What Would You Do If You Had My Life?

Nurses General Nursing

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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?

I have worked with nurses who have children and trust me some of them were SO pre-occupied with their little ones that they became ineffective. It really got on my nerves. I reported one nurse because she kept making careless errors because she was so concerned about her children whilst on shift. My take : you cant have children and have nursing career at the same time. Sort out your child-care issues BEFORE accepting a position.

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the WIA grant is the workforce investment act, there is a thread on her somewere that gives the contact info for each state. just do a search on here. were i live it helps with tuition, books, supplies, childcare if you need it or transportation they give you cash for mileage if you drive over 30 miles to school one way and they give you gas cards which can equal up to 1100 dollars each school year. here in kansas it is childcare or transportation not both. it is a grant which is wonderful so you don't pay it back and you don't have to be below the poverty line to be approved. the only catch in my state is you have to actually be accepted into a nursing program, i don't know if it is that way in every state. it's definetely worth checking out. anywhoo goodluck.

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No one condemed you for not having children, from my understanding of your post you were the one who called women with children silly and irresponsible and for what reason, I'm not sure. You can have ANY career and have children, women do it everyday and will continue to do it whether it gets "on your nerves" or not. You really should stop and think before you post something you have absolutly no idea about and that is what it is like to have a child and work and give them the best opportunity to succeed in life-is that not what humanity is about?

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Specializes in ICU, nutrition.
i have worked with nurses who have children and trust me some of them were so pre-occupied with their little ones that they became ineffective. it really got on my nerves. i reported one nurse because she kept making careless errors because she was so concerned about her children whilst on shift. my take : you cant have children and have nursing career at the same time. sort out your child-care issues before accepting a position.

well, thank goodness you have not chosen to procreate so that your lovely genes will not be passed on!

to the op, i'm with the "become a cna and work your way through an rn program" camp. i was fortunate enough not to have to work very much while i was in nursing school. besides a brief time when my husband cracked up and decided he didn't want to be married anymore, he paid the bills while i went to school.

seriously, though, can't you take the ex back to court and force child support? you should not have to pay for everything yourself.

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Please, focus on the original topic--how to balance work, school, financial obligations, and family concerns.

No one plans to end up in dire straits, but life happens. Circumstances change. Marriages fall apart. Jobs disappear. The economy tanks.

We're all doing the best we can with what we have. Let's leave the judgments and the insults out of this discussion and look for ways to encourage each other.

Thank you.

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well, thank goodness you have not chosen to procreate so that your lovely genes will not be passed on!

to the op, i'm with the "become a cna and work your way through an rn program" camp. i was fortunate enough not to have to work very much while i was in nursing school. besides a brief time when my husband cracked up and decided he didn't want to be married anymore, he paid the bills while i went to school.

seriously, though, can't you take the ex back to court and force child support? you should not have to pay for everything yourself.

i had a court date on tuesday. i have hired an attorney and the judge issued a warrant for ex's arrest, however since he lives out of state it will be hard to get the warrant enforced. we are making an appointment with the d.a's office this week to see if he will agree to the case being tried as a felony flagrant non-support case. thank you for posting your experience and advice.

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

To the OP is you can manage to assert yourself the way it seems you are handling your husbands situation re: the legal action then I think nursing will be for you

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It seems my comments have been deemed offensive. I am sorry. I didnt meant to cause offense. I wont mention about me not having children and my career again. I have strong views I didnt realise how others would perceive those views. Sorry. *sighs*

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It seems my comments have been deemed offensive. I am sorry. I didnt meant to cause offense. I wont mention about me not having children and my career again. I have strong views I didnt realise how others would perceive those views. Sorry. *sighs*

Thank you for connecting and caring. I hope no one holds a grudge and we can all move on.

It might be interesting for you to start a thread on the subject of how having kids (or not having them) affects a nursing career. I'm sure there are others who might like to weigh in on that topic.

In this case, the OP has to play the hand she was dealt (a full house, so to speak), so that's where the focus needs to be.

One of the really good things about nursing is that it has more flexibility than almost any other kind of schooling and career. Might need determination and creativity, but you need that to be a nurse anyway. OP, I hope you can find a way to make it all happen. Your kids will be so proud of their mama.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, PH, CM.
What would you do?

Many nursing programs are progressive: after 6 months you are elegible for CNA certivication, after a year for LPN and two years RN. You can stop at LPN, work for a while, then re-enter the program for the final year. Even if you stop after 6 months, you would have your pre-reqs out of the way in case you want to go back.

Working as a CNA is a good way to find out if you like healthcare, but remember a couple of things. CNAs are not always treated fairly, and there is a great big healthcare world beyond hospital nursing.

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To those who have children you can combine a nursing caree with having little ones. It maybe alot of hard work but its achieveable.

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Here's the number one thing that no one seems to be asking:...Do you have a budget already set with the income you KNOW you have? Too often, people head out without a good idea of the money that will be going right back out. You need to talk to a local school to figure out what's out there, apply for programs, try to talk to a admissions or financial aid counselor, and plan for working as a CNA for 10 bucks/hour....the standard average wage I've ever seen for starting... 10 bucks/hr x 12hrs times 3 days a week is only 360 bucks before tax every week....I went the A route....and it was tough...even though I was single....

The expierence was good for school and work...but remember you are likely to double your checks when you get that RN....GL whatever you decide.

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