Working during school?

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Hello all!

I'm starting a 4-year nursing program this fall (yay!) and I just need advice on if working is a bad or good idea. Some background info, I don't have a need to work. I'm extrememly lucky that my parents are paying for all of my schooling and living costs.

However, I do have my CNA and I'm not sure if working would be a good idea. I figure if I build a working relationship with a hospital for 4 years of college then maybe I'll have a better chance of getting hired as a new grad, plus I would get a lot of experience.

But at the same time I'm not sure if I should work. I have a end goal of becoming a CRNA (but I know things could change), but I have to have a really good GPA and plus the pre reqs for the program I want to go to some of them aren't build in to my nursing program, so I have to add some more classes and go to school through the summer to get out in 4 years.

My classes for the 2010-2011 year includes (but not summer this is just fall,winter, and spring terms)

Principles of Biology

Intro to Psych

Writing

Call to Adventure I

Why a Mercy Education?

Healthy Lifestyles

Microbiology

Organobiochemistry

Speech Comm.

Dev Psych

Call to Adventure II

And in addition, I want to be active in my school, with clubs and orgs.

Recommendations?

Thanks a lot! I know I sound like a dorky incoming freshman :confused:

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I worked at least part-time during my entire undergrad. I majored in Psychology and minored in Biomedical Sciences so I took pretty much all of those classes you listed. I worked part-time for my first year and a half and full-time for the rest. But, I had to work out of necessity and my grades sometimes had to suffer to make a living. If I were you, I would definitely work part-time until you are in clinicals and then you can gauge what you can handle from there. One of the worst things for new grads is to never have had ANY work experience!

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Thanks! Theres a part time position in the ED that im interested in bc its in a decent sized city and I think I would be able to see a wide variety of cases, from hangnails to actual trauma, plus I'm going to try and see about getting an ICU job after graduation, so maybe the fast pace of the ED could help with that.

How many hours a week would you recommend? I want to keep atleast a 3.7 GPA and like i said get involved, so I think working too much will compromise that and I'd hate to struggle with grades when I don't even need to work

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I know of several people who work during school. I start my job in June, and will continue working throughout the last two years of my program.

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I would say up to 24 hours a week. That would be two 12 hour shifts per week so you could fit in with whatever scheduling they would have you on in the hospital. The good thing about working longer shifts is that you aren't breaking it up into several days, which would get in the way of other activities. Try to schedule your classes so you have three days a week off (Friday, Saturday, Sunday or whatever day plus the weekend), that way you would still have one full day off while working two others. Hope that made sense lol. If you feel like you don't have enough time for everything, then you can consider cutting back, but I think that is completely manageable while in school. During my last year to a year and a half, I was getting practically all A's while working full-time (it's the beginning years where my grades weren't the best). If you don't burn yourself out and take care of your health, you will do great!

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I'm all for working during school. I did it/am doing it now.

But...

If you have not had any college classes before, I would give yourself a few months off, if not the whole semester, to focus solely on your classes. Transitioning to college can be VERY difficult. I did work through my first semester and I sincerely wish I hadn't. After you are confident and well-adjusted to the college environment, then I suggest working.

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I'm all for working during school. I did it/am doing it now.

But...

If you have not had any college classes before, I would give yourself a few months off, if not the whole semester, to focus solely on your classes. Transitioning to college can be VERY difficult. I did work through my first semester and I sincerely wish I hadn't. After you are confident and well-adjusted to the college environment, then I suggest working.

I've taken dual credit classes (college credit + high school credit) and I have about 12 credits transfering, but the classes weren't too much of a challenge to me, so I'm not sure if they are on the level of what it will be at my school bc they were CC courses.

I'm really battling with waiting it out and see how I feel about the time I have or going for the ED job because I don't want to lose the chance at a job with all that experience. I also know a LTC place that hires students to work every other weekend, but based on my clinicals LTC isn't my calling...

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I have been working FT throughout NS. I have to! I have to pay the bills. :D

Anyway, I would normally recommend that students that don't have to work....don't. But the reality of it is that there is a bad job market out there and the ones that worked as a CNA or CPT during NS have a better shot at landing that coveted GN job.

Good Luck to you!

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