Husband and wife both nurses - considering Navy

[ebdevildog85]

I graduate April (work as a nurse intern on CVSD) and she has been working pulmonary since last April when she graduated. I have a question that I'm sure i already know the answer to since I'm prior enlisted but I'm hoping it's different on the other side of the fence.

I know we will not be working on the same floors or possible even hospital/clinic etc. They will "try" to station us together or near each other. How much control do we have in trying to set up our schedules identical to each others? I don't care if we get stuck weekend/nights every weekend but I prefer us work same hours so we can see each other. It would suck for one of us to be day and the other night. Since there is no shift differential I imagine everyone wants day/weekday and there isn't much rotation.

I guess I would like to hear some military nurse couple stories.

Would it be better for one to work civilian out in town and the other officer?

Sorry for my lack of structure.

[WldChrry]

It seems to that you two would have alot of options. I was in the Air Force for four years, so I have seen this in action. Aside from having the traditional hospital nurses that work on the wards, alot of the clinics also employ nurses and those are often day jobs. The specialty area the two of you are interested in will have alot of bearing on this, so consider that when talking to a recruiter. Also, there tends to be a VA hospital within a reasonable distance from most bases, so that could be an option for one of you as well. The Air Force seemed pretty accomodating when it came to families and situations like yours, however, I cannot speak for the Navy.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

It's a lot easier to coordinate when you're in the same branch. I have a friend who is an Army nurse and is married to a Marine Corps officer. Those two are constantly fighting their respective systems to see each other. They've finally figured it out, but it took a while. You stand a much better chance if you both go into the same branch, such as the Navy as you mentioned. If you're both honest with your OICs about the fact that you're willing to work whatever schedule necessary as long as they can somewhat mirror the other person's, that should help immensely. I can't speak for the Navy, but the Army has a married couples program that assists in assigning married spouses to the same duty stations. I would imagine the Navy has a similar program.

[keasc20]

My husband is a Navy nurse prior enlisted and the schedule varies but all the units at the hospital that he is at rotate 6 weeks on days and 6 weeks on nights. I am not sure how they are about stationing spouses together in the Nurse Corps. It probably will not always be the case. I am a nurse also, but I stayed civilian so our children could have a constant parent around. Good luck to you!

[keasc20]

Oh and there is no guarantee that you work during the week. It is like normal 12 hour shifts in the civilian hospital and there are tons of civilian nurses in the Naval Hospital!