On my own with 4 kids, and hoping to start college in sept, doing a nursing degree - am i biting off more then i can chew or is it do-able??

[PiperBeeley]

Anyone else on their own manged to do a long and demanding course?? Im so scared i wont be able to do it! I have to try and get my level 2 numeracy first too and im CRAP at maths not feeling very confident today! Help!

Ok one thing at a time.

Do you have reliable, flexible childcare? My childminder was fab during my nursing degree. If not you need to get this sorted.
Do you have people that can take the dcs for whole days? When doing assignments i needed whole days to myself to sit down and get it done. Try and drum up some helpers now (friends, family, godparents etc).
The placement bit was the easiest, they were often flexible about working times.
Uni time was never full time, most days would finish by 1pm with the occasional afternoon lecture.
Doing maths for nursing is completely different. I have to this day never passed maths GCSE, but i got 100% in my drug calcs exam and have worked out nightmare drugs on Itu for the last 4 years!

I am just about to start a Health Visiting Post Grad, its full time for a year, and they mean full time because we get paid full salary. Its going to be hell

good luck and enjoy it, you will make great friends, laugh, cry, scream. It will be worth it, and IMHO you can do anything you put your mind to.

omg mosschops30! THANKYOU so so much for that - its exactly what i needed to hear (read)! I have a few supportive people around me, but a few people who are telling me ive got no chance - most days that makes me more motivated, but some days (like today) im feeling tired and stressed out, ive had a row with my ex and i just feel i cant even accomplish the hoovering successfully, how can i even hope to go through a college/uni course! It really, truly helps to hear from other people in similar situations who've managed to have a life too! I know im not the only single mum in the world but sometimes it feels like it! I really want to be optimistic about going back to college!

You may regret it if you don't even try. I'd rather try than think what if?

There may even be part time nursing degrees to allow you to get into the routine.

Thats true AW, i would hate to sit thinking 'what if', i know i owe it to myself and my kids to try!

Do it! My auntie did the same with 4 children on her own - it was hard but she quickly moved up the ranks, has worked as hospital and general practice nurse and now is a specialist parkinsons nurse! Good luck x

Well done Iv heard it very hard to get into uni to do nursing.
Please please tell me what are the requirements to do this. Im 34 and left with no qualifications, and lets say not very academic.

Congratulations! The student nurses I studied with said the worst bit was the placements as they obviously had no say in which hospital they were on placement, a lot stayed in nurses accommodation as some places they were put were very remote and far from where they lived and there was no concessions for parents, but you could always drive home. They had to do all different hours too, so you really have to make sure you have good flexible childcare available. It is do able though! Also agree with needing whole days to do assignments, couple of hours here and there never worked for me! I am half way through a social work degree and have 5 children but no life whatsoever!!

Lol, i dont mind not having a life, there's plenty of time for all that, and by no means am i afraid of hard work - bring it on! I come from a family of nurses and i know its something id love to do, i just wish id done it years ago before i had kids!

whoyouare if you look on ucas website at nursing degrees each uni will list their requirements.
I left school with 5 GCSEs and 2Alevels but because i hadnt studied for so long i did the Access to Nursing which was a great introduction, that wouldprobably be a good option for you.

piper dont let anyone ever tell you you cant do it! The majority on my course were mature students, some with young dcs, some with teens, lots of singe patents too. Not sure where you are but if you live in a city you should find placements are usually local. Our Uni was very good at placing students as close as they could to home.

Plenty of people on my nursing course with kids that managed it and are doing really well now. Go for it. You'll get through it and it goes quicker than you think. Good luck x

The main thing is you have to have child care that is very flexible. Most hospital shifts start at 7am, and late shifts finish at 9pm (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Also weekend shifts.

Studying with children around gets easier with practise, I can write essays with my children playing/watching TV, but to begin with it will be difficult.

Good luck!

Most places wont ask you to do weekends as a student. And we didnt have to work nights until end of year 2.

I always did weekends as a student, maybe it's changed now?

I didnt do many, most nurses feel its unfair to make students work weekends when they get no extra money for it, ditto nights. To be fair i only worked nights or weekends as a qualifed for the extra money, i have never asked a student to do nights or weekends, they have all that to come

I'm just about to go back to uni after a year's maternity leave. The main thing you need is GOOD CHILDCARE!! That can be flexible, if possible. You need to think about what will happen if you have to get up at 5am to commute to placement to start a 12 hour shift at 7. What will happen when you're on night duty? Will you be able to have time to yourself to study and work on assignments?
It's not easy but it'll be worth it and as you say, you'd always wonder what if...

It's doable but as everybody say, the key is to have access to flexible, reliable, and hopefully affordsble childcare. You also need to be good at budgeting and planning ahead, ie. to be able to pay for transport to placements without getting the family into financial trouble. Choose also a local(ish) university, this may seem obvious but i'm often surprised to find students who didn't realisd the cost of commuting to another city could sometimes be a few hundred pounds a month.

Hiya OP I have 4 children on my own also and one is disabled I done a health and social care lev 2 I then done my access and I am now doing childrens nursing at uni full time. It is very hard but if you want it enough you can do it :)

This is a great start for you don't give up, go for it in the long run you will be better off. My mother did it and she was married but lived as a single mother juggling the four of us wasn't easy but she made it and we survived.

PiperBeeley

I am starting Uni in September also and am doing Operating Department Practice. I had to resit maths as I haven't studied for ages and I have spent this year doing an Access course. If you haven't studied for a while then I would really recommend doing the Access if you can before Uni,l even if it means deferring a year. That being said, my maths tutor is fab and I actually enjoy maths now and so I am sure you will be fine with modern teaching methods so try not to worry. Are you doing it via LearnDirect?

With regards to the actual nursing course and being a lone parent, I have 3 kids myself and I figure that i've managed the Access for a year so should be OK. On my course we don't have the half term holidays so that is the only difficulty but my kids will have to go to holiday clubs then.

I also figure that as I can do nights and long days every other weekend when the kids are with their Dad that I can pack some hours in then.

It will work itself out in the end! Good luck!

I'm not doing nursing but am nearing the end of a full time PGDE teaching course - when they say it's intense, they mean intense!! but it's doable and I'd say I've coped as well as (in some cases better) than those without kids or with kids but in stable relationships. I also work 2 evenings a week cos I need the money, so time is precious! I want it and need it badly and know what my life will be like if I don't get qualified so there's that extra push!It is hard to juggle life with kids and studying but I made my kids a promise - I gave them 1 day (this continues into the evening too as you need time off to yourself) of the weekend where uni would not interfere as long as they left me alone to work on the other day. It has worked - none of us has been ecstatic about it but it works. Yes they've watched way more tv than they normally would have, can't remember the last time we went swimming (they go to lessons with my parents) and other nice things, but that will come again. Spend the summer batch cooking stews, soup, lasagne, chillis, rice, bolognaise etc etc and freeze in portion sized freezer bags cos it makes a huge difference to you when all you need to do is bung a healthy meal in the microwave for a few minutes - think that has saved me!
I have also still had the odd night out but have made sure I keep on top of the paperwork on a daily basis as I don't ahve the spare time for a mad last minute cram!
And like evryone else ahs said, flexible childcare is a must. Mine isn't very flexible in the morning but I ahve friends who have helped out when needed and my parents ahve been fab. You'll prbably fnd that hospitals are similar to schools and will be flexible with you as long as you get it all done - my schools have been fab and really admired a single mum with a p/t job doing it all so, without making allowances for my situation, were flexible and very supportive.
Go for it - you ahve nothing to lose and a lot to gain x