Working while in NP school

Trauma Columnist · Jul 30, 2017

Much depends on you individually - I worked full time while in school but I don't have a lot of family obligations and I worked full time in the ER (3 12's)

TicTok411 · Jul 30, 2017

I worked full time until I got to the last clinical rotation. I worked 3 12s in the ED Fri,sat and Sunday then dropped to Sat Sun to finish up

CardioNP, MSN, CRNP · Jul 30, 2017

I am going into my final semester of NP school at Duke and I have worked throughout the entire program. It definitely gets more difficult once you start clinicals since you have both classroom/didactic work in addition to clinical hours. I will work 3 12's in a Cath Lab and 2 days in clinicals. Yes, it sucks sometimes but we do what we must to achieve what's important to us!

Good luck, you can do it!

friendlylark · Jul 30, 2017

Thanks for the replies :-) I do not have children, but my hubby likes to travel and he is very well established in his career -- so he has a lot of freedom. I AM JEALOUS of his freedom!!! :-) I know I will be giving up some freedom to get through my nurse practitioner degree.

Will I be giving up freedom as I work as a nurse practitioner?

shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 30, 2017

I went to Johns Hopkins and the RN students that were working usually either dropped to PT work or quit working for the last 2 semesters.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Jul 31, 2017

I work Mon-Fri in informatics. I have worked full time throughout my program and am in my final year. What I did was to speak to the dean about doing classes out of order so that I could complete all the didactic classes first. They let me do that and most of those were online already. A coule were in-person classes but they were only 2-3 hours so my boss allowed me to work remote those days. That was only one day a week though. I'd go to school and keep my work computer on so that I could be contacted if necessary (although no one ever messaged me), then I'd go to the library after class around 11am and work remote until about 5pm when I'd have a second class or lab.

Last semester I started clinicals and that was a tough few months. I'm in the acute NP program so luckily I was able to do my clinical rotations on weekends in the ICU (2x 12 hour shifts) and work during the week but trying to get all the homework assignments done and study for exams was a challenge. In fact I was so exhausted I took a semester off as I was burning the candle at both ends. Going part time is not an option for me as I am the sole bread winner of my family and my wife doesn't work. I start back in January again but I only have two clinical semesters left so I'm just going to have to suck it up until it's over. It is very hard and very tiring but it is possible.

TammyG · Aug 1, 2017

I went to Hopkins NP program as well but my experience was very different than Shibaowner. Pretty much everyone in my cohort worked full time (most at Hopkins medical facilities for the tuition reimbursement). I worked full time (3-12s) the whole time. I moved to weekends the last year so that I could do my clinicals during the week.

Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP · Aug 1, 2017

I worked 2 12's a week and would use my vacation time strategically during clinical rotations.

HappytobeARNP, MSN, APRN · Aug 2, 2017

I think your schedule will depend on how much you handle while in school. If you have to work then choose the job that's going to give you the most flexibility with the less stress. You probably won't be able to determine which job is the best fit until school is in full swing and you're working. Do what works best for you and your family.

If you really want to be an NP then school is your #1 priority and you will have to choose a job that is OK with that. Believe me you will be stressed enough so don't let your employer add to that if you can help it.

Good luck and Congratulations!!

Cococure · Aug 2, 2017

As others have said it will depend on you and how much time you can dedicate to studying. I worked full-time until I realized I couldn't balance, family work and school. I am blessed my hubby is a RN so he able to work extra to make up the difference. I now work PRN 2 days a week and love it. For me it's a good balance with school and family ...when I start clinicals I can drop to 1 day a week if needed. Having small kids makes a difference...they are a lot of work. If you don't have kiddos yet ...just plan a study schedule and stick to it, you should be able to work full time.

All the best

FYI please enjoy all your free time

Cococure

JustKeepDriving · Aug 3, 2017

A lot depends on your program - my first semester was light on clinical hours but heavy on theory/sciences and working full time was not a problem; however as it progressed I started picking up more and more clinical hours till it was almost a full-time job and even picking up a per-diem shift on the weekend was terrible. However, the way my program worked was that we were placed at a major academic medical center where we carried a consistent outpatient caseload for the entirety of the program and then had specialty rotations (Peds, Geriatric, Emergency, inpatient, forensic and refugee psychiatry) that we completed (some voluntary, some mandatory). I picked up all the extra clinical hours that I could and didn't work at all the last year of my program - just did classes, clinical hours and board prep (which even as a single person, left me with not a lot of free time).

Only a few people in my cohort were still working by the end of the program - with only one doing full time.

Not all schools work like that though and there is a lot of variability in clinical hours and experiences - so it really depends on what you personally can handle and hour your clinical rotations are structured.