Many working adults who want to go to nursing school wonder if they will be able to work full time and go to nursing school. Nursing school has the reputation of being rigorous and requiring a lot of time. In this article, I am going to talk about if a person could work full-time and go to nursing school. In addition, I will give my experience as a nursing student who worked while in college.
If you rather watch a video of me answering this question you can watch it here:
Reasons Why People Work and go to Nursing School at the same time
Many people are not fortunate enough to live at home with their parents (who pay all of their bills, tuition, and other expenses) while they go to nursing school. I was not one of the fortunate ones along with many others I know. At the age of eighteen, I moved out and got married. During that time my husband and I both worked full-time and both went to school. We had bills to pay (among other expenses) so we both had to work while we went to college. However, when I started the nursing program I quit working for a while until the last semester of nursing school.
Another reason people have to work and go to nursing school is because they already have a career and want to pursue nursing as second career. In addition, they have children, are single parents with only one income, have mortgages, and other family obligations. So, not working while in school is NOT an option.
Can I Work a Full-Time Schedule (36+ hours) and go to Nursing School?
I am not going to sugar coat it and say “oh yes you can and you shouldn’t have any problems…people do it all the time” because that is not the truth. Most nursing programs, at the beginning of the program, will tell you that you should either quit your current job or majorly cut down your hours in order to succeed in their program.
The reason why is because nursing school requires you to attend lecture classes (expect to be in lecture class approximately 20-25 hours a week), work at clinical sites, complete individual and group projects, and prepare for proficiency exams. All of this alone equals up to 40+ hours in a week and working at a job full-time while trying to pass your nursing classes is very, very difficult. Many people who start out working full-time in the nursing program either cut down their hours at work or flunk out of the program.
How can I work and go to Nursing School?
If you have to work (like most people do) I suggest you budget for the loss of hours and income before you start the program. During the first part of the program (when you have to complete pre-requisites courses) you can work as much as you can handle because the course load isn’t as rigorous as nursing courses. Many people maintain their full-time jobs and complete these courses before they start the nursing program. Another option is to go to nursing school part-time. If you do this you would be able to work while going to school.
While I was in college I worked 30 hours a week during the time I completed my pre-requisites. There were times it was stressful and I was definitely busy all the time but it was do-able. However, when I started the nursing program I soon found out that I could not juggle work and nursing school and make the grades I wanted to make. So I quit my job for about a year and concentrated on nursing school. Then during my last semester before I graduated I got a job working as needed as a nursing assistant (CNA) and then transition to a registered nurse position after I passed my state boards.
My husband and I budgeted for the loss of income and made sacrifices so I could concentrate solely on school.
Encouragement
I know times are tough and juggling family, school, and jobs are extremely tough. However, if you want to become a registered nurse I suggest you go for it and don’t let anything stand in your way. Even if right now you are in a situation and don’t see how you can make it work, things will find a way of making themselves work. In my own life I have had some extreme trials and obstacles where I could not see where my life was going or how I was going to be able to make it work, but somehow things worked themselves out and I obtained my goal.
Allesha E. says
My husband, at 31 years of age, started school in 2005, with no prior schooling. He chose nursing as his major. At first, he was going to do LPN bridging to RN, but with a session with the school counselor, chose RN nursing. He worked 40 hours a week while attending school. He attended Florida State College of Jacksonville, Or FSCJ (formerly Florida Community College Of Jacksonville, or FCCJ) for a total of 4 1/2 years. During prerequisites, he took classes half time. He applied for the nursing program (one of the top five nursing programs in the nation), didn’t make it the first time. He applied the next go-around again, and made it this time. He continued to work full time in the program, which changed his status from half-time student, to full-time student. The program is a two-year accelerated program, which allows you to be a RN in two years instead of four. It is a SUPER TOUGH program. A lot of people don’t make it through. He worked 12am-8am five days a week, and when he would get off work (as a security guard), he would drive straight to class, uniform and all. His classmates and professors was blown away at how he would do that. We think that it was called for him to be a RN, because everything would work out perfectly for his situation. The program would use a lottery system for students to pick their class schedules. When it was his turn, the class hours and days he needed to make work with his job would always be available, so he was able to attend clinicals that was scheduled for 6am on his off days, which were Tuesdays and Thursdays. It worked so well! The students had to maintain an 80 to pass the classes in the program anything under that, even a 79.5, was considered a failing grade, which means you were out the program, had to wait a semester for an opening, and take the class again. I say that because that exact thing happened to him. He missed a class by a half of a point. But two semesters later, he was back on track. He eventually lost his job (they fired him) because they said that someone told them that he fell asleep (remember, midnight shift). That was false, though. He said that the person who said at didn’t like him for whatever reason. I say it was a part of God’s perfect plan, because his clinical day for his last semester would of had been on his work days, which would of made it impossible to do both. He was able to get unemployment during this time of him finishing up the last semester of nursing school. He worked really hard in this program. He would literally spend four to five hours on his care plans. He would be up until 2-3am in the morning. He would literally write books as care plans, or so it seemed like it. He was very thorough. His professor at his clinicals would he hard on him because he had two things going against him: his sex and his race, which is African American. She wanted to make sure he was ready. At 36 years of age, he graduated nursing school in August 2009, with that class being the first graduating class of the newly 4-year state college, FSCJ. They have certain four-year programs there for RNs since the change. He worked the entire time he was in school up until the very last semester. It was so hard on him, but with the grace of God, he made it. I don’t work because of severe RA, so he takes care of us. I get SSD, but not much. He didn’t have the option to not work. When he did lose his job, it hurt us a lot, but we made it through. He passed the NCLEX in February 2010 with flying colors, the first time. He is now a Pediatric nurse for a home Heath care company, building experience. He got that job in May 2010, and is still there. I tell him he needs to move on, as it is a PRN position, but he is with a steady family. He can actually get his Bachelor’s easy while doing this job, which is something he say he will do starting in a few months. So the message is no matter how hard working and being in the nursing program can be, it is possible. It took a lot out of him, so much that he still haven’t went for his BSN. He wants to, but doing all of that really did a number on him. It really did take a tremendous toll, but he felt like he had to do it, for his family. We had twin boys four months after graduation (12/2009, exactly seven years after marriage), so it was perfect timing. He wouldn’t change that experience for the world, because now he is Chris E., RN!!! (Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to tell his experience.)
S.L. Page says
Allesha,
I wanted to say thank you for sharing your husband’s story. I think that our readers will find it very helpful and inspiring. He really endured a lot and persevered. I bet he is an excellent nurse. I wish him much success in his nursing career. God bless!
Sarah BSN, RN