Surviving Nursing School- financial wise

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Hi everybody!

I have a little dilemma here. I am going to start the ADN program in January. I'm very excited at the same time, I'm super nervous. I think I'm more nervous cuz of financial obligations.

I'm currently working as a CNA for the county of los angeles hospital. I'm going to quit my job, first of all because I cannot do full time work and full time school (especially nursing). I'd rather get good grades than failing. Second, I'm a wife-to-be and a mother of 1 boy (3 year old). My fiance is a civil engineer and makes decent money. We live in a house and mostly my fiance pays for everything...pretty much!

as a CNA, we don't get paid that much. My paycheck goes to my bills and groceries only ( I can't remember the last time I shopped for myself). I asked my husband to support me and he is very supportive. We're going to be on a tight budget in the next 2 years.

So how did you survive nursing school-financial wise? I"m thinking of working part time. But even that, it's very time consuming. I need a lot of time for studying. I need advises!

Thanks guys!

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Specializes in ICU / Urgent Care.

Most nursing students work part time, including me. You are actually at an advantage having a husband who can mostly (if not totally) support you. Most people take out massive loans to last them through nursing school. It is a huge advantage to have the ability to quit your job to focus on your studies if need be. Sadly me and many other nursing students don't have that luxury and weather it impacts our grades or not, car payments, insurance, cell phone bills and everything else has to be paid. So I guess just view your situation in a positive light, you're much better off then a lot of people. Hope that helps!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

It's good you don't have to work for financial reasons, but given that you're in Los Angeles, you may want to consider working per diem just to keep your foot in the door for when you graduate... The job market is tough for new grad RNs there, especially for ADNs.

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It's good you don't have to work for financial reasons but given that you're in Los Angeles, you may want to consider working per diem just to keep your foot in the door for when you graduate... The job market is tough for new grad RNs there, especially for ADNs.[/quote']

I wana do per diem. Just to gain more experience and pay off my bills :(

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Most nursing students work part time including me. You are actually at an advantage having a husband who can mostly (if not totally) support you. Most people take out massive loans to last them through nursing school. It is a huge advantage to have the ability to quit your job to focus on your studies if need be. Sadly me and many other nursing students don't have that luxury and weather it impacts our grades or not, car payments, insurance, cell phone bills and everything else has to be paid. So I guess just view your situation in a positive light, you're much better off then a lot of people. Hope that helps![/quote']

Trust me im a poor woman here! Im in debt of student loans from my bachelors. :(

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It's good you don't have to work for financial reasons, but given that you're in Los Angeles, you may want to consider working per diem just to keep your foot in the door for when you graduate... The job market is tough for new grad RNs there, especially for ADNs.

Squishy, that is the cutest dog. Love it!

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

Squishy, that is the cutest dog. Love it!

Thanks!

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I worked overtime and went full time but it was before kids.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

In my case, I am able to go to school full time and work full-time simply because I am able to study at work. If I was not able to study at work, I would have a really difficult time being able to study and do well at school. In your case, I would highly suggest being a per diem as a CNA. The reason I suggest this is very simple: you have a chance to apply for "internal" job postings at the organization where you work after you have completed RN school. The other reason I suggest this is even though CNA is not exactly nursing, you have the foundations of nursing already. By this I mean be very very basic nursing skills that you no longer have to think about. By keeping these skills fresh on a relatively consistent basis, and the fact that as a CNA you have a lot more patients to deal with on a consistent basis, you will be learning how to do time management very very well. This will carry over into your role as a nurse. You would just simply have to "upgrade" your level of prioritization.

The fact that you have a husband that is able to support you during school is absolutely wonderful. He may even have to support you some after completing nursing school simply because the job market is so difficult. That is also where being a CNA as a per diem comes into play. You might still be able to work per diem as a CNA after finishing school, possibly even going back to full-time work, with the expectation that later you would be able to apply for RN jobs and transition to one of those at that time.

On the whole, I think you're in a pretty good position to be a student nurse!

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I managed to work part time at a hospital. Picking up extra shifts when we were on break. Cooked a lot and only bought or spent money on needs not wants. I also received tuition reimbursement from the hospital. I rented my text books from the hospital medical library for free. I also joined the SNA and made friends in cohorts that were in classes ahead of me and would borrow the books when they were done. It's tough penny pinching but worth it when you graduate and start working. We reevaluated our insurance policies for health and car to see what we could do and what was extra. Same with the cable. Also did budget billing with utilities. We didn't qualify for low income but budget billing allowed us to have a set price every month. Every qualifies for it. They take your average over the year and divide it evenly each month. Good luck I'm sure you'll do awesome and congrats for getting in!

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I quit my job as well and we're doing it on one income. It's tough!! But we almost never eat out, never buy anything spur of the moment, plan meals for a week or two at a time, and have made a budget and stick to it religiously. The hardest part was breaking my Starbucks addiction. :-). It takes a lot of dedication and it also takes a lot of time that you have to allow for...otherwise it's really easy to pick up food to go because you have been in school all day.

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I guess I should also add that I'm super happy and feel very lucky I am not working. Between the 10 month old and school, I'm wiped. I couldn't imagine having to work as well. Good luck!!

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