Anyone married, with kids, and ACTIVE DUTY

rghbsn, BSN, RN · Jan 3, 2010

Nursing is one profession that travels well...many bases in CONUS will hire civilian nurses, but if they are staffed there are always local hospitals. Many military spouses are nurses because of how easy it is to move around.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 3, 2010

How are DOD schools compared to some civilian?

DODDS schools overseas are typically superior to stateside schools in terms of student achievement, SAT scores, etc. I attended DODDS schools from fourth grade on up. :)

Trauma Columnist · Jan 3, 2010

DODDS school are fantastic!

Housing - so so in some places, wonderful in others.

hopeful_army_NP · Jan 3, 2010

I will start by saying my knowledge is limited, I was commissioned in June but won't go to OBLC until March so the information I have is from research, other active duty nurses and these boards. I am sure you will start getting more responses from those that are currently active duty.

1. Many of the nurses at the Military Hospitals are civilian, in many of the hospitals the civilian nurses can out number the military nurses, so in the US she should not have too much trouble finding a job, ofcourse finding a position at a nearby hospital is always an option as well- one of the beauties of the nursing profession. Since your soon to be wife is already nurse then she should be easily employable.

2. The shifts vary from place to place and floor to floor, 8 hr and 12 hr shifts. I have read that some rotate day and nights over a certain period of time. Sounds similiar to the normal nursing shifts, the hospital has to be staffed 24 hours. That may be the only concern for you and your wife, working on different shifts, but it could be like that in the civialian world as well.

3. Deployments, from what I have learned for Army nurses are usually 6 months. I think the Air Force may be shorter though.

4. Living arrangements will most likely be off base, so it will be up to you what type of home you lease or purchase. The BAH for officers with depents are pretty good. You should be able to find nice housing within the allowable distance to base without any trouble.

5. If you follow these boards you will see there are many nurse who are prior enlisted or prior dependents that have come back or are to come back. It appears to be a very popular and wise decision!

Best wishes in whatever path you choose

Rose3721 · Jan 4, 2010

The schools and housing are highly variable based on where you are stationed. You will always have the option of either living on or off post, sometimes there is a wait list for on post housing so that's why many families choose to live off post. The shifts here at Hood, generally speaking, are 6 12 hour and 1 8 hr shift ina 2 week time frame. You work every other weekend generally, unless there's a lot of staff and then you work less weekends. :) Military hospitals do hire lots of civilians but they have to have at least 1 year of RN experience. This is a DOD standard so no matter where you're stationed you're going to run into that requirement for your wife.

Army deployments are 6 months if you're PROFIS, but you can be extended to a year as PROFIS as well. If you deploy with a unit or CSH your deployment is 12 months.

Hope this helps!

NursePamela · Jan 5, 2010

I agree with all that has been said so far. The one BIG thing I always say about ANY spouse going overseas is plan on NOT working and consider yourself lucky if you get a job. If you plan on spouse not working, you will not blow your budget. Overseas jobs are much fewer than stateside, even for nurses.

As far as having kids, nursing, and military - my only gripe is the 12 hour shifts and off shifts. It is almost impossible to find quality child care for those long hours and off hours. It is great when both parents are home but when one is deployed or TDY and the other suddenly left with no back up for child care - nursing is not kid friendly (civilian or military).

Pam