“I am seriously thinking of going back to school for nursing. I already have my bachelor degree in Sociology — however, my career has always been in law (20 years). I see from your blogs that you work full-time while also a nursing student. Could you fill me in on how you’ve worked that out? I’m assuming you work during the day and I’m wondering how you deal with your clinical hours. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.”
by Julie January 19, 2009
Julie, I completely understand how fitting nursing school into your schedule seems impossible, but you may be able to pull it off. A lot of my classmates also have jobs and/or families and also somehow find a way to make it work. That being said, it’s not in any way going to be easy. You will need to sacrifice something- whether it is an important work meeting, office party, or your kid’s school play. The program (at least the one I’m in) is RIGID and does not allow for much flexibility, so you need to learn to be flexible so that you can conform to it. But it is possible…
I am lucky to have found a highly accredited program at a Community College (no joke- who would of thought!), which offers classes during days, nights, or weekends. I decided to take the night classes because it made the most sense in my schedule. I originally worked Monday-Fridays, but I changed my hours so that I have one weekday free for clinical work, and I do a Saturday shift in the office instead. It’s good if you can be at least a little flexible with your job. At the risk of attracting some super weird nursing-type stalkers, I will show you my schedule from last semester so you can get an idea of how I’ve managed to make it work.
Monday & Tuesday
Wake up at 5:45am, leave for work at 6:30, work from 7:30am-3:30pm, commute to school (arriving an hour early to catch up on some last minute reading, ect.). Class until 8:30pm, commute home, SLEEP!
Wednesday
Same morning schedule (up at 5:45, ect.), but after work I would go directly to the hospital for clinical. Clinical would run from 5:30pm until about 11pm, which would mean I would get home at about midnight. It defiantly sucked, BUT…
Thursday!!
My day off from work! I got to sleep in some, and then do my work for clinical that night (which is the real reason I had off in the first place). In my program we do clinical two nights in a row- the first one we get our patients, do assessments and gather information about their history and illnesses from the charts, their chem labs, medications, ect. As well as do some basic aide-like tasks (think diapers, turning, ect.).
Thursday we need to come into clinical with all of the medications looked up, all of the diseases (past and present) looked up, and a plan of action for the shift for caring for the patients. This takes time to do… and a lot of it. Working on Thursdays was not feasible, unless maybe I had a half-day of something, but I was able to be flexible and switch out Thursdays for Saturdays, which as you will see below, really worked to my benefit.\
Friday
This was my favorite day of the week. I had my regular work schedule, which was really hard to wake up for by this point, because the week had been so long… BUT… I had NO SCHOOL. I’d like to say that I would go out with my friends, bf, or to some crazy bars on Friday night. I really would. But I would go home from work and SLEEP—right until Saturday morning. Trust me, it was totally necessary and I don’t regret one second of the social life that I missed while being snuggled in my nice, warm bed.
Saturday
I know what you’re thinking- “Work on Saturday must SUCK.” I thought it would too, but it worked to my benefit. My office is slow on Saturday, so when I’m not doing work I have a lot of time to study. I usually get about 4-5 hrs worth of decent studying done, which really helps me out a lot. Combine this with having Thursday off for clinical, and it works out wonderful. After work I am able to have time to socialize, but usually end up passing out around midnight at my boyfriend’s house.
So yes Julie, you can definitely pull it off if you are able to compromise with your work schedule and personal life a little. I have very little time for a social life during the school year, and I couldn’t imagine juggling the schedule I have if I had kids, but some students in my class area able to. In the end, if you really want it, giving up 2 years isn’t a whole lot. And it goes by pretty quickly.
I hope this addressed your question. I’m able to answer questions for you, or anyone else out there, anytime you need.
Now I need to stop fucking around online and go back to studying!
Life as a Student Nurse 