Work and school *need advice*

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

So, I am a Junior (finally!) after much struggles and having to be retake a class. My school is on the semester system, from August-December. I am taking thirteen credit hours, Med Surge II (7 creds, which includes a 3-hour lecture and a 12-hour clinical) and then two online courses, one for cultural competence and the other for gerontology (though they are considering making this a one-credit hour course, which would make my load 11 credit hours).

However, I work two PCA jobs. One is casual and the other is student position. I have had some scheduling difficulties and have thought about quitting the casual job, but have decided against it for networking purposes post-graduation.

My boss at the student position (the higher paying one) asked me how many hours am I going to want to work. Honestly, I have no idea. I have never had online courses before and I'm afraid I will be tempted to pick up too many hours.

How many hours would you work at both jobs? I live at home with my mother, I have no debt, car or house payments, and I'm childless.

[DisneyNurseGal, BSN, RN]

Questions like these are hard because everyone handles the stress of their lives differently, so I hesitate giving advice on what to do. What I will do is give you some things to ask yourself

1) If you commit to work say 20 hours, if it is too much can you drop it down

2) RE: your online classes. Are you the kind of person who will go teach yourself what you need to know. If that is a struggle for you, online classes might take you longer.

3) If you have relatively no bills, why not work the bare minimum so that you can devote yourself to your studies'

4) Remember a good guideline is for every credit hour it is three hours outside class. I had a professor tell me that for online classes this number raises to 5 hours for every credit.

5) Clinical (for me) are emotionally, physically and mentally draining. I can not work the same days as my clinicals.

My program is 14 credits a semester with 24 hours a week in clinicals. I work 18 hours a week and sometimes it's too much (but I am a wife and mother to three kids).

Good luck

[Julesmama28]

Our med surge semester was 15 credits and a huge time consumer. Honestly, few people in my class worked, those who did didn't do as well. It's really a personal decision but I wouldn't commit to much! You can always pick up more later

[MommaTy]

I work part time 7p-7:30a 2 nights a week (24 hours), I'm a mother to 5 kids. I only have credit 12 hours. 9 of those will be for my fundamentals class. I was told 56 hours of studying is needed to pass. So I will be one sleep deprived individual. I have clinicals on Thursday and Fridays from 7a-1p. So I don't work Wed or Thurs nights. We had many girls at my job work full time and do school full time. You just have to set yourself a strict schedule and stick to it.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your replies! To answer your questions, both jobs are flexible and I can work as many and as few hours as I want. I haven't taken online classes, so I'm not sure how disciplined I will be. As for my clinicals, I couldn't work the same day as I had clinicals even if I wanted, as my clinical is 12.5 hours.