To all you nursing students out there with families and responsibilities

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I am 21 years old, and I'm married and have a 1 year old.. and I'm going to be starting nursing school in 2 months. I keep hearing how hard nursing school is and that its practically impossible to work or really do much of anything else while your in nursing school... Well, I don't really have a choice but to juggle several things at once. I have a husband who will be transitioning out of the army soon, so I may have to work weekends maybe once during the week... I have a 1 year old which is a job in itself... so I would just like to know from all of you awesome mothers and wives in nursing school... how do you do it? Do you have a set schedule, do you plan out your days, weeks.. how can I make life a little less complicated while embarking on the crazy journey? Any advice is appreciated.

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Mom of 5 of my own children...4 step children. Most are grown.(But, often stick out their paw to the "bank of Mom!" LOL) My husband is AD. He is currently at an Army post 2 hrs from our house. He will deploy in Jan. Being older we have much larger debt and therefore did not have the luxury of me not working. I still work FT.

I took all my prereqs online and only 2 per semester. For me, the load was not overwhelming.

Started NS last term. FT school in eves plus clinical on Sat. I worked 7:30 - 4:30. Drove to campus. Sometimes, I did a bit of studying at the school before class started @ 6PM. The classes ended at 9PM and I had a 30 min drive home. Hour to unwind and then to bed. Up at 0500 to start it over again. Friday was off to the hospital to get patient information. Up most of the night doing care plan. Clinicals began at 0630 and lasted until midday. Went home, studied and did discussion boards, HW, etc. Sunday ran family errands, cleaned house then studied until bedtime.

You do need to schedule out all your days. This helps alot. Get hubby's buyin! Sounds kooky, but schedule time with him. Accept that your house will NOT be as tidy as it had been and laundry may pile up. These are minor issues in the great scheme of things! Do you have family or friends around that can help with your load? I didn't but my youngest was 14 when I started pre-reqs and my hubby's youngest was 10. Also, unless hubby cooks, you may want to pre-cook some meals or be OK with frozen foods or Hamburger helper.

It can be done. Understand that your grades may drop from your 4.0 (or whatever cum you have! :D ) But, that is OK. I just finished pysch-nursing. I got a 92.3. OK....93 is an A in our nursing program so I dropped into B by 0.7. Oh well, it is OK, I will still be a nurse in 2.5 terms! (Aug 2010)

It will take a bit of planning.

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I'm halfway through my first semester of NS with a FT job, a 4 year old boy, and a 27 y/o husband that acts like a 4 y/o boy. ;) The program I am in is considered 3/4 time instead of full time (so I take an average of 9 credit hours each semester instead of 12-15 which usually means I take two classes instead of 3).

I'm not going to lie, my schedule is somewhat of a complete disaster. The time committment is even more than I was anticipating and I was anticipating a lot! For me the key to everything has been organization and family support.

My day is scheduled down to the minute. I keep a detailed list going of everything I need to get done because if I didn't, something would def fall through the cracks. I have always been the schedule keeper for the family w/ Dh usually not aware of anything going on until I tell him to get his coat and shoes on and we're out the door lol. I bought one of those big white boards and wrote down everything that is going on for the week and posted it right by the door. That way Dh knows what all is going on and can remind me if I happen to forget about something we need to do.

Family support has been key this semester as well. I have to say I am truly amazed and downright giddy over the way dh had stepped up in a big way. He is very aware of the work and time NS takes so he is always making sure I have enough quiet time to get my work done. He has always been a great "fun" dad to our son but since i've been back to school he has picked up a lot of the non-fun parental duties like bath time and getting him to all of his activites etc.

I also have parents, two sisters, and in-laws that are more than willing to step up if we need someone to watch Peyton or pickup/drop off somewhere because of our schedules.

I know there is a single mom in our class that works FT and I can't even imagine how in the world she would be able to do that. I hope she has a ton of support at home!

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I am also halfway through my first semester of nursing school, doing a bridge from LPN to BSN. I hate to sound like I'm either bragging or whining while talking to other students in school, so I don't often talk about my home circumstances. I know that there are others out there even busier, and my hats off to all of us in busy times.

I am going to school full time (only 14 credits this semester..next semester will be 17!), working full time (nights) and have a full time family. My kids are 16, 13 and 9, and each of them are involved in music and sports activities. My husband, in addition to his job, is also the scoutmaster for a local Boy Scout troop.

Needless to say, with all of this going on, we are so busy, and sometimes I'm not sure when I find time to study or write papers. I especially don't have time for study groups, although sometimes I wish I did. I really couldn't do this without the support of my family. I am glad that my kids are old enough to do a lot of things for themselves (I can't imagine having younger kids!). Without them and my husband, this would not be possible.

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One thing that can help is to learn the art of putting everything on flashcards, and carry these around with you always. Then when you have a minute here or there, like when you are standing in line, whip out your flashcards and go over a few. You can also record lectures (get the ok from the instructor) and listen whenever and whereever. Make idle time work for you.

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Specializes in interested in NICU!!.

i once read on here that they cook their meals on the weekend and they freeze them up in portions, so every night you'll be taking your dinner out to warm up. less time cooking during the week and less cleaning as the cooking is done.

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I am 21 years old, and I'm married and have a 1 year old.. and I'm going to be starting nursing school in 2 months. I keep hearing how hard nursing school is and that its practically impossible to work or really do much of anything else while your in nursing school... Well, I don't really have a choice but to juggle several things at once. I have a husband who will be transitioning out of the army soon, so I may have to work weekends maybe once during the week... I have a 1 year old which is a job in itself... so I would just like to know from all of you awesome mothers and wives in nursing school... how do you do it? Do you have a set schedule, do you plan out your days, weeks.. how can I make life a little less complicated while embarking on the crazy journey? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks for posting this question! I am somewhat in the same boat as you except I have 2 kids and no husband. I currently attend Michigan State and that is fine cause my family is in MI and I have all the support I need. But I plan on starting nursing school next fall and am leaving MI to do it therefore leaving my ENTIRE support system. I have no idea what Im going to do. By then my kids will be 4 and 1 so of course I'll have to work but obviously I may not be able to do it full time. Any suggestions? How can I possibly make ends meet being a single parent working a part time job and going to school full time? The last thing I would ever want is for my kids to see me struggling, but I have to do the nursing thing to provide for myself and my kids the way I want to. Someone please help me with this...:o

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i once read on here that they cook their meals on the weekend and they freeze them up in portions, so every night you'll be taking your dinner out to warm up. less time cooking during the week and less cleaning as the cooking is done.

i remember this one too. should work especially well for a family. put that crock pot to good use. i saw recently where for $99, you can get a triple crock pot! i would just buy a second one and cook up two meals simultaneously while in cooking mode.

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Thanks for posting this question! I am somewhat in the same boat as you except I have 2 kids and no husband. I currently attend Michigan State and that is fine cause my family is in MI and I have all the support I need. But I plan on starting nursing school next fall and am leaving MI to do it therefore leaving my ENTIRE support system. I have no idea what Im going to do. By then my kids will be 4 and 1 so of course I'll have to work but obviously I may not be able to do it full time. Any suggestions? How can I possibly make ends meet being a single parent working a part time job and going to school full time? The last thing I would ever want is for my kids to see me struggling, but I have to do the nursing thing to provide for myself and my kids the way I want to. Someone please help me with this...:o

Try to get a night shift job and get a sitter who will charge you less money to just have the kids sleep at her house. Babysitters who have sleeping kids for the night normally charge less money.

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I have two children, had two jobs when I started nursing college. One year ago I was laid off from one of the jobs and went fulltime with the other eight through school. I am almost done, preceptorship next month and NCLEX review....it can be done. By the way, I am a straight A student.

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I have 2 kids....5 1/2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. It is tough! What's easier about this semester is my oldest started kindergarten, so he's gone all day. Then I read when my youngest is napping. I've also made a chore chart for hubby and I so things continue getting done but he has set things that he has to do. So far so good. Good luck!

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I'm 19, married to a man in the National Guard, and have 1 daughter that is 21 months old. I'm surviving. I only work 8 hours a week so that helps. I only have 6 weeks left til 1st semester is finished, and I have an 90 average. Its not impossible. I don't get much study time. My husband works full time, and I don't take my daughter to daycare on the days I don't have school so I mostly study at night.

My DH wrote me a sweet letter yesterday saying he wishes our lives were less hectic and can't wait for them to slow down so we can enjoy each other more....but he doesn't complain. He helps me with our daughter, and cooks sometimes when I'm trying to study. The good thing about nursing tests is that even if you don't study much, alot of the time, you can rationalize your way through the answer using the process of elimination.

Take GOOD notes, and buy a recorder if you can afford it. I still don't have one, but would like one. Highlight in your book what your instructors go over, and LOOK AT THE BOXES IN YOUR BOOK. If you have them, I can't stress that enough. They might tell you that at orientation. Thats where all the lab values, normal ranges, etc. are that you need to know for the tests.

I had my first clinical day today and it went great! MY pt is sweet and cooperative, and I'm excited I get to take care of her tomorrow. I was super nervous, but now I'm not at all.

Everything will work out. Several people in my class have 3-4 kids, work full time, have a husband, etc and still make decent grades. Its NOT impossible. You'll do fine.

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