Knowing what you know now...would you wait until your children are older to begin a nursing program, or do you feel you should of done it while they were younger?
I have almost 2yr old and a baby due in a few weeks. Im a Work at Home mom..but plan on being a SAHM in March.
I am planning on applying for a fall program...kids will be 2 and baby around 9mths.
I keep getting conflicting advice on whether I should go in the fall..or wait until the baby is at least 1...granted..all this advice is coming from ppl who have never been in a nursing program :) I will admit that I am wary of starting when the baby is so young..but it has pros and cons...
So please give me YOUR advice, Im open to all opinions. thank you
Hello! This was my personal experience. I have four boys and when I attempted nursing school for the first time my boys were 13, 11, 5 and 6 months. My downfall was that my baby was at home with me and I had a nanny while I went to school and that was it. I thought that I would be able to do it while he was home with me but that was impossible for me. When I had to study, he needed me, so that made it very difficult to focus. I withdrew from nursing only two months after I had begun. My baby is now almost 3 and is in daycare so I will be able to study. I'm starting back in January. If you have arrangements for your children so that you can study, which will require a lot of time, by all means do it. If you don't have either a day care or someone to come and help so that you can study, I would recommend that you wait until you do get some help. Nursing school is very time consuming, not hard necessarily, just time consuming, so have a plan.
I personally believe that since kids grow so fast, spend as much time as possible with them. Your kids are very young....I would definitely wait. There's no way I would feel comfortable leaving my new baby with anyone, but that's just me. Plus the stress of school with a newborn and a toddler...no way, lol. I would just wait and enjoy the time you have with them, then worry about school.
The plan is for them to go to a daycare either full or part time depending on what I need...the good thing about the daycare is family works there..so it eases my mind in that at least I know someone who truly loves them will be taking care of them when i cant. If i need extra time I have family close by ..just a couple mins drive from my house that are willing to watch them for me while I study if hubby isnt available.
My toddler likes to go to bed early*7-8pm* and sleep late..so I think that will help with study time...obviously I dont know what the baby will be like but hopefully somewhere along the lines of their sibling.
When I graduate they will be around the ages of 4 and 2..almost 5 and 3...and I do worry about how I would manage school activities if I waited until the eldest was in kindergarten.
Once I graduate I would like to start off part time or PRN at a couple places so I can make up for "lost time" with the kids..but get experience at the same time.
Im going to wait and see how I feel when the new one arrives..I may feel 100% ready to go to school or not ready at all.
I am about to finish my first semester in my nursing program & I have a 6 yr old and 2 yr old (both boys) It's def not easy! My youngest son just started daycare in August, which I thought would be a blessing=giving me more time to study, but he has been sick the last three weeks with pneumonia and now a GI bug. And of course we are having finals the next two weeks. My husband works 3rd shift and is as supportive as he can be, during the time he is here. Other than that I have no help. I wish I would have waited until my youngest was a little bit older, but I'm glad to know that they both will still be young when I graduate. We have a very strict schedule, as far as when I pick them up after school, getting homework done, dinner, baths/teeth/book, then bed by 7:30-8:00. It's not impossible and the more support you have the better. Good Luck!!
I'd say wait. I am a first semester nursing student and I am only part-time, and even with being part-time I still have my doubts about finishing, but I just hate to quit now that I have one of my four years done. It isn't that I can't handle the work...I have a BS and graduated with a 4.0. It is the time. My kids are 5 and 2.5 and many days I feel like they are the ones being short changed while I go pursue something for myself. I am afraid that I will later regret not waiting until they were older. Being done in time to start work as they enter school seems like missing all that time with them to be home more when they finally aren't, but I also see the point of being ready to make some money. So I guess you have to determine if you will need the money badly enough to miss out on those years with them when they are young. I am still home most of the time, but I feel like a stressed out mama who isn't able to just totally enjoy them. I just want to feel good about my choices when I am on my deathbed someday :) Full time with little ones sounds crazy to me, but that is just my opinion, and as you can see I am confused about what to do with myself as well :) If you really want to pursue it, is there a way of being part-time rather than full-time? As you said, I bet you will know after you have your baby. Good luck with whatever you chose!
I'd say wait. I am a first semester nursing student and I am only part-time, and even with being part-time I still have my doubts about finishing, but I just hate to quit now that I have one of my four years done. It isn't that I can't handle the work...I have a BS and graduated with a 4.0. It is the time. My kids are 5 and 2.5 and many days I feel like they are the ones being short changed while I go pursue something for myself. I am afraid that I will later regret not waiting until they were older. Being done in time to start work as they enter school seems like missing all that time with them to be home more when they finally aren't, but I also see the point of being ready to make some money. So I guess you have to determine if you will need the money badly enough to miss out on those years with them when they are young. I am still home most of the time, but I feel like a stressed out mama who isn't able to just totally enjoy them. I just want to feel good about my choices when I am on my deathbed someday :) Full time with little ones sounds crazy to me, but that is just my opinion, and as you can see I am confused about what to do with myself as well :) If you really want to pursue it, is there a way of being part-time rather than full-time? As you said, I bet you will know after you have your baby. Good luck with whatever you chose!
awww I had to reply to your post since I am starting ns in January myself and I have a 5 and 2.5 year old as well. I will be going part-time since I have my gen ed classesd already complete but I still feel guilty a lot. My older son always asks me why I can't lay with him in bed for bit when he's going to sleep and I always have to tell him "mommy has to study or mommy has to write a paper" he always wants to know when I'll be done with school and I feel so bad
Speaking with graduates from this program I will only have class on average 2 days a week until 1pm at the latest and clinicals are 1 full day a week. after next semester I will have all my gen ed and pre req courses completed so I will only be taking the core nursing classes in the program.
going to nursing school isnt really for the money, its more because its something I've wanted to do for a long time and every year i've put it off. My husband makes enough that I can now be a stay at home mom if I wanted to *which i plan on doing until next fall*..currently Im a work at home mom..so I work 40 hours a week and take care of my 2yr old full time but Im leaving my job after this one is born.
This is truly something I feel the need to do for myself because I feel strongly about nursing, but at the same time I feel torn between this and my children.
I waited. My children are now 9, 7 and 5 and I am procrastinating right now (have my finals for my first term next week). I started taking prereqs when my youngest was not quite 3. I took them 1 or 2 classes a term and did as many as I could online so that my family's scedule was interrupted as little as possible.
My goal has been to avoid childcare for the kids, which is a big part of the reason that I waited. They are now all in school full day (including full day kindergarten). Even at that, I still have to use their school's aftercare program now and again.
My experience is that even though I was only scheduled to be in class or clinical from 8-12 and 2-4 on Tuesdays, 1-3 on Wednesdays, and 8-1 on Thursdays this term, I spent WAY more time there than that. There were open labs, study groups, research on campus, lab work that had to be prepared in the campus computer center, etc.
I'm glad I waited until now when I know that I can put forth the effort I want to put forth without worrying about the kids.
It does get crazy in the evenings because they are all old enough for activities. But, I made a commitment to myself that going back to school was going to be minimally invasive on the family. My husband definitely picks up a ton of slack and my house has suffered, but I haven't missed many of the kids' activities and when they do have to go to aftercare, they are thrilled because it's just playtime with their friends. They are all old enough now that they are not catching every bug (like my oldest did when he was a baby and in daycare for a year).
Do what feels right to you!!!!!! I can't stress that enough, don't listen to anyone's opinions and take them seriously. We are all different in so many ways. I can tell you that I have a 6yr old daughter, I'm a single mother, and I'm also working 2 jobs. On top of that I'm in my first semester of nursing school. It has been hard BUT manageable!!!!! Especially if you have a great support system. Good luck to you and go for it!!! Why not???!! The worst that happens is you realize you may need to postpone it. No biggie!!
Do what feels right to you!!!!!! I can't stress that enough, don't listen to anyone's opinions and take them seriously. We are all different in so many ways. I can tell you that I have a 6yr old daughter, I'm a single mother, and I'm also working 2 jobs. On top of that I'm in my first semester of nursing school. It has been hard BUT manageable!!!!! Especially if you have a great support system. Good luck to you and go for it!!! Why not???!! The worst that happens is you realize you may need to postpone it. No biggie!!
This is exactly what I've been thinking the last few days..the worst that happens is I realize its too much or I find that I can manage just fine. thanks!
In response to your question about support, yes I have an amazing husband who is incredibly supportive...I think he cooks and cleans better than I do..haha. And he is a great dad who is always ready to take care of them on his own if I need to get anything done in the evening. I think it was you that posted about having clinical 1 day a week and class 2 1/2 days a week?? So will you be part time then? The full time schedule at the tech school I am at is 2 clinical shifts a week for 6 hours a shift and then 2 1/2 days of class. Maybe the clinical shift at your school is different or for a different number of weeks to get in the full time hours. Also, about just giving it a try and quitting if it is too much...does anyone know how long classes are good for? I am wondering this for myself as well. I am seriously thinking about being done after this semester and putting it on hold for a few years, but I need to make sure that I don't have to start all over! It sounds easy to just try it, but imagine going for a semester or year and then having to do that all over again! I just feel like everything in my life right now is done half way and I hate that. It seems like school always has to come first because not passing classes isn't really an option. And I feel like in nursing there is no just getting by because that means that you won't be as good of a nurse when you get done. This means looking up information in your "spare" time, staying longer at clinicals and class, going into the lab to practice skills, being in study groups, doing group projects, not to even mention the reading, papers, etc. It is NEVER just the time in class/clinical that it says on your schedule. School comes pretty easy to me and so I never imagined that I would have to do this much work to get really good grades. I thought the A&P;s and micro were a breeze compared to classes like Pharm. Can I ask what the rush is if money is not an issue? Why not have both--the SAHM thing for a few years and then your nursing career? I do somewhat understand wanting to get going on it though. I know that when I make a decision about something that I want, I want to get going on in right away! :) It is exciting to think about a new career and passion. For me though, the thing that I have wanted most since I was pretty young was to be a mom and I know that I will regret letting anything get in the way of the type of mom that I want to be. Life is just way too short and my children young for only so long. The full-time students/moms that are in class with me just seem so stressed out, just trying to survive. BUT this only MY opinion. Obviously everyone is different, each person has their own stress level that they can handle and everyone has to make decisions based on what will make THEM happy and what is right for their family and their lives. I know that you will make the choice that is best for you!
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wannabmidwife
120 Posts
Hello! This was my personal experience. I have four boys and when I attempted nursing school for the first time my boys were 13, 11, 5 and 6 months. My downfall was that my baby was at home with me and I had a nanny while I went to school and that was it. I thought that I would be able to do it while he was home with me but that was impossible for me. When I had to study, he needed me, so that made it very difficult to focus. I withdrew from nursing only two months after I had begun. My baby is now almost 3 and is in daycare so I will be able to study. I'm starting back in January. If you have arrangements for your children so that you can study, which will require a lot of time, by all means do it. If you don't have either a day care or someone to come and help so that you can study, I would recommend that you wait until you do get some help. Nursing school is very time consuming, not hard necessarily, just time consuming, so have a plan.