Working during nursing school

Hello everyone, this past week has been especially rough for me. My grandpa is in the intensive care unit because of a medical error and I've gone to be with him. However, rather than dwell on this right now, I've decided to distract myself and explain my experience with working and being in nursing school. Hope this helps some of you who have been considering it.

As you all may or may not know, nursing school is rough. I'm not talking the kind of rough where you have to study for a hard test the night before, I'm talking the kind of rough where you wonder what life was like before you entered hell... when you can't remember NOT reading hundreds of pages a week... the kind of rough where you don't necessarily freak out that you forgot your phone for the day, but you panic because you haven't done nearly enough flash cards or practice questions (even though you've done HUNDREDS) prior to an exam.

Let me start with a background about Sylvia prior to nursing school. In high school I wasn't the smartest kid, I HATED homework and therefor I didn't do it. Come college I seemed to have found my niche. Going to lecture and reading was more my style of learning rather than homework assignments. I completed my pre-requisites for a BSN program in 2 years, however due to a little slacking on my part, I did not complete my final one til summer, so I was forced to wait a year to start the program. Meanwhile I worked part time in an emergency room as a monitor tech/clerk (sat/sun 7pm-7am).

My first quarter of nursing school was not too bad. I took assessment, pathophysiology and nursing basics or something (you know, learning about nightingale and all those gals). Patho on the other hand was rough. I had a professor who believed that he knew more than the text books so I learned to translate his lectures to notes. I actually dictated his lectures word for word, picture for picture. I didn't have much time to study, every spare hour I spent in the library looking over notes, and studying. The weekends were essentially off limits because of the constraints of work.

I honestly believe that I would have done better in my courses with more time to study... I did get 2 A's and a B in patho, but I could have done a lot better if I had the luxury of the weekends off from work. This quarter however was only the beginning of my battle of school and work.

I struggled prior to nursing school with a mean boss. It was weird, we had never had problems before and I had been on a set schedule for quite a while, but the week prior to clinicals started my boss all of a sudden decides that I have to work night shifts during the week. I explained to her that this was not possible, I had clinical during the week and I could not be awake for such an extended period of time AND be expected to safely take care of my patients. This turned into a long drawn out ordeal. She told me verbatim "I did not hire you to go to school, I hired you to work for me." Anyways, long story short, I ended up having to get the union involved and they helped me secure my schedule.

As time passed and the program progressed, it became harder and harder to work. A main problem I had was during finals. I had my first extremely difficult final and asked to have the weekend off prior to the exam. By this time I had a new boss and her answer to that was, "well, if you can find someone to work for you, then you can". This wasn't easy, in fact it was impossible. We already had 2 people on sick leave and there was nobody else qualified to handle my job. So what ended up happening? I worked.

I do not believe in calling in sick just because I have to study. A lot of people say, just fake sick, school comes first. Well, unfortunately you are only allowed a certain number of "occurances" and when that number starts to climb, your annual evaluation shows just how "sick" you've been.

Spring quarter of my first year I started to really feel the stress. I began to ask around the hospital if there was a job that only work 8 hours, or would allow me to take more time off. I strolled over to ICU one day and talked to their charge. She let me know that quite often, the monitor techs who work ICU have to be "flexed home". So this sounded great! The next thing I know I'm being pulled into the managers office and she's hiring me!

My transfer to ICU was not only a blessing but a challenge. Not only did I have to learn a new job, but I would be working nights on the weekends. Now don't get me wrong, I love nights, but imagine waking up at 5 am for school mon-thurs and then switching around to waking up at 5 pm fri and sat. The switch to ICU did kill my circadian rhythm but it allowed me to take time off for my studies. My new boss in the ICU always said, school comes first. Amazing! What a concept! Not only did she encourage me to take time off to study for exams but she constantly asks, "So, you're going to work for me after your graduate right?" Perfect! Not only did I find an accommodating job, an excellent manager, but a guaranteed job after I graduate.

This kind of situation doesn't happen everywhere. I have to make sure that I work my minimum 48hrs/2 wks in order to maintain benefits which are quite necessary. Some other benefits to working during nursing school in a hospital: endless resources. Have you ever not understood something? When it was time for critical care I was lightyears ahead of my class mates. I had only worked about 6 months in the ICU but my mind was a sponge! Nurses LOVE to teach you things, and occasionally give you opportunities for hands on learning (DON'T DO IT! Always remember your scope of practice).

A few other benefits include networking with potential employers and tuition reimbursement (3,000/ fiscal year as long as I pass my classes with a C or better!

In the end, if I had the choice to work during nursing school as a CNA/ Clerk/ Monitor tech/Central supply tech, whatever, would I?

Yes and no. It does provide me ample opportunity for learning and growth, but it also has given me considerable amounts of stress. I often wish I would be able to focus on my studies more, and even have a life. Unfortunately I have to work for financial reasons, I typically don't have time to relax and go out with friends. I am always juggling work and school and finding every moment I can to do one or the other is difficult. But it also has helped my learning during the program because of what all I'm exposed to.

So, in the end, you have to decide what's best for you. How well can you juggle your life? Are you able to force your studying to be during the week only? Can you handle the stress? Could you imagine not having a weekend off before an exam? If you don't have to work during nursing school, then I would strongly urge you to keep it that way. If you're dying for a little experience consider casual/per diem positions that typically do not have minimum hours/pay period requirements.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. I've survived 2 years of this, 1 more year should be as easy as pumpkin pie!