Working While in Nursing School??

CrazierThanYou · Feb 10, 2010

Eh, I work 40 hours a week at my job as a shift supervisor at a retail pharmacy. I work 12 hr shifts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, then work a 6 hour shift on Tuesdays. It's very exhausting. I have 16 clinical hours a week plus a 2 hour lab and a 3 hour lecture. Tons of clinical homework, etc. It's important to budget your time. My clinicals are Wednesdays and Thursdays, so when I get home at 3 on Wednesday I'm doing clinical homework until about 8 or 9. Thursday I finish up any leftover clinical homework. Since I work 7a-7p, when I get home from work I study usually from 8-10, then go to bed. No time to really go out and have fun, but this method has worked pretty well for me since I graduate in May.
I'm kinda wondering how I'll handle my schedule in March when I start my "transitions" course. That'll bump me up to 24 clinical hours a week. yikes.

Bless your heart! That has to be tough. I see so many people on this site recommending nursing students don't work and yes, that probably is ideal and would definitely be nice, but not all of us can do that! I will definitely have to work as well as take care of my family.

MissCharlieRN · Feb 10, 2010

Yeah, I live on my own (well, with my boyfriend) 360 miles from home. So not working is not an option for me. You just have to commit yourself to waking up at 5-5:30 every day (which is awful since I am NOT a morning person) and having really not much of a social life. This week has been a fabulous break since the snow closed school pretty much all week. This is probably God's way of telling me to study for the exam I have on Monday but instead I've just been sitting around ******* and moaning about the snow.

LuckyinKY · Feb 13, 2010

I work in research at a university which is a perfect job while going to school. First off, my employer pays for 6-8 credits a semester (including a summer semester) at any state school or community college. Also I have flexible hours and can work whatever hours I want, as long as I get my work done. I do small animal surgeries and some bench work. During a surgery, I have 4+ hours which are spent observing the animal and collecting samples every 30 minutes, and other then that I am free to study or work on assignments. I have a great boss who is supportive of me returning to school.

checkmarks0725 · Feb 13, 2010

I work at Target. I work Monday, Wednesdays, Friday and the weekend. I go to class all day Monday and Tuesday and have clinical Thursday and Friday. I'm lucky because I have Wednesday morning and afternoon to do homework (or sleep in!) but there's still never enough time in a day!! It's tough but you do what you have to do.

beatrice1 · Feb 13, 2010

I do private home care two overnight shipts a week. I take a little nap after school... go into work at 9pm till 9am... stay up till about 2 or 3 am reading... works for me!

dannibee · Feb 13, 2010

I work Friday through Sunday from 2200-0630 in the ICU as a unit secretary. My job is awesome because my manager rocks and I get to see so many things that will help me once I'm a nurse.

kimmie4476, ASN, RN · Feb 13, 2010

My first year of nursing school, I worked as a waitress/bartender wed and thurs from 4-10pm and 12 hours/day on the weekends, and when I got my LPN I worked Fri, Sat, Sun 12 hour shifts. It is really hard because you can't make all the study groups and when your non-working classmates invite you out for a beer to blow off steam after a hard test, you have to say no and go to work! I just had to prioritize and say no to a lot of functions and my family never saw me those years, but it's worth it!!!

ACorEtACri · Feb 13, 2010

Through I haven't started nursing school, inactive student jobs can be really good. A lot of times you can study if you don't have anything to do. I work 8 hours a week renting camping equipment and signing people up for trips and I take 15-16 hours of course work/labs. I still get my weekends too! I chose a position based on the hours that worked with my class schedule. I've also heard working in a school libraries and student centers can be great if you know the non busy hours and can work those hours. If you interested look for on campus job hiring fairs.

followyourbliss · Feb 13, 2010

Hi,I am working on call as a Rca in a complex care facilty,where I have worked for 4 years ,in dementia.I have heard that working more than one day a weeks is.....unadvisable,so we will see!A handful of people in my program are working full/part time...here in B.C our LPN program is still a condensed yearlong stressbomb!So...at least I can go to work and ask my nursing friends who are R.N and LPN about school/problems etc....still nervous though :]

anurseatlast · Feb 13, 2010

I did an accelerated program in which they told us we could not work. As a single mom, I did not have a choice. I just did jobs that were flexible so I could have time to study for tests, write care plans, etc . I taught childbirth classes once evening a week. I continued cleaning our church twice a week, a job I had had for 7 years. I could do it anytime day or night. I also did home care but only very short shifts. Mostly I did evening care for quads - helping them get ready for bed, about 2-3 hours. For a while, I also cared for a young girl with CP. I would go do morning care and get her ready to go to school. One day a week that meant that I cared for her from 6-7:30am, got to school at 8, got done at 4, had a quick dinner break and then taught childbirth before going to clean the church. I would get home about 1am. It was brutal but I didn't do it every day. On the days I did evening care, I could study a couple hours or get ready for the next day's clinical after school. The last semester I did not work as much. Most of the other students did not work but a couple did. One was an EMT and worked weekends in an ER. Another delivered pizzas. It was hard but worth it in the end. Looking back, I wonder how I survived but you do what you have to do. It was worth it to be a nurse.

BluegrassRN · May 13, 2010

bump for spikey74