They say that stress is a controllable feature of your life.
Right now I'm inclined to agree with that about halfway. Half of my stress is school and final related and the other half is illness induced. I managed to catch a cold Friday night which put a serious damper on studying for my final. I know, I know, I've known for months that I would have a final this Monday and I could have been studying ahead of time but between school and work and everything the free time just didn't present itself.
Which meant that I called out of work on Saturday and slept for about 36 straight hours. I really should have gone to work but it just seemed like poor judgment to work in a hospital with a fever of 100.5 when I was coughing and sneezing all over the place. I'll probably still get written up, but my health is important to me as well as not spreading germs all over a bunch of people who are already at risk.
Sunday I did my best to study. Against the fog that is cold medicine and fever I managed to submit my child psych final and read through all my notes for this nursing class. But that was it, and I feel that was just a skim coat of all I needed to learn.
The test this morning confirmed that feeling. I guessed way more than I feel comfortable doing. I know I only needed a 60 to pass the class and it was a 100 question test but I'm still feeling paranoid. It's always on the tests that I feel good that I do poorly, so maybe on this one, where I feel bad I'll do okay. I wont know until tomorrow afternoon. Or earlier if they call me and tell me I failed and I'm out of the program... aagh, nursing school is so much more pressure than college was. :(
I'm also stressing about money and about the plan I had in progress for the next year or so.
I had everything figured out until I found out that I wont be receiving a large chunk of change from my jobs tuition reimbursement program. So now I'm stuck scrambling to get into a microbiology class for the spring semester because if I can get into it then at least I have some time to weigh the options of doing the traditional nursing program or doing the fast track program.
It's a big decision and will put a lot of pressure on Jim and I over the next year. If I do the fast track then I will basically be forced to leave my job once the summer starts and rely on whatever loans I can get and what support my family is willing to offer. BUT I'd be an RN by December (That's ONE YEAR FROM NOW!) If I go the traditional route then I will be able to at least work through the summer before I need to reconsider the whole working issue but I definitely wont be an RN until June (18 months...)
I had intended on doing the traditional route and graduating in June because I was supposed to receive tuition reimbursement from my job that would have paid for just over half the program. Now the policy has changed and I wont be receiving any help for the next year.
So what do I do? Any ideas or suggestions? Do any of my wise readers have some suggestions? I don't know what's the better plan...
Are you part of a union with your job? Sometimes unions offer their own tuition reimbursement programs. If not then probably doing the loan thing would be the next best thing. Good luck and keep your head up! I'm sure all will work out how it's suppose to!! Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteMy question is will you end up taking loans out either way? Or will the cash flow from working while studying at least help offset a few costs? Which will have a bigger burden on you AND Jim? (I guess I had a few questions!) Normally, I'd have suggested taking the fast track. However, after meeting my now husband, I've discovered how horrible loans can really be -- especially if they're private. (If you end up taking ANY out, do whatever you can to save yourself that headache and see if you can get any non-private loans!!!!) I don't see a big difference between Dec. vs June, other than that you'd get into the field earlier - possibly. And if in doing that, you end up with additional debt, it may not be worth the extra 6 months (they may be offset, or even more costly, financially).
ReplyDeleteI just suggest doing what's best for BOTH of you. I know it's a stressful situation either way, so I wish you all the luck figuring it out!
Jaime- I'm not part of a union. The PCT's aren't in a union, we just get tagged along with whatever the RN's are doing but aren't protected as well.
ReplyDeleteMegs- I probably should have clarified that it's not a bank loan, it's a family loan. One that I fully plan on repaying but that would be more of gift than an official loan. I have one private loan from when I was in Oneonta and I know that they are evil. That debt is the bane of my existence and I do not want to have anything like it added on.
I still have to talk to my boss but I've decided to try and cut back my hours instead of just leaving the job completely. I love working there and really don't want to lose my place. I'm hoping that my boss is okay with making me per diem. Jim and I have investigated switching over our health insurance to his job. It's doable. We've budgeted things out and my cut back would be happening after we've paid off some other debts so it balances out that he could manage my half of the household bills with my loan helping on incidentals and my bills. It's not a perfect solution but for one year it would work. And so long as I keep my foot in the door at my job if I cant get a job right away as an RN I could keep working at the hospital in my current position until something opens up. I just have to believe that things will work themselves out eventually.