Maybe stationed in HI...have questions

[BunnyBunnyBSNRN, ASN, BSN]

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 Scholfied Barracks, HI. 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 HI 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

[MttoRN]

Hi Sara610,

I don't think you will have any problem finding a job with your experience. Check out The Queen's Medical Center website. Just know that Schofield Barracks is about 30-45 minutes away (on a good day) from the majority of the bigger hospitals, including Tripler. I lived at Schofield and worked at Tripler, but that was back in 1997 and I am sure traffic is probably a little more congested now.

I think there are a couple of schools that you could consider for your BSN, namely UH-Manoa and Hawaii Pacific University, but these are also a ways from Schofield Barracks.

Now as far as schools for the kids, Schofield has I believe two elementary schools on base and there is a middle school on Wheeler Air Field (across the street from Schofield), but these schools are run by the Oahu School District and are not DOD schools, so children from surrounding communities come on base to attend school as well. My two children were in kindergarten and fifth grade at the time. At that time, the school was what I would consider to be over-crowded and some the classes were in buildings in back of the school. If I had stayed a little longer there, I was considering private schools for my children. There were many families on base that were car pooling to Waialua and Mililani so that could be an option.

Family wise, my kids loved it...they loved being able to play outside all year round, going to the beach...I loved it because I am a military brat and Hawaii has an international flair. Also there was the cost of living both my husband and I were receiving, definitely helped out financially.

Hope this helps...