5 Tips for balancing family life with nursing school

Walking into my very first Nursing Fundamentals class, I reflexively held the door, only to feel the person behind me fumbling to grasp it. Turning around, I saw the reason—smiling apologetically, the girl entering wasn’t alone—in addition to her backpack, she carried an overstuffed diaper bag hooked onto one elbow and an infant car seat on the other. Her baby couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I stepped back, taking charge of the door to clear a path for her to enter. 

“Wow,” I remember thinking, “that’s a lot.”

If you, too, find yourself carrying babies with you to lecture halls (either literally in bulky carseats, praying they don’t wake up, or figuratively in your mind, praying daycare doesn’t call for a 99 degree “fever”), let me first say— YOU’RE AMAZING. 

If only that meant that it wasn’t still a lot; as if having an ambitious nature made this ish easy.

Here’s the thing: a lot doesn’t mean impossible.

Whether you’re a current nursing student/parent (or a prospective one), time management is a skill, which means it can be learned and perfected through diligent practice. Solving this equation when you must factor in school, family, and—in many cases—a full-time job requires planning, organization, and commitment. 

Let us take charge of one of those spinning plates!

To help ease the burden, we’ve compiled a working list of five tips to help you plan for and navigate this time in life.

Consider night school, online programs, or going part-time

In nursing school, your classmates become your people—you study with them, rely on them for support, and spend a lot of time together. Those relationships will serve you in many ways, and it really helps when you can relate to one another. Spoiler alert—you tend to find these folks attending non-traditional nursing school—either at night school, online, or part-time. 

Having other working parents by your nursing-student side offers a built-in support system, the benefit of which really can’t be overstated. If night school isn’t an option, consider reducing your course-load. While it may bump your program out a semester or two, keeping your sanity while you juggle multiple responsibilities will prevent burnout (and drop-out). Lastly, online programs offer tons of family-friendly flexibility.

Dust off the family calendar 

Going back to school as a parent affects your whole family. Big change like that requires a buy-in from everyone—your kids (if they’re old enough) and your partner (if you have one), plus anyone in your support system. Discuss all the schedule changes and routine upsets ahead of time so that everyone has a chance to—ahem—adjust their expectations. The bottom line is that there will be less of you, and that can be hard on little ones.

One way to ease through the transition is to involve everyone by creating a family calendar together. Make it fun, color-code it, break out the stickers—whatever it takes to promote the feeling of inclusion. Not only is a family calendar completely necessary to organize All The Things, but it will show your family in a concrete way just how busy you will be. Realistic expectations will help everyone to adjust and reassure them that you’re making an effort to stay plugged in.

Schedule study time (and family/partner time)

Here’s your chance to assess your natural rhythms—are you a night owl or a morning person? Do you have access to longer lunch breaks at work? The bottom line is that you’ll have to fit in regular study time every day. It’s up to you to figure out when that can happen, and adding it to the family calendar will create a boundary for everyone else to know how important it truly is. 

In the long run your family will appreciate the sacrifices you are making in an effort to advance your career, but during the transition it may not feel that way—especially for little ones. Don’t neglect to schedule in time for family members, too! It may seem silly, but giving everyone their own space with you, or space to spend time together as a family unit will help to soften the blow of your increased absence other times. Keep in mind: how you spend time with your kids has a far greater impact on them than how much time you spend with them.

Build your village

Whether it’s made up of extended family, supportive friends, daycare facilities, and/or your partner, knowing who you can rely on while in nursing school is so important. Seek out other parents in your program and try to form study-buddy relationships. Even if you can’t find face time together, having people in your corner who know exactly the struggles you face can bring some much needed relief and comfort that you’re not alone! 

Let it go

There are only 24 hours in day. Being a parent, you probably fill those hours easily! When you add nursing school to your plate, you’ll have to carve out time to make that happen. The thing with carving out time is that going to class, studying, and attending clinicals will ultimately replace Important Things You Are Already Doing. Like sleeping. (Kidding! Mostly.) 

Things like social media scrolling, Netflix, and even exercising may have to be cut. Or at least prioritized in a way that studying and family responsibilities rise to the top. You’ll need to get comfortable delegating tasks (and making peace with the uncomfortable feeling of something not being done “right”). 

Just remember that this way of life won’t be forever! Keeping to your planned schedule, and following the tips above will help to make it doable in the meantime. Give some thought now to what you can let go of, so that it doesn’t feel so jarring when the time comes to say, see ya soon…when I'm a bonafide RN!