Working/Going to School

[nurseontheway]

I will graduate as a LPN in November. RN classes start on December 1st and I will be working while taking classes. I live by a couple of good nursing homes but don't know how I feel about working 12 hour days while taking classes. The 1st semester I will only have two classes and no clinicals. What is your advice? I thought about working at a doctor's office but I don't think that they experience would be as valuable. I have heard that dialysis clinics hire LPN's but think that it would be too routine? What do you suggest?

[2bnurselovescoffee]

It's different for everyone... I worked first year about 15 hours a week and found that hard. Some people can work part time and still do good in nursing school. You will have to feel it out and see what is comfortable for you, just have a flexible employer so that if you decide you need to cut hours they will be ok with it.

[TeresaB930, BSN, RN]

Congratulations on your accomplishments so far!

I found that the 5th and 6th quarters of the Nursing program were the most challenging.

I think you need to ask yourself these questions. How have you done in the classes you've taken so far?

Do you have sufficient time to study?

What kind of support do you have? Do you have children and a husband who are going to compete for your time?

Certainly I won't recommend you work or not. You have to make that decision for your financial well being. However, I will say that working in LTC while I was in the program provided priceless experience that I was able to take to clinicals with me.

Best of luck to you!

Teresa

[Jules A, MSN]

Hi,

I worked a min of 30 hours mostly on weekends through LPN and RN school and did great. For me because I'm old and frugal, lol, not working and using my savings to "focus on school" was not an option. Go for it!

Jules

[joshuaha]

I worked full time all through school. Granted, I had no life to speak of, but hey, I did it!