Maybe stationed at Ft Lewis...have questions

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Specializes in School Nursing, Ambulatory Care, etc..

Hello!

I am an Army wife and a nurse. My DH and I are trying to make the best decision regarding our next duty station with one of the choices being Ft Lewis, WA. I have a few questions and would like any input I can get.

1) I have an ADN and by the time I move will have about 1 year of nursing under my belt. Do hospitals in WA hire ADNs? If so, what is the avg starting rate?

2) What are the schools like? Not only school for me to continue to the BSN level, but schools for the kids? My oldest son will be going into 7th grade and my youngest will be going into 2nd grade.

Again, any info would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Sara

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Hey there!!

First off, yes definitely ALL hospitals here hire ADN RNs for staff nurse positions. For one year experience the base rate they should offer you would be anywhere from $22-25 an hour plus shift differentials.

Madigan hospital is the military hospital at Ft. Lewis and it has an excellent reputation!

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I am a military nurse stationed in Virginia right now. My future husband is stationed at McChord AFB. I am hoping to move to Washington after we marry. If things go as planned, I'll finish up my time at McChord in the clinic, then work in a civilian hospital. I would love to do ER....I'm a trauma type of girl! Which hospitals worth working at are close by the base? And what is the usual pay? I'm thinking about working PRN and I won't need benefits.

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Specializes in Urgent Care.

For schools for your kids, I would really rather be on the base. The schools in Tacoma vary from pretty rough to good. Not as rough as the really big cities (LA or chicago, it is the NW after all) Keep yourself and your kids out of Lakewood (the cheapest and most convenient place to live by the base) it is certainly one of the rougher neighboorhoods around. As GI's we used to get in all kinds of s*** over that way.

I'm not to familiar with the rest of the Tacoma, maybe someone can reccomend a better neighborhood or schools near the base. (not Tillicum either, but had some adventures there as a JOE too!!)

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We just bought a house in Dupont....it's an up and coming neighborhood right off base (Fort Lewis, that is). I hear that the elementary school has a really good reputation. And it's mostly Army with a few of us AF sprinkled in!

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Hi all!

Thanks for the replies!

As it turns out, DH is going to WOCS and then to Korea...if we can't get command sponsorship, I'll just go back to the San Antonio area to be close to the family.

A.W.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
We just bought a house in Dupont....it's an up and coming neighborhood right off base (Fort Lewis, that is). I hear that the elementary school has a really good reputation. And it's mostly Army with a few of us AF sprinkled in!

I just sent you a PM.

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I live to the south of Ft Lewis. Rainier and Yelm are smaller towns that have excellent schools. Staying away from Tacoma area is advisable I think. Rainier and Yelm have close access to Olympia ... Madigan might be a bit of a commute though. There are a LOT of militarty in the Yelm/Rainier area .. still rural, but developing. I love it here :) Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Urgent Care.
We just bought a house in Dupont....it's an up and coming neighborhood right off base (Fort Lewis, that is). I hear that the elementary school has a really good reputation. And it's mostly Army with a few of us AF sprinkled in!

Well, even with the AF kids there, it's probably still a good school:chuckle

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For Trauma hospitals close to Ft Lewis/McChord, you'll have to go to St Josephs (part of Franciscan) in Tacoma or Tacoma General (part of Multicare) 2 minutes from St Joes. They both are probably a 20 minute drive from Ft Lewis but both are trauma 2 hospitals that alternate trauma days. Otherwise there is St Clare hospital (where I work) maybe 5 minutes from the bases in Lakewood but its a trauma 4 designation. The only one I am not sure of is St Petes in Olympia, possibly trauma 3? ADN and BSN nurses are treated no differently with regards to pay/hiring in this area. And you will have no problem getting a job as Tacoma is a high need area. Pay starts at just about $22 for new grad nurses in almost all of the hospitals with shift/weekend diff. (I work nights, have one year of experience and make 27/hr on weekdays, 30/h on weekends.)

For areas to live: Puyallup tends to have plenty of officers families for the school district, North Tacoma is a little bit of a trek to Ft Lewis but has the better schools/area to live. Stay away from Lakewood as advised. Lacy and Olympia are great options. Spanaway/Parkland and Tillicum is worse than Lakewood - plenty of meth producing houses. Dupont is a mass community that is been more recently developed. And Steilacoom is beautiful, right on the water with great schools as well!

Hope this helps some! :) Welcome.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
For Trauma hospitals close to Ft Lewis/McChord, you'll have to go to St Josephs (part of Franciscan) in Tacoma or Tacoma General (part of Multicare) 2 minutes from St Joes. They both are probably a 20 minute drive from Ft Lewis but both are trauma 2 hospitals that alternate trauma days. Otherwise there is St Clare hospital (where I work) maybe 5 minutes from the bases in Lakewood but its a trauma 4 designation. The only one I am not sure of is St Petes in Olympia, possibly trauma 3? ADN and BSN nurses are treated no differently with regards to pay/hiring in this area. And you will have no problem getting a job as Tacoma is a high need area. Pay starts at just about $22 for new grad nurses in almost all of the hospitals with shift/weekend diff. (I work nights, have one year of experience and make 27/hr on weekdays, 30/h on weekends.)

For areas to live: Puyallup tends to have plenty of officers families for the school district, North Tacoma is a little bit of a trek to Ft Lewis but has the better schools/area to live. Stay away from Lakewood as advised. Lacy and Olympia are great options. Spanaway/Parkland and Tillicum is worse than Lakewood - plenty of meth producing houses. Dupont is a mass community that is been more recently developed. And Steilacoom is beautiful, right on the water with great schools as well!

Hope this helps some! :) Welcome.

LOL, I wish you WA RNs would reply to my Thread, too. :stone

Anyway, I would definitely appreciate any info about the FT Lewis area in regards to non-military housing within a 30 mile radius. The On-Post Housing waiting list is 9 - 12 months. So, I must find Off-Post residence [NLT March 1st] for my wife & I ... we have no pets, our kids are grown [21 - 25 yrs old], and have no desire to rent a house. However, we need an apartment complex with at least a garage, plus assigned carport parking d/t I have a 2001 Corvette & my wife owns a 2004 Honda S2000, and we share a 2004 Honda Civic. So far, I've been in contact with Clock Tower Village apts. in Dupont & Breckenridge Heights apts. in Tumwater. Breckenridge Heights has a garage & assigned carport pkg, whereas Clock Tower has an attached garage, otherwise first come first serve on pkg for our two other cars. Has anyone seen either of these two apt. complexes? If so, please share your thoughts.

Plus, any info related to civilian hospitals within a 30 mile radius would also be greatly appreciated, too. My wife is an ADN RN with +13 years experience in cardiac floor & emergency cardiac care nursing. My wife has talked via phone with a Providence St Peters Nurse Recruiter and will apply for a position, plus she was told they would be willing to do a telephone interview. Anybody have any experience with St Peters hospital?

Help! ... please.

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Ditto er nurse23. Best housing value and schools are south and east of tacoma. (except lakewood as mentioned.)

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