Thinking about quiting to focus more on school.

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I have made another topic thread about my dislike of being a new cna, now I am contemplating quiting my current job. I thought I would be able to juggle going to school full time and work part time, but I have found out that I am struggling to keep up in an important class (math) and if I fail that, I won't graduate this fall. I was set to graduate and transfer to a 4 year college this June but math pushed my plans back another two quarters.

I work 4 days a week from Friday-Monday, and I don't have enough study time or time in general to do my homework. These next few weeks are going to be finals and lots of tests. I don't want to compromise my schooling for this job. My first priority is school. I have told the women who does the schedules and she gave me a patronizing and rude remark about this is what I signed up for and I have to do this job. My work and school schedule is way too much. I am thinking about quiting after this week. I just don't have the time for work and school like I thought. Especially for a min wage paycheck and a grueling work environment is not worth it to stay.

On a side note, I have been applying to other places for the summer to get some money that are less hectic and more time to do school work (I am going to do summer classes) which I think I should do instead.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Is changing your employment status to PRN/per-diem/casual/on-call a possibility? I would keep my foot in the door. I would not quit outright.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
Is changing your employment status to PRN/per-diem/casual/on-call a possibility? I would keep my foot in the door. I would not quit outright.

Agree. I worked for my first 2 semesters in my LPN program, and by semester 3 I quit all my jobs. My reasoning was that I wanted to concentrate more on school..unfortunately during semester 2 I failed patho by 1/2 a point and was placed on probation. Also, I was going to have clinicals on the weekend, so I didn't want to be too overwhelmed. The good news is that I did great in my last semester(very stressful), passed my exit exam with flying colors, and passed the NCLEX-PN with minimum questions. Bad news? It's super rough out here trying to find a job! If you have a place in a facility, when you're done with school they will probably offer you a job. Thankfully, I have gone on a couple interviews, and Mollen Immunizations offered me a seasonal job, but still...it would have been smarter to hang on to a position..at least PRN..at one of the places I was working. Just something to consider. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

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I am already "on call" (they call all of the part time people "on call"). I am going to ask if i could just work on the weekends. If they refuse to change my schedule, I am going to quit for sure. I just found out today I am behind in two of my classes and can't afford to fall behind with the next few weeks being finals. I already applied to 3 other places to work at (one retirement community as a server and two positions at a summer camp). I need something that will work with my school schedule. I will see this next upcoming week on how I feel about everything. In the end, I need to do whats best for me.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
I am already "on call" (they call all of the part time people "on call"). I am going to ask if i could just work on the weekends. If they refuse to change my schedule, I am going to quit for sure. I just found out today I am behind in two of my classes and can't afford to fall behind with the next few weeks being finals. I already applied to 3 other places to work at (one retirement community as a server and two positions at a summer camp). I need something that will work with my school schedule. I will see this next upcoming week on how I feel about everything. In the end, I need to do whats best for me.

Just thought of something...how long have you been working there? Some places will not do a change in status if you have been there less than 3 months.

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Just thought of something...how long have you been working there? Some places will not do a change in status if you have been there less than 3 months.

Been there for 3 weeks, but I think I should leave for school. It's too much to do combine. It looks bad for people who just started working to leave so soon, but in the end my grades will pick up more from more studying time.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.
Been there for 3 weeks, but I think I should leave for school. It's too much to do combine. It looks bad for people who just started working to leave so soon, but in the end my grades will pick up more from more studying time.

I understand fully. I wish you the best of luck with your finals & your job search :)

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Thank you for the comments, it's nice to hear others opinions. It's been a hard decision, but I really need to complete my last year of this community college and move on. I would hate to stay in college another year longer than planned. I want to scurry on to the next thing and study what my intended major is.

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Okay, so I tried to compromise to the scheduling lady at my job to change my schedule to only work weekends, but when I said that she wouldn't do it and avoided the topic. She then referred me to a back office person to contact for change my schedule (the office woman had nothing to do with the schedules btw) and when I talked to another office worker about changing my schedule for school, they looked desperate and tried changing the subject. I was thinking about negotiating with them and if they didn't change my schedule to something lighter, I quit. When I talked to them yesterday they just ignored my proposals, and try to change the subject by referring me to a office worker that had nothing to do with my schedule.

They never changed my hours so I am just going to quit now. I don't want to be manipulated by these people into staying while I am being bogged down with a ton of homework and no time to do it. School is more important and when this quarter is done then I can go back job searching. I don't know if I should quit over the phone or in person. I am still set to work at 6:30 this morning. I want to quit before they fire me or something.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

How about telling the scheduler, "I will quit if you do not accomodate my schedule." See what happens.

Always quit in person. Resigning over the phone is cowardly, and management would also be able to lie and say that they fired you. If you resign in person and submit a written notice, no one can be dishonest about the circumstances surrounding your departure.

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Thank you, TheCommuter! I just got back from there and tried to find the human resources people or the woman I was referred to yesterday but they weren't in yet. I'm going to go back again in a few hours and tell them I'm done. I need to focus on school and they are not willing to change my schedule. They also told me something weird yesterday when I suggested that they take off my Fridays and Mondays.

They were trying to tell me to ask the other CNAs to "switch sifts" with them instead of the dropping the days I wanted off. They are making it more difficult than it has to. I am just going to head back and tell them I quit. This is hardest job to quit from (they seem desperate not to lose any CNAs) and it seems like they are making this harder.

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I did it. It's done and I can focus on my school work more. It feels like a relief tbh. Thanks for everyone's kind words! I appreciate it.

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