I am in a full-time BSN program and I currently work in a relief position at a local hospital. I work in what is essentially a Ronald McDonald house, where families who have patients in the hospital can stay. I get a guaranteed six hours every other week with random 16-24 hour shifts interspersed. Some months I'll only work 12 hours and other months I'll work 60-80. The job is incredibly easy, I get to study/do homework almost the entire time, and the pay is ~10.50/hr, depending on shift diff. In addition to this I nanny/babysit about 10-15 hours per week (again, this varies) for $12-16/hour, and it's typically pretty easy as well.
A relief position opened up as a PCT in the post-partum unit and I applied for it. The interview went really well but I won't know until Monday or Tuesday if I got the job. If I get the job, I'll most likely be able to keep my other relief job, so I'll have two jobs within the hospital. The PCT job is a guaranteed 12 hours per pay period, but will most likely have 2-4 12 hour shifts throughout the pay period. The shifts will be night and day shifts, and I'm not sure about the pay. Unlike my other two jobs, this one will be a lot of work but has the potential to be a budgeted job so I can get reimbursed for school.
This is my dillemma: if offered, do I take the PCT job and work the two relief jobs while cutting back on babysitting, or do I stay where I am? I would really like the experience of the PCT job and am a hard worker and love being busy at work, but I'm worried it could cut into my school work during the semester if I am working that much without the ability to study at work. I've been able to work mostly full time this semester (sometimes 60+ hours/week) and am going into finals with all my classes at a 98% or better grade, but am heading into my second semester, which is notoriously the hardest. So I'm torn between keeping my cushy jobs where I can do schoolwork and get paid good money, or work hard, get experience, and potentially get school paid for.
For those of you that worked as a PCT/CNA during nursing school, do you think it benefited you in the end? Is it worth it for me to take the job for the experience, or just stay where I am with my focus on learning the material for school? I will ultimately want to be a nurse at the hospital I work at and think that being an employee with them for so long (whether it is patient-related or not) is good either way, so I'm not sure if it would be worth it to be a PCT if it will make me have to work much harder in school and have the potential to affect my grades. (I will most likely continue with schooling after being a nurse for 5-7 years to be an NP, so it's important to keep my GPA up.)
If you read my book of a post, thank you! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
