Parenting, Working, and Studying: How Online Degrees Help Nurses Succeed

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Being super-organized is a trait that most moms have, so it’s no surprise that nursing is a popular job for working mothers. Nursing really appeals to your caring side and is a career path with countless opportunities for progression and promotions. Nurses can choose to get into a wide range of different specialty areas or move up the ladder into advanced clinical positions, leadership roles, and educator roles with an advanced nursing degree. In addition to this, the role of a registered nurse or advanced practice registered nurse is often perfect for working moms who need a flexible working day that fits around the needs of their family. With nurses needed at all hours of the day or night, it’s often easier to choose a work schedule that works best for you.

Studying is important for improving your nursing career and taking it to where you’d like it to be. Whether you want to specialize in a certain area of nursing or healthcare, train to become a nurse practitioner or get your Doctor of Nursing Practice and become an executive or an educator of advanced-level nurses, getting an advanced degree such as an MSN is typically the first step. When it comes to balancing your busy family life with your career as a nurse and trying to get an advanced degree, studying online might be an attractive option to consider. Here’s how online study can be really beneficial for moms in this position.

Flexible Study Hours:

If the idea of getting to college for 9AM in the morning after doing the school run and preparing yourself for going to work later on in the day is filling you with dread, don’t worry – there is nothing like this involved with many online advanced nursing degree programs. While there will likely be some lectures that you’ll need to make sure you can attend and clinical placements that you’ll be required to travel to on certain days of the year, for the most part, many online nursing programs allow you to be mostly in control of when, how and where you want to study. Online programs like the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program from Baylor University will often offer much more flexibility and allow you to fit studying around your current schedule, making it easier for you to make time for it.

No Traveling:

When you have kids, it’s not always feasible to imagine going to college in the morning, going to work afterward, and trying to fit picking up and dropping off your kids from school, kindergarten, grandparent’s houses, after-school clubs and other places at the same time. Studying online requires very minimal traveling if you are a nurse taking an advanced degree program. You can usually expect some lectures that you may need to be there in-person for and clinical experience for a certain number of hours that you’ll need to complete to graduate, but this isn’t going to be an everyday thing. For the most part, you will be studying from home, so you can easily get to and from schools and everywhere else without any additional journeys.

Spend More Time with Family:

Many moms who study and work at the same time say that their biggest concern is that they are missing out on a lot of precious time with family. In between getting to classes, continuing to go to work and doing all the homework involved with your degree program, it can be easy to feel like you’re missing out on important moments or simply spending time with your kids. While studying for an online degree is still going to take up your time, the best part is that you don’t have to travel away from your family to study. You can easily study at home and spend time with your kids while you are reading or, if you have older children, you can all sit down to do your homework together, mom included. More time at home and less time in classrooms means that you don’t have to feel like you’re missing out on anything.

Save Money:

As a mom, you probably spend a lot of the money that you earn on your family, whether that’s for the essentials or for treating your kids to something nice. Saving money is a major concern for many nurses who decide to go to college and get an advanced degree, since they are often still repaying student debts from their BSN. Online degree programs can help you save money on getting your new qualification; although tuition costs are generally around the same regardless of where you study, online programs have far fewer associated expenses including no daily commuting costs, no relocation expenses, and avoiding all the little things that add up like buying food and drinks on campus.

More Employer Support:

With the nursing shortage causing so many problems for the US healthcare industry right now, many employers simply can’t afford to have nurses out of work while they study for an advanced degree, even if doing so would help both them and their employer. Getting your advanced nursing degree online might be a better way to ensure that you are eligible for all the employer support that there is available, and your employer is sure to appreciate that you don’t need to work around as many class times or other educational commitments due to the greater flexibility.

Build Your Professional Network:

You needn’t be worried about making professional contacts when studying for your advanced nursing degree online. While you’re not going to meet as many students in person compared to a traditional program, most online programs are now very active when it comes to helping students get to know one another virtually. And the best part is that online degree programs attract nursing students from all around the country, allowing you to meet nurses from hundreds of miles away that you may never have crossed paths with otherwise.

Being a mom, working as a nurse, and studying for an advanced degree might sound impossible. But with online degree programs, you can make it happen.

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