To work or not to work (while in nursing school)

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  1. How many hours a week is reasonable for a full time nursing student?

    • 4
      None! You shouldn't work while in school.
    • 4
      0-10
    • 9
      10-20
    • 5
      20-30
    • 0
      30+

22 members have participated

I'm about half way through my first semester of nursing school and I'm really worried that I won't be able to afford my rent come summer time. I had gotten a school loan and I've been trying to save but it just hasn't been enough. I'm thinking of getting a part time job working maybe 20-30 hours a week.

What do you guys think? What are your tips for getting through school while working?

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I'm starting a program this summer and they recommend working no more than 20 hours a week (its a 2 year, 2nd-degree program). My feeling is that it really depends on personal factors: what kind of obligations do you have outside of school (e.g. kids), or support? Do you have other debt that you want to keep paying off? Have you had success with managing both work and school in the past? I personally plan to try and work at least 8-12 hours a week as a CNA, if only to try and get my foot in the door somewhere after graduation. I'm curious as to what other people's recommendations are though.

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I suggest working in a hospital setting while in nursing school. It is a great way to get your foot in the door. I honestly felt like I learned more at work then in clinical. I graduate in December with my BSN, and I work 24 hours a week. I love working with experienced nurses because if I have questions, they are more than willing to help me out. Even with homework/studying. Also, some of my friends have already graduated. All of them who worked in the hospital were offered jobs upon graduating. The ones who have not worked in a hospital are still struggling to find work. So, I highly recommend getting a job!

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It does often depend on your situation such as kids, etc. when I was in LPN school it was just me so I was able to work 20 hours/week as an STNA in LTC and still maintain a good GPA. Unfortunately my area is so saturated with nurses that being an STNA was no help in gaining employment after graduation because my facility wasn't even planning on hiring PRN till months after I graduated. It did make me more comfortable transitioning to a Lpn though.

Now I have a family/husband/house and if I were to return to a bridge program I would have to be PRN.

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I'm only part way through my first semester and while I was going to work while in school I have found that I can't. I need all my 'free' time for school or studying.

My other problem is, I'm so used to 12s and having a week off to myself every month that I'm finding this pace difficult to keep up with.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

First off: I work a full-time work week. That means yes, I work 40 hours per week. Normally, I would not recommended that at all. There are a lot of factors that are involved in deciding whether or not you decide to work, or can work, during nursing school. In my case, I have a very supportive employer and a job that has a lot of down time and that is what allows me to study and work at the same time. If I was working in a job that had less downtime, or no down time, I would be in a really bad place.

My recommendation is simply this: if you do not have to work during nursing school, do not. If you absolutely must work during nursing school, you should work the absolute minimum necessary for you to meet your needs and continue in school. In my case, I absolutely must work full-time during school and fortunately my employer is willing to work with me to some degree to make sure that I can stay in school and continue to work. At times, it has been very difficult to match the two schedules, but somehow I have managed to make it work.

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It's all based on you and what your life revolves around as well as your ability to balance it all. First semester is a slap in the face, truly.

I worked while attending nursing school but I was able to talk to my manager into letting me work PRN(I don't work for a hospital btw).

There are some that need to work full time while going to school raising kids and cook meals for their family and still manage to do better than most students...amazing, right?!

What I'm trying to say is, you can do it(anyone can do it) as long as you are DETERMINED FOCUSED & WILLING

:)

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Work in a medical setting while in school, it will benefit you and help familiarize yourself with all the terminology. The main thing is to make sure you have good stress management techniques... you are capable of a lot, but only if you know how to adequately handle stress. : )

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