Military Wife stationed in Europe, need to go to school!

allnurses Guide · Feb 20, 2010

UK nursing courses will be at least 3 years long so if your only here until 2013 by the time you apply and start your not going to have time to complete the course. If you ultimate aim is to return andnurse in the US then you'd be better off studying for a US qualification. Not sure if you can do this online I know the UK courses are all full time university based courses

elkpark · Feb 20, 2010

Welcome to allnurses! :balloons:

There are no US on-line programs for people "starting from scratch," with no previous healthcare experience, to become RNs. Nursing is, as you know, a v. "hands-on" occupation and nursing education involves a lot of supervised, "live," clinical experience (going into hospitals and other facilities and taking care of patients under the supervision of an instructor). Also, I'm guessing you're planning on returning to the US at some point and there can be problems with UK nursing degrees being accepted in the US (they use a different approach to nursing education than the US does -- there are existing threads here about the difficulties UK nurses, even experienced nurses, experience trying to get licensed in the US). If you attend nursing school abroad, even though you are a US citizen, you will be considered (always, by every state, for your entire career) a "foreign graduate" and will have extra requirements to meet and hoops to jump through for initial licensure and any time in the future that you want to get a license in a different state.

You may well be able to do some prerequisite courses on-line abroad, but I don't think you could get much farther in the process than that in the time frame you mention. Do you have any idea where you'll be going after 2013?

Best wishes for your journey --

usafwife92 · Feb 20, 2010

Thank you!

Well i talked to a military advisor for the University of Phoenix and he told me that i would be able to get my RN license online, overseas. Maybe he misunderstood me in what i wanted or something because I thought you could do that, it would just be hard. I was confused about this because of clinicals etc. and thinking how would i do hands-on stuff online?? :confused: We currently don't know where we will be after England, we could be re-stationed there but we will not know probably until very close to the end of our orders. Since my husband wants to be a lifer in the Air Force, we know we'll be moving around a lot and most of his bases are in Germany, England, and Japan :eek: so i know we'll be overseas a lot thus i need to go thru college somehow and somewhere where i will be able to travel and come back to the US and work as needed.

If anyone could give me a website to check out to start on my pre-req's that would be great!

ty! ty! ty!

:redpinkhe

elkpark · Feb 20, 2010

Maybe there is some special program (on-line nursing program) available for military families -- that's something I wouldn't know about. However, you would not be getting an RN license on-line (not to begin with, anyway) -- you would be getting a nursing degree on-line, which would qualify you (after you completed it) to apply for licensure in a US state.

Different schools require different prerequisites, so it would be best for you to figure out specifically what nursing program(s) you'll be able to attend in your circumstances, and find out directly from them what prerequisites you'll need.

Fiona59 · Feb 20, 2010

All I can say is from experience, military spouses curtail a lot of dreams and desires to enable the serving member to have their dream. The nurses I've met over the years have either married after becoming a nurse or have taken Practical Nursing education because it's shorter and can be achieved in a two year posting.

It used to be that very few postings were long enough for a wife/spouse to complete a degree. The serving member can ask to have a posting extended to permit the spouse to complete the degree but that is entirely up to the CO.

Like an RSM once said: "If the Army had wanted you to have a wife andfamily, we'd have issued you one".

Harsh but the members career goal always comes first.

elkpark · Feb 21, 2010

All I can say is from experience, military spouses curtail a lot of dreams and desires to enable the serving member to have their dream. The nurses I've met over the years have either married after becoming a nurse or have taken Practical Nursing education because it's shorter and can be achieved in a two year posting.
It used to be that very few postings were long enough for a wife/spouse to complete a degree. The serving member can ask to have a posting extended to permit the spouse to complete the degree but that is entirely up to the CO.
Like an RSM once said: "If the Army had wanted you to have a wife andfamily, we'd have issued you one".
Harsh but the members career goal always comes first.

That's what I was thinking, also. It's hard to imagine how someone would complete a nursing education and get started in a nursing career while following a military spouse around the world ...

(And we have exactly the same saying (about the military issuing you a wife/family) in the US!)

usafwife92 · Feb 21, 2010

But how could anyone hold down any job while following a military spouse around the world? Its not like we go to a base and then move two weeks later. When you get stationed, at least in the Air Force its usually for a year or more. Thats enough time to get a job at a VA or on base somewhere. Its possible to have any career in the military as a spouse, people recognize that you're going to be moving around and they work with you it. They're not just going to say no way and make you be unemployed just because you have a spouse in the military, at least with the Air Force. I can't speak for the other branches, but the AF is really good with working with you on a lot of stuff. THe hardest part about becoming a nurse while moving around is the schooling, im not worried about the jobs at all. But doing it online, any of it online, isn't going to be hard either since you can move a computer anywhere in the world practically.

If any of ya'll are military spouses and have a say on you not having the time at a station to find a job for a couple months, let me know. Anyone that isn't affiliated with the military has no cliue what its like, so don't assume..

Fiona59 · Feb 21, 2010

But how could anyone hold down any job while following a military spouse around the world? Its not like we go to a base and then move two weeks later. When you get stationed, at least in the Air Force its usually for a year or more. Thats enough time to get a job at a VA or on base somewhere. Its possible to have any career in the military as a spouse, people recognize that you're going to be moving around and they work with you it. They're not just going to say no way and make you be unemployed just because you have a spouse in the military, at least with the Air Force. I can't speak for the other branches, but the AF is really good with working with you on a lot of stuff. THe hardest part about becoming a nurse while moving around is the schooling, im not worried about the jobs at all. But doing it online, any of it online, isn't going to be hard either since you can move a computer anywhere in the world practically.
If any of ya'll are military spouses and have a say on you not having the time at a station to find a job for a couple months, let me know. Anyone that isn't affiliated with the military has no cliue what its like, so don't assume..

I've been a military spouse since the 1980s, so I really find your last statement inappropriate.

I've been posted to small places where I (an experienced nurse) couldn't find work (hospital, homecare, or longterm care). Regional unemployment will always make it difficult for a military dependent to find a job of any description, locals will always hire local. Overseas postings can only absorb a certain number of spouses into the system, I remember very few wives or husbands finding work in Germany unless they were fluent in German and could work in the local economy. The garrisons can only absorb a certain number of family members for employment.

Military spouses/dependents always have a rough employment record. I currently know women and families that have refused to accompany their member to his next posting (upto three years) because of their children's schooling, the wife having found a job with benefits and pensions that will equal the members when he retires (usually within a few years), and finally because resentment of the Force always coming first.

My husband turned down his last promotion because of where he would be posted (small town, limited employment for me, and only one high school for our children). He finally realized he would be retiring in four years, my job has pension and benefits attached, and our kids like where we are. It will be where we retire.

And yes, I've seen women start nursing school in one province and get into year three of the degree, husband gets posted, CO refuses posting deferment, husband goes unaccompanied and the marriage fails.

My husband made the military his career, mine has always had to be on the backburner. I went to nursing school when my husband was supposed to be in a "static" position, nope he left for a year when I was in my final semester. Didn't make it home for my graduation.

Don't presume to make assumptions about anyone on this board. Walk a few miles in my shoes then make your decisions.

julesny · Mar 4, 2010

Hi, I know how frustrating it can be to not be able to accomplish your goals but I think this might help you. University of Rochester offers courses online that you can take as prerequisites so that you may be able to continue on with your nursing education afterward. It is great if you are planning to come back to the states, in which case you can apply directly to several associates and BSN degrees without having to start from scratch. All of your credits will transfer. Just remember, though, that University of Rochester's online program does not contain lab components so you are limited to applying to schools that do not require it. Hope this helps. Also, enjoy the time abroad to enrich your culture and embrace the experience!

http://www.son.rochester.edu/cll/fasttrack.html

Trauma Columnist · Mar 4, 2010

Whoa there....please don't insult folks!

I was active duty myself in the 1970's and then married my husband (also active duty in 1980).

I too had dreams of being an RN. HOWEVER, and there is a big HOWEVER, his military career made MY dreams take a backseat.

Would doubt very much that you can get an RN degree online due to the nature of needing lab classes as well as clinicals in a US-type of medical environment.

My advice:

1. Plan to take pre-reqs: just the general stuff though like English, math, etc.. Believe me, and yes, its coming from first hand experience, if you go further, you will be repeating yourself.

2. Another option is to do a bachelors degree in "something" while overseas - that is very doable. Then, when you come back to the states, enroll in an accelerated bachelors to BSN program.

3. Another option: apply here in the states, get on the waiting list, find out what pre-reqs you need from that particular school, then go to England, take the pre-reqs an return to the US when your name comes up.

I know its hard being separated from your military spouse. I have sacrificed hugely in my career for my husband. I wouldn't change a thing as we are still very much in love and we are coming up on 30 years of marriage in May.

This is not an easy life, but it sounds like you are pretty young so maybe waiting a few years isn't a bad idea either.

julesny · Mar 4, 2010

I'm sorry that you took offense to what I wrote - I was trying to tell her that she CAN achieve her goals (and provided a possible solution to her wanting to become a nurse). Because the world is becoming more web friendly classes taken online is just as credible as those taken on-site.

Well, the truth is, not all nursing schools require the lab components of pre-clinical courses; however, you cannot finish your clinicals online. If you were to take the online courses at URSoN or at Colorado Community College (http://www.ccconline.org/courses/Degrees_and_Certificates/AS/) you can transfer to a nursing school to get your ASN or BSN.