Trying to make it through until nursing school....

Carebear28 · Jan 6, 2009

I hear ya! I am working full time, volunteering on my only day off at the hospital and taking classes (one at a time now, since they are the really hard science classes!)...I really, really do not like my job now, but it's helping me out a great deal financially. I see it as a sacrifice i have to make in order to get the the end of road. By the time I am ready for the nursing program (accel) I will have money saved up so I don't have to work, my car will be paid off (hopefully) and I just recently got out of cc debt (whoohoo!)...so yes, it is miserable b/c I can't stand my job now, BUT if I stay for a little longer and do the pre-nursing stuff on the side, I will be in a better position for the program, financially - which is my biggest concern. Actually...getting into the program is more of a concern, but I will keep my head up!

You can do it too...and i think that's great you can work to become a CNA over the summer, yes it's a pay cut, but it's also great experience for school! Best of luck to you!

Adams_Mommy_07 · Jan 6, 2009

I too am a second degree student working full-time while taking pre-reqs. I'm planning on starting the Nursing Program in Spring 2010. I have to continue working at my job, however, until I am DONE with Nursing School. I can NOT take the pay cut to be a CNA or to drop below full time. So I'm looking at 2.5 more years!!!! I wish I only had 5-7 months... I don't *hate* my job per se, it pays well, paid vacations, decent benefits, cushy work, good hours...I don't really like a few of the people I work with---I mean a 34 year old who acts like they're in high school just irritates me...and I am only 23. Best of luck to you and hang in there!!! It will fly by and before you know it it will only be a matter of weeks left!!!

Carrig RN · Jan 6, 2009

I am also a second degree student. Today I actually told my work that I need to go part time so I can finish my pre-reqs for the accelerated BSN program that I hope to be accepted to. I am extremely nervous about getting in since the only other option I have at this point is to try to get my AAS through community college and then do the RN-to-BSN. A little over 3 weeks left until I find out. Wish me luck! I definitely feel the pressure and difficulty of staying in a job you hate just to make ends meet. Good luck to all!

serasarah18 · Jan 6, 2009

I tried working full time while taking my prereqs one at a time but it was too difficult and way too slow. And it didn't help that I hated my job so now I'm working part time with a significant cut in pay, but I am much happier. I guess my philosophy is that I could die tomorrow and all the money I earned meant nothing, and all the time I worked at a miserable job became a waste.

Is there way you can apply for schools now? I know that some schools do not require you to finish your prereqs when you apply. I was accepted into a program, but I still have nine months before it starts. Then you can find some comfort in knowing you got in and "getting through work" will seem better knowing that it'll come to an end. Are you becoming a CNA to gain experience and/or to make yourself a better candidate when you apply? I was also thinking of becoming a CNA, but it would have taken time to get certified and I was going to apply to schools before I could do anything as a CNA. So I just volunteered abroad and in hospitals and I think I gained just as many eye-opening experiences. I also finally quit my full time job, found a fun part-time job with descent pay, and sped up my prereqs. Of course it's very tight financially, but I make it through and I have no regrets. If I really have to, I can always find another full time job and you can too! Nothing is permanent. Do what makes you happy.

FLmomof5 · Jan 6, 2009

I currently work full time and completed my pre-reqs by taking 2 at a time. I plan on starting nursing school this summer. Unlike you, I *loved* my job, what I hated was being laid off every 2 or 3 years! So here I sit :typing, in a lousy economy.....knowing I will be laid off at the end of the month.....there are NO jobs in my field here in Jax and according to most job sites only a handful of jobs in the state and they are in Tampa...(too far away). Talk about a pay cut! Unemployment is 1/4 of my monthly pay!

Putting it in God's hands now.....but will be glad when the NS is over! :yeah:

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Jan 6, 2009

I was taking pre-req's 2 at a time, also. One science, one online not science. The online classes were nice because I could do them in my own time (on their schedule). I took the classes at my community college.

I have 12 weeks until classes begin, and I plan on quitting work in 8 weeks. Since I've been accepted into nursing school (6+ months before classes begin), the only thing I could do was just count down. I don't hate my job, lots of it I like, but I've been wanting to change for a while.

The current plan is for me to just go to nursing school without working. I think it would be too stressful to work at the same time. I mean, 21-23 credit semesters weren't EVER something I could handle before (I had problems at 15-16 credits).

WantAccel.BSN, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2009

I tried working full time while taking my prereqs one at a time but it was too difficult and way too slow. And it didn't help that I hated my job so now I'm working part time with a significant cut in pay, but I am much happier. I guess my philosophy is that I could die tomorrow and all the money I earned meant nothing, and all the time I worked at a miserable job became a waste.
Is there way you can apply for schools now? I know that some schools do not require you to finish your prereqs when you apply. I was accepted into a program, but I still have nine months before it starts. Then you can find some comfort in knowing you got in and "getting through work" will seem better knowing that it'll come to an end. Are you becoming a CNA to gain experience and/or to make yourself a better candidate when you apply? I was also thinking of becoming a CNA, but it would have taken time to get certified and I was going to apply to schools before I could do anything as a CNA. So I just volunteered abroad and in hospitals and I think I gained just as many eye-opening experiences. I also finally quit my full time job, found a fun part-time job with descent pay, and sped up my prereqs. Of course it's very tight financially, but I make it through and I have no regrets. If I really have to, I can always find another full time job and you can too! Nothing is permanent. Do what makes you happy.

I'm glad to hear that someone else made the leap. Unfortunately, there was no way I could have applied for 2009 admission. I probably could have if I had structured the one at a time pre-reqs I had been taking a little differently, but as it stood, I would have had to take Chem. and Organic Chem. in the same semester, which isn't allowed. Not to mention quit work and take 15 + hours all at once, including some hard sciences. I was also worried about putting too much time between A&P I and A&P II when I was deciding what class to take in Fall '08, as well as the fact that those two classes have to be taken at the same school, and the nursing program that I want to go to requires that we move 4 hours away, meaning that my last semester of pre-reqs. is going to have to be completed at a different CC. Long story short, logistically it just couldn't work.

The CNA thing is just as much a way to get out of what I am doing now as it is to gain experience. I also worked for a few years in a group home with severely disabled kids essentially doing CNA work (but without the cert.) passing meds (from what I understand, the laws are different for "home" settings in some states....I just had to take a med. class to do it), changing diapers, feeding, etc. . Anyway, although it was several years ago now, I really enjoyed that job, and think I could be very content doing something similar while I wait to get into nursing school (Summer '10). My only worry is that I'll get a job with a certain inflexible schedule, and then the schedule for one of my pre-reqs. will clash with that. The one big advantage to my present job is that it is very flexible.

So my husband and I are taking the plunge, and moving to where this school is located (as is a house that we inherited when his father passed away last year). I'm a little nervous about quitting work AND moving at the same time, but I'm also really hoping that this will help alter my general degree of contentment.

Thanks to all for your support and encouragement. It really does ease the burden of having to keep trudging through each day....There is a reason, after all, why we second degreeers are going back to school in a different field in the first place, right?

WantAccel.BSN, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2009

i mean, 21-23 credit semesters weren't ever something i could handle before (i had problems at 15-16 credits).

that's funny, so did i! i think it has something to do with my perfectionistic tendencies....i'm working on that, because i know something that you really have to be able to do as a nurse is to juggle a lot on your plate during one shift.

Ninja Nurse, ASN · Jan 7, 2009

I , too, wanted to "stick" it out with my FT job while finishing my pre-req's. I started back in 2007, taking 2 or 3 classes at a time, while working FT as a Bar Manager. It was tough, and then I started to get negative feelings from my employer who knew that I had no plans of working for him "forever". I worked for him for 12 YEARS!!!!!!

I began to hate my job and after a few months of struggling just to make it through a shift, I just quit. I realized that my attitude was being affected by my employer's feelings and I was so sad and unhappy there. It was, financially, a stupid move, but I look at it now as a push that I needed to get closer to my Nursing career.

I took this semester off, from CC, to take a Patient Care Assistant course and I'm volunteering at a hospital. I am lucky enough to have help from my family during this tough time and I finally got a job bartending at a restaurant that is supportive of my school schedule. :yeah:

Sooooo, I hope to get a job at the hospital, stay a volunteer, and get back to finishing my pre-req's so I can apply to the ADN program.

BTW, I love reading everyone's stories about how they're getting through this process, which seems, to me, to be taking forever.

THANKS!!!!!!:heartbeat

GO4ABSN · Jan 8, 2009

WantAccel.BSN congratulations on taking the plunge. It will be difficult for a short time but it will be so much more rewarding to know that you are on your way.

I too found myself on the slow path of getting through my prerequisites 1 at a time with my previous job. I worked in community mental health (Have a B.S. in Psychology) and had a very flexible work schedule as a Children's Case Worker for the first year on the job. Then my hiring supervisor left and the Clinical Director hired "Hitler's sister." Needless to say my once flexible schedule went out the window. Another year of her constant badgering and belittling and I couldn't take it any longer. The last straw was getting flack from her after I used some of my earned vacation time this past summer after my parent's house and community was hit by a TORNADO! The whole reason I took that job was because it would be flexible with my schedule and my family life. So I resigned at the end of July, enrolled in my remaining prerequisites at the school of my desired program, and moved. I applied for my program of choice a year before I had thought I would and I had to work down to the wire to get my application in by the deadline of Oct 15th.

I just received my acceptance letter this Monday. I start in my program on May 26th and 15 months from them I'll have a BSN.

I tell myself that I could have spent YEARS getting more financially prepared and making sure that I have all my ducks in a row, but that could turn into spending the rest of my life "preparing" and not DOING.

Good luck with your CNA course and prerequisites. I actually considered going the CNA route myself as a means to earn money while I was in school but the length of the course and cost didn't make sense for my situation.

I'm sure your life will be a whirlwind for a little while with all of the changes but they are so worth it. Good luck to you.