The Hidden Costs of Nursing School

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I know that nursing school is an expensive adventure for many people, myself included. However I just wanted to compile a list for all to see about the "hidden" costs that we incur ---

Clinical fees

Name badge

School patch for uniform

Stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, pen light

Clinical Uniform

Shoes for clinical

Parking money each week for clinical

Gas for driving to clinical and school sites + car expenses, or bus fare

Laundry money for washing uniforms

Printing money, or printer paper, ink

School supplies

Books

Laptop purchase, internet fees

Clinical skills bag (IV sets, needles, catheter kit, etc)

Our school will soon be requiring purchase of "Ipod touch" (ridiculous)

I've been able to save a lot with hidden costs. I buy everything I NEED, not everything I want.

Needs:

Tuition (covered w/ scholarship)

Books (covered w/ scholarship)

Health insurance (covered w/ scholarship)

One set of scrubs & school patch

Stethoscope

Gas

Laptop- this was a splurge, not a need. I have a desktop but it is 5+ years old and running very slow. For my sanity, I scored a great price on a refurb laptop on eBay and couldn't be happier. Costs a little more than an iPhone. Seriously.

I've never needed a BP cuff or a penlight. Hospitals provide that. Shoes- I just wear my white pair of sneakers I've had for years. It doesn't get much use, I don't wear flat shoes often. Parking- I use street parking, yes I walk farther but I refuse to pay money to park. Printing- I print all my stuff at work or at school, school provides quite a bit of free printing. I do have a printer hooked up at home just in case of emergencies, got ink refills on eBay for a mere $10. (I can't believe I ever payed retail prices for ink. Sigh.) School supplies- I haven't had to buy any for a couple of years now. There are lots of coupons you can score free supplies with, plus Walmart has them for dirt cheap in August.

As you can tell, I am a very frugal person, I don't like to pay retail. I'm a couponer and it has saved me hundreds. It also gives me the mindset that there are OPTIONS. I mention eBay a lot, because there are good deals if you are willing to look for it. Plus they've got great buyer protection if a purchase goes awry. Oh, you don't need a Littmann stethoscope. There is no way I am spending $100 for a stethoscope that can easily be misplaced/stolen. Instead, I looked up some reviews and found a fantastic stethoscope for $20. I do get help for all household bills, car expenses & insurance, internet, and phone fees from generous parents.

Hi Tokyorose,

I'm a new nursing student and need to purchase...Stethoscope, penlight, and BPcuff. Can I ask what kind of stethoscope you got for $20.00? Looking to get my supplies on the cheaper side as well, as being a student I definetly don't want to spend Hundreds on supplies that could be lost/stolen.

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Does anyone else have to pay for ?

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We did, back in first semester.

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We didn't have any hidden expenses. They gave us a breakdown of pretty much everything it would take and an estimate of the cost in the packet we received to file for admission and so far it's been pretty close. I guess the only thing they didn't include was the gas to drive there.

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Wow that is a LOT of "extras" you guys have.

My necessities:

-Tuition/fees for the college (Paid with scholarships, grants, loans and my parents)

-Books every semester (I pay.. but rent the "specialty" texts like OB/peds, and any non-nursing class text to save $)

-Stethoscope (Asked for as a gift 1st semester)

-Uniform + name badge + white shoes (I got 2 pairs - less laundry; asked for my clogs for Christmas)

-Parking $ - depends on hospital.. some places it was nothing; others up to $30/day. We also are required to have a parking sticker for campus. $125 min per year :(

-NCLEX review for our last semester; ran about $400-500 I think .. added to our bills

Lucky for us, no background check costs for us, no drug testing. We do need to have a flu shot on record each year, be CPR certified, and have record of immunizations to be allowed into clinical, but my health ins covers the flu shot; minimal co-pay for TB tests/immunizations, and the CPR cost every 2 years isn't that much. I don't consider that a hidden cost, as I have been certified for a while, and it's expected before you begin the program and clinical. We are covered under school's liability/malpractice.

We're allowed 500 free printer pages per semester; after that it costs $5 for another 500.

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what about getting the pdfs of the required books? its free although sort of illegal...i've been doing that anyway though.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Flight.
what about getting the pdfs of the required books? its free although sort of illegal...i've been doing that anyway though.

lets see how much they want to shake us down for getting those pdfs when we've got Fentanyl & theyre in unbearable pain :lol2:

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How do you get the pdfs?

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Specializes in Critical Care, Clinical Documentation Specialist.

Malpractice insurance is a requirement at our school. But, it only costs about 25/yr (I think), so definitely worth it in both cost and peace of mind.

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there may be places to cut corners but never omit your . voice of experience here. for all the reasons why (and refutations of all the bogus reasons why not) read this thread:

https://allnurses.com/legal-nursing/should-i-carry-391596.html

as to the rest, well, all college is expensive. ask your friends who are math, chem, or physics majors what their books cost and how high their lab fees are.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med/Surg, hospice.

biggest hidden costs of nursing school was the last semester, applying with the BON, paying for nclex, fingerprinting, pinning, renewing flu shots, buying the OB/Peds books, nclex books, buying professional attire for job fairs and interviews

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Specializes in CNA/LPN.

[color=#2f4f4f]i just started the lpn program at my school and so far the most pocket busting hidden costs were the scrubs and lab coat. we can only order through one uniform store and do not have the option to purchase our scrubs elsewhere. for a set of scrubs and a lab coat with the patch, it comes to $80 without shipping and for it to be even worse, they're all white...i am one of those people who somehow always manage to stain my white clothing, so my best bet is to pay $160 so i'll have backup. also, the physical for clinical. i am not complaining about getting it done, but i usually could get it done at the health dept for under $40 and they have currently stopped performing physicals and the only place in my area that does them + tb will be $100. it's all worth it though, but there definitely are hidden fees, especially when programs have contracts with certain companies and must have us purchase through them only!

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