What Would You Do If You Had My Life?

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I need help from this community of nursing veterans to tell me what direction to take given my particular situation. I am a married mother of four children. My oldest three are from my first marriage and I receive no child support for them, so I have to work at least part-time to pay for clothing, school expenses, etc., because our budget with my (present) husband working is just not quite enough. I have been interested in the nursing field for forever because of the flexible scheduling and the ability to work directly with people. I don't know whether to (A.) Take a CNA course this summer and work a couple of 12 hr. shifts to make money and gain experience and simultaneously take a couple of RN pre-req classes at the local community college to eventually go into RN school and become an RN (ADN) or (B) forget the CNA class and enter a 12 month LPN program at local tech school and be an LPN in one year and just sacrifice and live poor for a year or © Just work two or three shifts as a CNA for a year and save money to do the LPN next year and have a little money to live on. What would you do?

Specializes in LTC, geriatric, psych, rehab.

For stitchmup...OMG! You are a trooper! Hang in there.

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stitchumup,

have you checked into the WIA grant in your area? it varies state to state but were i live it will help will tuition, transportation and childcare. also some supplies you need for school. you might check into to it if you haven't already. i hope this helps. good luck you can do it!

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Specializes in Hospice, LTC, Rehab, Home Health.

I was a divorced mom of 2 when I went to nursing school. Lost my job and marriage at approximately the same time. In my home state there was a program that paid for training for "displaced workers/homemakers". I had to apply for grants and any other "free" money for school but they paid all other school related expenses (tuition, fees, books, etc) I got all my paper, pens etc. at the college bookstore so they were covered. I took a 2 yr ADN course at the community college but did it 3/4 time so I could work parttime as a tutor on campus and as an adult shelver at the library (to earn some money for utilities, etc) and still have time to study and maintain my gpa (if you dropped below 3.5 you were out of the assistance program)

Now the hard part, I applied for welfare, didn't get everything available, but did get medical insurance for my kids and food stamps. It was devastatingly embarrassing at first but my mom pointed out that situations like mine were what the welfare programs were SUPPOSED to be for in the first place, a stop gap while you get back on your feet. Not a way of life. So I put on my big girl pants and did it -- got through it and although I'm not independently wealthy LOL I can buy my kids cookies today without worrying if I'll need that money for milk tomorrow!

I am an ADN RN and have never found that to be a problem with finding the work I wanted to do. I am a Hospice nurse now, but have worked in skilled long term care and home care with pediatric vents. I am getting ready now to become certified in hospice and palliative nursing which will be much more useful for me than a BSN.

Whichever path you chose good luck and God Bless you:icon_hug:

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I would suggest you research the cost of the CNA and LPN programs and the pay scale for a new CNA as well as a new LPN. In some states, employers are required to reimburse you for the cost of your CNA course. In some areas, these courses are offered free of charge. Many employers offer tuition assistance programs for employees as well so working as a CNA in a particular facility may help you pay for nursing school.

If the pay difference is not enough to offset the difference in educational cost within a year or two (assuming you are planning to get your RN) I would suggest you skip the LPN and become a CNA while working towards your RN.

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Again I have to ask why do we as women make life so hard for ourselves by being silly and irresponsible at times. Why lumber yourself with 4 children??? I would never do that to myself. As for me I love my life and couldnt bear the thought of having children spoil it.

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Again I have to ask why do we as women make life so hard for ourselves by being silly and irresponsible at times. Why lumber yourself with 4 children??? I would never do that to myself. As for me I love my life and couldnt bear the thought of having children spoil it.

Not all women have the mothering instinct and that's ok. However, I think your post sounds pretty harsh for women who make different choices. I would venture to guess the majority of women feel their children enhance their lives in a way your ignorance won't allow you to comprehend. Perhaps you consider yourself selfish, spoiled and cold but if someone with four children made those claims simply because you don't have children, I'd say they were just as ignorant in the other direction.

And if your mother told you that you spoiled her life, I really am sorry as I think that's a cruel thing for a parent to say to a child.

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What's a WIA grant? I'll try anything!!

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

Option C is kind of how I went about it. It worked well enough. Its hard to do though. You start seeing that nest egg grow and grow and are tempted to dip into it. I was anyway.

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Not a nursing veteran, but I am a mother of 2 young boys and live on a fairly strict budget with my husband. I looked into going the CNA route while completeing my pre-reqs, but I couldn't afford to do it. Coming up with money for the course was not a problem, but the low wage that CNAs make in my area was. It seems that every area has a different payscale (mine is less than $9/hr while people have posted that in their own state they can make up to $15) but when you take into account cost of living, it all seems to even out. I couldn't afford to put one kid through daycare while working, much less two. So I have decided to focus on completing my pre-reqs and am applying for a direct entry BSN program this fall. If you have to pay for daycare, you might find you won't be making much money at all as a CNA.

LPN could be a better option for you since they do make more than CNAs, just make sure there is a good market in your area for them. Again, some areas seem to have a higher demand for them than others and you don't want to go through a whole program and then have a hard time getting hired. Good luck in whatever you decide!

Hi. I will not be paying for daycare when I work, I plan to work weekends only (part-time) while my hubby looks after the kids. The wage in my area is $9-12 per hour depending on the type of facility. If I had to do this full-time and pay daycare, you are right, it would not work out at all. Thanks for your input.

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Again I have to ask why do we as women make life so hard for ourselves by being silly and irresponsible at times. Why lumber yourself with 4 children??? I would never do that to myself. As for me I love my life and couldnt bear the thought of having children spoil it.

I am not going to comment specifically about the things in your post, as your stupidity and ignorance speaks for itself. I am really embarrassed for you for posting something so ridiculous. In the future feel free to not respond to my posts unless it involves the actual subject matter of the original post.

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I would choose taking your pre-reques first and working at the same time, have you ever thought about waitressing, I did it the whole time while I was in nursing school, made money and was able to support me and my son on my own. It took me 3 1/2 years but I finally finished an ADN program at a CC, and had a baby during my last semester of school-I guess that would make me "silly and irresponsible"-what ashame people have to think like that, anyway, if your determined to do something you can and you will.

Also, you should check into CCIS-child care information services, thats what I used when I was in school it helped so much, you have to work 10 hours a week if your in school, but it goes by your income and you only have to pay a co-pay to the daycare every week, I dont know what I would've done without it.

being a CNA would definitly give you great experience if you would want to go down that road too, I wish I would've done it before school, but waiting tables was what I knew and could work less hours and make the same amount of money, and still have time to study!

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Kendra just because I have chosen to be child-free does not make me stupid. What is it with mothers who condem women who are childless??

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