Would you work during nursing school if you didn't have to?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I have two friends that I take classes with...all of us are entering the nursing program this Fall. The three of us are married and are fortunate to be in the position of having spouses where working during school is an option and not a need...for which I am forever grateful.

However, the other two are significantly younger than me, one is 21, and the other is 22, I'm 36. We met at school, they are very serious students, so despite the age difference, I have no problems meeting them for lunch or dinner to study for some pre-reqs we are currently taking. It has helped all of us.

The three of us, have about the same study habits...I just quit my part-time job b/c of an upcoming summer class (API & II) which will run from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 pm....M-Thurs and run for 10 weeks, of which they are attending as well.

Both of these young ladies have, within the last two weeks got a job at a local hosptial...one is a Patient Care Technician and the other will be doing admissions...one is working 30 hours a week, and the other 20.

My concern is neither one of them was working before, and I cannot even imagine working even one day a week with the upcoming summer course load, and nursing school starting this Fall.

Maybe I'm being mother hen...but I was like, "Are you SURE you guys want to do that?"

No doubt, working in a hospital would be beneficial...but I just couldn't imagine working during this program if you had the option not to.

Whether you need to work or not during school,you probably should just for the real world work-life experience. I have recently worked with some 20's somethings who didn't realize how many night shift, weekends and holidays they would have to work. One quit just before Christmas because "noobody in her family works Christmas". Find out how hard nursing is before you spend the loan money. I worked with another nurse who worked retail through school. She didn't realize how difficult the work was outside of school. She felt trapped by her student loans.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I wish I didn't have to work either. There is no other way. If I borrowed enough money to cover school and living expenses, I would be over $100 grand in debt when I got out. Nursing School will cost approximately $45 grand. I have a mortgage and other expenses. So, I plan to work smart and hard and pray a lot. I worked through undergrad and through pre-reqs.

I will be the first to volunteer for night shift and weekend clinicals.

I have been sleep deprived for so long that it won't make any difference. I just try to eat healthy, work out 10-15 min at a time, several times per day and take cleansing breaths.

I think that if I did not have the discipline from undergrad and pre-reqs of budgeting time to study and work on assignments, I would be in trouble. I have been reading some text books that I purchased at Hastings to get a jump start on NS.

Two years to go!

The first thing the nursing school advisor said was that working during nursing school is not recommended for our particular program. I am lucky that I don't have to work when I start nursing school in August since I am basically a single mom of a nine year old. My husband is constantly on assignment elswhere (military) and we have a house and too much yard to take care of, not to forget our 5 furry children :monkeydance: I will be plenty busy.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I did not work during my time in a 12-month LVN program. Rather, I lived off unemployment checks.

I now work full-time weekend double shifts as an LVN on a rehab unit, and attend classes at my local community college full-time during the week. I enjoy this situation because I can earn good grades while earning a good income simultaneously. Last year I earned $47,000 during my first year as an LVN, and my overall GPA is a 3.85 after completing 28 credit hours worth of classes.

Specializes in acute care.

IWorked pt then ft while getting my first degree in engineering...while it was exhausting, it was doable (is this even a word?) For NS, I don't plan to work ft, just pt...I'm hoping to get a position in a nursing home or hospital as a CNA, but if I don't I still have work study. However, not working is not an option for me right now because I have minor bills to pay.

i intend to continue working while attending nursing school this fall. It is going to be stressful but it is all about time management. I am also a stress reader, if I have some much time nothing gets done.

I work 32 hours a week and i HATE it. I am exhausted all the time, i feel like a crazy person. I can't keep the days straight or my house clean. I would quit my job in a second if i could afford it. Only 7 more months until i graduate!!!

Would I? yes, in a heartbeat...unfortunately, I am my sole support. I currently work Fri/Sat/Sun 7p-7a...I would love to cut down to two days a week when I start nursing school, but I don't know if I'll be able to. I'm even thinking of renting a larger apartment so I can share expenses which will still be lower than my small one bedroom.

The ironic thing is that nursing schools always recommend that you don't work, but who are they expecting to pay the bills? I personally think that they should have someone in the nursing program that is a scholarship coordinator. This way when students are accepted into the program, there is a resource for them.

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

My number one pet peeve in life is people who don't understand those different than themselves!

Seriously, it ticks me off. When I read someone saying, "I worked full-time in school so you can, of course you can too..." I get all kinds of :angryfire because that may or may not be true for others. (Not directing this at anyone on this thread, btw.)

Some people will do fine working while going to school -- others will not. We all have different situations, strengths, and weaknesses. If I were attending a program where I just had to get C's to get into nursing school...no consideration of GPA and grades, then the working considerations would be different.

As it is, I work maybe 5 hours per week. So not very much at all. This semester I'm taking 17 credits, and last semester I took 19 credits. For me, because of my makeup and constitution, I do better focusing on a heavy class load rather than going more slowly and working more. I have a hard time maintaining a divided focus between school and work. Because of this, I'd rather take out big student loans and get through school this way.

I think age is a consideration, too. Younger students are marvelous memorizers compared to older students. I have my questions about how much they understand of what they memorize so rapidly...but that's another topic. On average, raw, rote memorizing ability starts to dip around the mid-twenties; however, critical thinking skills begin to improve at about the same time.

Anyway, I think we will all have different capacities, strengths, weaknesses, and solutions. If I had a magic wand, though, I'd rather see students work little and go through school with a relatively heavy course load and focus nearly exclusively on school.

I think it's also important to take what we hear and read with a grain of salt. People are likely to talk about what a heavy load they have and how well they do. And they should be proud of htat. However, at the same time, people are unlikely to pipe up and share their failures about what they couldn't manage.

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I did not work during my time in a 12-month LVN program. Rather, I lived off unemployment checks.

I now work full-time weekend double shifts as an LVN on a rehab unit, and attend classes at my local community college full-time during the week. I enjoy this situation because I can earn good grades while earning a good income simultaneously. Last year I earned $47,000 during my first year as an LVN, and my overall GPA is a 3.85 after completing 28 credit hours worth of classes.

You have done so well! I hope you are proud of yourself.:balloons:

Specializes in CVICU.

If I didn't have to I wouldn't but I have struggled through school. I had a job and then they let me go and said I quit. Unemployment was denied until the following year when it got reversed. I was homeless, sleeping in my car to finally finding a place to live but now my car is gone. I had to send my son with my mother (out of town) and now I have him back and I am doing everything I can to get through this. My dad has so much money but refuses to help me and its okay. I've done this all on my own and I've had many set backs. I was set to graduate this December but the BIG ATI on pharm is what held me back from graduating with my cohort and my leadership and internship was pushed back to January. I was hurt then but not anymore. I will finish and be happy that the sacrifices I made to be a nurse was worth every single tear I have cried. I just received a call last night for a job I applied for in June at Aurora and now they want me to come work in their Neurosurgical ICU, and things are now looking up for me.

If I didn't have to I wouldn't but I have struggled through school. I had a job and then they let me go and said I quit. Unemployment was denied until the following year when it got reversed. I was homeless, sleeping in my car to finally finding a place to live but now my car is gone. I had to send my son with my mother (out of town) and now I have him back and I am doing everything I can to get through this. My dad has so much money but refuses to help me and its okay. I've done this all on my own and I've had many set backs. I was set to graduate this December but the BIG ATI on pharm is what held me back from graduating with my cohort and my leadership and internship was pushed back to January. I was hurt then but not anymore. I will finish and be happy that the sacrifices I made to be a nurse was worth every single tear I have cried. I just received a call last night for a job I applied for in June at Aurora and now they want me to come work in their Neurosurgical ICU, and things are now looking up for me.

Congratulations

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