implies; they are requirements that must be completed PRIOR to consideration for admission into a program. There are co-requisite courses that are appropriate for completion at the same time as core nursing classes, but you cannot get around the pre-requs your program will require.

Since you have no previous college credits done, you will need, at minimum, college math, chemistry, anatomy/physiology (usually 1 & 2), and usually microbiology. Depending on the school, they might require you to have others done as well prior to even being considered for the nursing program. Some schools require general education courses like English to be done first as well, some do not. But the basic sciences? You should expect to do them all first.

I'm not telling you this to discourage you, but to give you a more realistic picture of what you are up against at the moment; I'm not sure you are seeing it. I do understand that you would need to be enrolled in school to get the housing you want, but it's MOST likely you will not be in any nursing program initially--rather, you will be taking all those pre-requisite courses, and it will be a good year or more to do them. Certainly that's still "school" for the purposes of your housing, but you should be realistic about getting in. You will need to complete entry exams, placement exams prior to admission as well.

Accurate information about jobs....well, first thing I'd do would be to look at online job postings for the region you're interested in. See what the requirements are, what the need is (or isn't) for new grads). Remember, you are at least a few years away from graduation if you're looking at RN, and at least a year (or more) for LPN, but you should get a good idea now what it will be like then. I never pay any attention to the hospitals' websites; they ALWAYS over-inflate the number of job openings. It'll look like TONS, but in reality, they don't ever fill them. Look at the job-posting sites (Monster, Indeed, etc).

Go to the State message forum on this website, and ask specific questions for the region.

Associate programs are oftentimes more difficult to get into than BSN programs simply because they are (usually) a bit shorter of a time-frame to get through before reaching the licensing stage, and (usually) less expensive. In some areas of the country wait lists are a couple of years long, in others, not nearly so much. But in any event, you should expect to have quite a bit of courses under your belt before you can get to the nursing program of any college.

You'll have to check the eligibility requirements for the housing program as to whether you will need to be full-time or part-time; regardless, I think it's reasonable to say that the fewer courses you take the longer the length of time it will take to get the prerequisites done.

Good luck!!

emmjayy, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2015

I'm a single mom and am heading back to school for nursing. There is no way you're going to be able to single mom it and go to nursing school without significant help. I'm living with my parents so that they can watch my 6 year old, and her dad watches her a lot for me. He's going to step it up with his babysitting once school actually starts. Find someone you trust to help you out with your kid or even a family member who will let you live with them if at all possible.

flytn75 · Jun 14, 2015

Maybe there are some LTC facilities that have free cna classes in the area that you will be moving to.

adamRn79, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2015

I applaud your decision and thinks a good one.

Laura_G_in_ID · Jun 14, 2015

I'm not a single mom, but I am a mom with a large family. I wanted to go to school for a long time, but my husband's military career made it very difficult for me to have consistent childcare (because my husband was always gone) so that I could attend school. I had no extended family support. This was before so many classes were made available online like they are today. Now my older children are teens, husband's military career is winding down to a close, and I'm able to attend classes full-time. I'm not working outside the home, but I still have a large household to run. If not for my teens being able to provide consistent childcare for the younger kids, there is no way I could go to school. The amount of homework for 14 credits in a semester has been, at times, overwhelming, and I've felt like I was neglecting my family. However, I managed to get a 4.0 so far, and I'm still going strong.

You can do anything you set your mind to, but at times you will likely feel guilty or sad that you are neglecting important areas of your life so that you can focus on other important areas of your life. You will probably also feel pulled in a thousand directions most of the time. I know I certainly do, but I also know that what I am doing will make a better life for my family in the long run, and is personally very fulfilling. That is what has kept me going strong even when all I could do was apologize to my family for being gone so much and not being able to help them as much as they needed/wanted. Is it possible to only attend school part-time so that you won't be absent in your child's life so much? Can you reduce your work to part-time status so that you might qualify for more financial aid and have more time for homework? Each week, you will need to schedule 2-3 hours outside of class for homework, for each credit in which you are enrolled. Taking 12 credits, you'll spend 24-36 hours on homework/studying every week. If you are working 35-40 hours a week, plus attending 10ish hours of class, plus doing 30ish hours of homework every week, that's 70-75 hours a week. You need some down time to recharge, and your son needs to be with you and see you. If you have extended family support, this will be much easier than if you lack family support.

It is doable, but if you can adjust your work to part-time and only attend school part-time, you will keep your sanity and have some balance in life. All work and no play will burn you out quick. And from one mom to another, you will miss your child, a LOT if you try to work full-time and go to school full-time. Slow and steady wins the race. You can do this, just pace yourself.

adamRn79, BSN, RN · Jun 14, 2015

Not sure why they require you to be a nurses aide to be accepted, seems pointless to me. My class had a lot single moms, older people going for their second career. Many of them had to live off loans and struggle for 2 years until they graduated. You can do it.