Becoming a Nurse

Good for you!

I absolutely love being a nurse. I firmly believe, and have proven it, that unlike most other "jobs" there is no way you can burn out because there are so many ways to be a nurse!

When I first got my associates degree (but took the same boards as a 4 year nurse) I was single. I did work full time though.

When I finished my BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) I was married with a 3 year old, pregnant and still working full time! I was a ton of work, but just remember the end result and how rewarding it is. Plus, the satisfaction of working hard for something!
I was lucky to have a very supportive husband. AND where I was working already as an RN had an onsite daycare. So if I was working 12 hour shifts, I took our son in to the center and my husband picked him up. We did have other family around, but we did NOT count on them for the day to day stuff.
*I don't need the mommy tongue lashing as I think we all do what we can for our families, but IN MY OPINION your kids want you more once they hit school age and even more so as teens. I went to school and worked full time by my choice up until our oldest was in 5th grade. But I have been able to be around more during those pre-teen and teen years. Plus, since I worked so hard for my education (had to pay for it myself) I didn't want to just get my degree and quit.
Go for it, you will figure it out as you go. You did not screw up, you are just taking a different path!
And as far as the things I've done as a nurse. . .
nursing assistant, floor nurse, charge nurse, pulmonary clinician, office nurse, pharmaceutical research, home health, legal industry and now I have refocused my passion into wellness consulting and have my own business. www.YourKitchenCoach.net

In good health and with good luck1

I did an acclerated program. 15 months to RN. I would highly suggest it if it's what you really want to do. Yes it was a long 6 months and yes it was hard b/c I was a single mom, working two part time jobs and going to school full time. In the end...it was worth it. I was not living independently before I graduated. Now we have our own home (just my son and I). My son knows and understands the importance of college and that it's easier to do it when your young than older. We have family members without college degrees that live obviously very hard lives and I get to use that as an example.
It was hard, it was trying and I did cry many nights. I'm planning on going back for my NP in the future :-D If you can go for it!
Some advice:
Be able to accept a mess and enjoy the time spent playing.
Study when the kids are in bed. Do homework at the table right along with them.
Ask family members for help...be sure you have lots of support on board when you start.
If your married make sure your husband is totally on board. Divid up house hold chours and make sure he knows that he WILL have to take on more during this short time.

Best of luck

I am not in nursing school, but I am going to school full time for physical therapy assistant. I was working full time when i first started school, but quickly dropped to 10 hours a week. I have two girls just turned 7 and 3. It is very stressful to work, have a family, and go to school. There is no way i could do it if my husband wasn't so supportive. Good luck, my sister is trying to get into nursing school, and they only take so many students a year. At her school they do it by GPA, so it is very competitive. I think you have to have about 3.7 to be considered. If you have the support it is possible.

I am a nurse and I have 2 children. I was with my husband when I was in nursing school, but we did not have children yet. I went to Columbus State and got an associates degree. I worked a full time job and a part time job while I was in nursing school. I would think, that depending on how much you have to work, you could go while you have children. A lot of people I went to school with had children, some even had babies while they were in nursing school, and still finished. I know that at Columbus State you can go through a part-time program that takes a little longer, but that may be an easier option for you. One of my friends changed to part time to spend more time with her son and she graduated two quarters after me. Good luck!

Hello. Well I am not a nurse yet, but I am starting my LVN courses soon. I have been in the medical field for 9 years. Here in california you have to have the highest GPA to be accepted into the nursing program. The pre reqs (again in california) can't all be done online because some require lab work. I would look into it more closely. Go speak to a counselor at the college of your choice, sometimes they can be very helpful. My view on it is that I would rather do it while my baby is young so I can have all the benefits of the field later on when she's bigger (like flexible schedule, higher pay, etc.) I love being in the medical field, there are so many joys that come along with it. If you really want this, you will find a way to make it work for you! Good Luck! =)

When I went to nursing school, I was single and had very little outside responsibilities. This was also 15 years ago! However, I have a friend who's going through it now with two kids. One of her's has a medical condition that really gets time-consuming. She and I have had many converstions regarding the challenges she has running a family, studying and dealing with her son's medical issues. Here are some of the things she's done that help her along the way.
1. She sets aside definite study/play time. When the kids get home from school, it's them until 8:00. That includes dinner, etc. but she doesn't allow herself to sneak in studying if they are playing quietly or watching a tv show. It's just a rule. After 8, even if she would like to watch tv, it's study time- period.
2. She has cooked and frozen a lot of meals to make dinner-time that much easier.
3. She has family close, so between family and friends, she's been able to provide care for her kids when she's in school. Having a great support system will be absolutely a must.
4. You can do quite a bit online, but eventually you'll have to do clinicals. You can't do those through the computer ( and if a school tells you you can, you don't want a degree from them!!) This will be a time when you will have to have someone watching your kids. Otherwise, studying and classwork can be done after the kids go to bed or are napping, etc. Maybe on the weekends, there will be blocks of time when you are concentrating on school, too, so it will take the burden off of the work week.
One thing we've discussed is that when we went to school before kids/marriage etc. we didn't know the fine art of multi-tasking like we do now. We also appreciate education in a way I don't think is all that easy to do when you are right out of high school and ready to assert your independence. Sure, going to school with a family is hard, but it's a different kind of challenge than schooling when you are young and naive. If you wait, soon your kids will be into sports/ music lessons/ wanting friends over, etc. It's a busy life now, with two little ones, but while it gets easier in many ways once they are older, it also gets busier in a different way. Right now, I have one night a week when we don't have baseball/guitar, etc. During the fall, it's worse with other sports. Start out with some gen.ed courses to get your feet wet. You can gradually work up to more classes to see how it's going for you. The sense of accomplishment you will have when it's all said and done will be awesome. Plus, nursing is one of the most flexible and versatile professions out there. Good luck to you!

As a nurse, I remember nursing school as being very difficult and time consuming. There are options out there, I would go and talk to an adviser and see how they may be able to help. The community college I went to, had a daycare on campus, which might help. If you can pull off not working while going to school that would free up some time. Or get a part time job in a nursing like setting. That helped me and my grades the second year.
I would say wait until your little one is a little older, but I don't know because I did it without any children. I do strongly encourage you to enter into nursing, it is a very rewarding and fabulous career field. Good luck.