Working Full-Time

mom35 · Mar 22, 2009

I am sure it can be done, but the nursing administrator told us to not plan on working at all during NS because of the amount of studying outside of class. I just finished my pre-requ which can be done while working, but apparently NS is extremely challenging. Remember that there will be clinicals too. I guess it may vary from school to school, but at our school the clinicals are 8 hr. days. But still go for it, maybe see if you can consult a school counselor. Never give up on what you want to do-it can be done!! :up:

cdube63 · Mar 22, 2009

I have been working 36hrs a week and going to NS, it is very hard, I study in between class and work, also I have been listening to lectures while I sleep and that seems to help.

Good Luck

vmoh18 · Mar 22, 2009

I am currently in the nursing program and I work any where from 40-50 hours a week. I work mostly on the weekends and two days through the week. Alot of doubles on the weekend because of short staffing. I am averaging a B in both of my classes. If you are dedicated you can work and go to school. Alot of my classmates work also.

shann106 · Mar 23, 2009

I have been working full time until very recently, I have had to cut back by a few hours. The amount of reading is overwhelming, it is very common to be assigned 300 pages to read before the next class.

Full time can be done, but it is very very hard, especially if you have children. As a single parent I have to run my daughter to her activities, help her with homework, clean the house, go to the grocery, etc etc

sunray12 · Mar 23, 2009

hello,
i have just started taking my pre-reqs for rn program. i plan to apply to the evening and weekend program in 2010. however, many are telling me that is impossible to work full-time while completing the program. i currently work for the federal government and can study about an hour and half a work each day.
please advise. can it be done?????

if you can count on the downtime then it can probably be done. i've tried going to school ft while working ft twice during the past couple of years and had to drop back on my course load each time. but this is because i don't have downtime on my job. i'm also going to have to go out of town to attend nursing school. if i had a job where i could get in study time and a nursing school nearby i think i could probably keep a day job while attending nursing school.

missjennmb · Mar 23, 2009

I am not sure about the other parts of your life, but I just about lost my mind until I stopped working as of last week (this was my first "time off" this weekend since Christmas). I have a 14 yr old son who I homeschool, 1 and 3 yr old daughters who do not sleep straight through the night and have been sick a LOT (both have been to the hospital for various tests/minor surgery) and was working 4 days a week (sat, sun, 2 days a week after clinicals). I seriously reached a point where I was ready to just get up and walk away from school. I have maintained a B average but I also have just had zero life, less than adequate sleep, ect.

If I had no children *maybe* I would do it, but imo school + work while doable, is really not worth it. It turned what could have been a challenging yet interesting life into a string of exhaustion (I have had to avoid studying any where comfortable because I fall asleep nearly instantly)

Doable yes. Would I do it twice? nope

bamagt · Mar 23, 2009

I work minimum 36 hours a week, go to nursing school full time with 2 classes, clinicals, preceptorship and I still have a life. It's really not hard at all for me, you just have to be dedicated. When you sit down to study, you have to study. No watching the TV or anything.

I couldn't have done this in the first 2 semesters but after that it has been easy.

shygoofyone · Mar 23, 2009

I worked over 35 hours a week (often 40+) for most of my nursing school career (until administrative changes made it impossible, thanks to a change in my position). It was NOT easy, to say the least, and I got used to functioning on very little sleep, because I would be up late doing homework. It can be done, but...it takes a toll. Relationships are tested, beyond what they should be, so be careful. Make sure to take care of yourself!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2009

Some people have successfully completed nursing school while working 40 hours per week. Others cannot even think of juggling full-time school with full-time employment.

It all depends on our academic abilities, tolerance for stress, family situations, time management skills, and personal situations.

missjennmb · Mar 23, 2009

I think it also depends on the teacher and program. Our courseload is pretty crazy. If your teacher does not teach in a way that works for you or narrows down the content somewhat, it makes your effort multiply. In our classes, not reading the chapters simply is not an option because the teachers do not cover everything that will be on the test, give quizzes before ever even going over the material the first time (we get a quiz thats 50% material from the last class and 50% material from that class, given when we walk in the door). Their "review" is at best saying "know everything about this drug class" or "know everything about this disease" and when highlighted is about 75% of the chapters we covered and at worst is that same technique, but for ALL possible test questions (my teacher uses a question 'bank' so only uses about 25% of the questions available for any one chapter) leaving us to highlight the entire chapter per her "review" and that doesn't count all the tables and side notes, any of which can be the material for that question. Basically anything less than reading the material multiple times is just not going to be adequate, and our next pharm test, for example, is on 10 chapters.

If I had a teacher who covered EVERYTHING that I would see on the tests or let us take notes or gave us some sort of condensed version of our material, I really think it would free up more time (some times we don't even cover a chapter at all if we run out of time, and when we do, its generally just reading the chapter outline slides that came with the teaching manual). Right now though, generally speaking I study for atleast 20 some hours a week, not counting classes and clinicals. (4 sat, 4 sun, 2 mon, 3 tues, 3 wed, 3 thurs, 5+ fri)

So if you figure in my classes: Med Surg 6 hrs p/wk. AP 6 hrs p/wk. Pharm 2 hrs p/wk. Clinicals 12 hrs p/wk.

That makes:

24 hrs for study

26 hrs for class

28 hrs for work (I worked 56 hrs per pay period)

----------------

78 hrs a week committed.

116 hrs available of waking hours per week. (getting up at 6am, going to bed at 10pm)

That leaves 38 hrs a week, minus 7 for dressing/showering, thats 31. Minus 1/2 hr per meal to eat (10.5). That leaves 20.5 hrs, driving (for me thats another 8 hrs) so 12.5. That leaves less than 2 hrs a day for being off task when you're supposed to be studying (like me, now, here, lol), going over your 30 min for a meal (like when you have to prepare it), spending time with family, being interrupted from studying by classmates, dealing with minor life crises (my children have been very sick lately, and one has had to have surgery).

On top of this, there are very few opportunities to take time off from school to deal with life in nursing programs. In ours, 2 missed clinicals means you either fail, or the teacher is nice enough to let you make it up at her discretion. I already had to beg and cry to be able to go with my daughter to the hospital when she had her surgery because I had been home throwing up with that stomach virus a month before.

Not trying to paint a sob story, but just trying to say how there are SO many variables that can work for you or against you. I also had many car problems but was luckily enough to be able to get a ride with a classmate so that I don't have to worry about that anymore. I had zero absences and handled it all great for the first semester, but that kind of schedule can really wear on you after awhile, and once life starts to throw you a few curve balls, well it just gets really complicated really fast.

sbostonRN · Mar 23, 2009

Some people have successfully completed nursing school while working 40 hours per week. Others cannot even think of juggling full-time school with full-time employment.
It all depends on our academic abilities, tolerance for stress, family situations, time management skills, and personal situations.

I completely agree! I've been able to keep up a full time work schedule (40 hours Mon-Fri days) while taking a 10 credit Med-Surg class for the past two semesters. It's hard but it's doable. My program has 1-3 5 hour classes per week, and 19 hours of clinical every other weekend (Fri PM-Sat. day-Sun. day). My work also allows me to study a bit during downtime and breaks, so that's definitely helpful. And I don't have kids, so the only person depending on me is my fiance who is very very supportive. He cooks and cleans most of the time when I have class, and I try to help out when I have days off. We make time to have a date night a few nights per month. It's definitely not "all work no play" IMO. I'm an A-/B+ student in a very difficult ADN program so I totally think it can be done!