Husband and wife earn nursing degrees at the same time

Posted 5/9/17

The plan was for John, who already was a licensed practical nurse, to keep working to support them and their four children while his wife Shawn attended Northwest College for three years to earn her nursing degree. Then, Shawn would work while John …

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Husband and wife earn nursing degrees at the same time

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Going back to school for nursing degrees didn’t happen for John and Shawn Hurt without a lot of thought and preparation.

The plan was for John, who already was a licensed practical nurse, to keep working to support them and their four children while his wife Shawn attended Northwest College for three years to earn her nursing degree. Then, Shawn would work while John completed his final year of nursing school at Northwest.

But even the best-laid plans can change — sometimes for the better.

The Hurts began checking out scholarships and other financial aid available. The Powell couple found several — including the NWC Trapper Scholarship, federal Pell Grants and the Wyoming Investment in Nursing program.

With that financial aid combined, the Hurts realized that, with some additional planning, they could both earn their nursing degrees at the same time.

John quit his LPN nursing job and took a higher-paying job in the oilfield. That way, he could earn enough money to pay off their debts and stock up on food staples before he and Shawn went back to school.

“We paid off everything but our house,” Shawn said.

They also downgraded their cellphones to reduce their phone bills to $25 per month and put money aside for expenses while they were in school. That allowed them to go back to school without going into debt.

Shawn took a year of prerequisite courses in 2014-15, followed by her first year of nursing school in 2015-16.

Since John was already an LPN, he didn’t need to repeat the first year. He took some prerequisites, then last August, he joined Shawn at Northwest College for the second year of nursing school.

“Organized chaos” is the way they describe both attending nursing school while also meeting family and household needs: Getting kids ready for school; carpooling three days per week; going to class for two to four hours; doing clinicals and trying to complete as much homework as possible while their kids were in school.

They tried to have at least one dinner together as a family each week with their four kids — Delylah, 14; Jonathan, 13; Emmaleigh, 11; and Jakeob, 6.

They put the kids to bed at 8:30 or 9 p.m.

“They actually go to bed around 9:30 to 10,” Shawn said, rolling her eyes.

Then the parent-students took back up with homework where they left off earlier, usually studying until midnight or later — sometimes, much later.

“We’ve definitely had our share of late nights,” Shawn said. “Sleep is a premium.”

As they talked about their nursing school experience a week and a half before graduation, John and Shawn both yawned occasionally, attesting to their continued loss of sleep.

Family time also was a priority.

“We try to spend as much time with [the kids] as we can during the week, and on weekends, too,” Shawn said.

The kids helped out as well, sometimes making dinner on their own, and the older kids helped Jakeob get ready for school in the mornings.

For their nursing studies, Shawn kept track of class and homework schedules. She and John studied together when appropriate, but Shawn joined a study group as well.

As for John, “I’m kind of one to know I have the answer myself,” he said.

“He likes pure silence when he’s doing homework,” Shawn added.

Some assignments are OK to work on together, even with other classmates. But other things had to be done independently.

“When you have a take-home test, we would not sit there at the same time,” Shawn said. “Either we would not be in the house at the same time, or not in the same part of the house.”

“We don’t want to compromise our education,” John explained. “If you fail one class, you have to wait an entire year to retake it. You’re out of the program, and recycled to the next cohort.”

John and Shawn both started clinicals last fall, but never did them together. Clinicals included experience in many different health care settings in hospitals and clinics around the Big Horn Basin.

They each did preceptorships (96 hours of advanced clinicals) at night during the spring semester. Both were in acute care at Powell Valley Hospital, but on different nights.

“If we knew we had to stay up the next night, we tried to stay up the night before so we could sleep the next day,” John said.

When the stress of it all got overwhelming, they both looked for places to be alone for a while. Shawn often soaked and relaxed in a bubblebath.

“She’ll do her homework while she’s in the bathtub, too,” John said.

But even that wasn’t a guarantee of solitude.

“The kids are beating on the bathroom door while she’s in there,” John said.

Going through nursing school together was very demanding, but it had its advantages, too.

John said he and Shawn actually saw each other more when they were both in nursing school than when John was going to school to become an LPN.

“We never saw each other” then and it was hard on their marriage, Shawn said.

“And that’s what I wanted to avoid this time,” John added.

John said his biggest challenge this time around was when Shawn went to Dallas for a week in April to attend the National Student Nurse Association Convention.

“When she went there, my kids had pasta three nights and pizza four nights,” John said, describing the difficulty of balancing the children’s needs and homework.

Of the 26 students in the Hurts’ nursing class, 24 are women, he said.

“You ask any one of those gals in there if it has been a strain on their personal life, and they will tell you that it has been,” John said.

“I think that, because we’ve both been in it together, I understand what she’s been going through, and she knows what I’m going through. ... Plus, we can help each other with homework, and that helps, too.”

All their hard work paid off Friday when the Hurts walked onto the stage at the Nelson Performing Arts Center Auditorium to receive the pins that signify they have achieved their goal: They are registered nurses.

John “pinned” Shawn, then they switched places so Shawn could present John with his pin.

A titter of laughter went through the auditorium when their surname was read.

There’s been a lot of joking about them both being Nurse Hurt, Shawn said. “We hear it a lot. We just kind of chuckle and laugh along with them. It doesn’t even bother us. We think it’s fun.”

In fact, “It would be awesome if we worked for a doctor named Payne: ‘Hi, I’m Doctor Payne, and this is Nurse Hurt.’”

On Sunday, Shawn said spending the day without doing homework “felt a little odd.”

“We’re not sure what to do,” she said. “It was just kind of weird not having that deadline.”

That will change, however. Before they can begin working as registered nurses, the Hurts must pass their certification exams. They will begin that process soon.

In the meantime, because he already was an LPN, John has accepted a position as a nurse at the Wyoming Boys School in Worland.

“I think it will be a bit of a challenge,” he said, “but I think it will be a good one.”

NWC Nursing Program Director Marneé Crawford said that the Hurts worked hard and did a good job.

“We enjoyed getting to know them, and we think that they have a great future ahead of them,” she said.

Crawford said the Hurts are only the second husband and wife she knows of who earned their nursing degree at the same time. The first couple was younger and didn’t have children yet, as John and Shawn do.

“I’m sure it takes some juggling, but they’ve been successful, and that’s always something to be proud of,” Crawford said.

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