Military Girlfriend trying to find a nursing school/ moving

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  1. Nursing options to choose from

    • 1
      Wait until we move then apply
    • 1
      Go for WGU BSN
    • 4
      Go for Gateway 16 month

6 members have participated

Hello everyone,

I am 27 years old and I really want to start a career in nursing, I have all the prerequisites done with the exception of a CNA. My boyfriend of 3 years is in the army doing the special forces course and we are stationed in NC. We have one year left here and then we are supposed to get stationed somewhere else. It is possible we won't know where until right up until we are packing our bags.

I am torn between several options,

Should I wait until we move and start applying to local colleges, possibly having to wait a year if I miss admissions (that's what happened in NC) but able to stay with my boyfriend, he covers most of the bills while I go to school (I feel like I should but if I miss fall admissions once again I would have to wait another year or more to start)

Should I go for WGU nursing BSN and just drive to the clinical site nearest me, hopefully they could change it depending on where we end up (KY, NC, WA, CO, FL, or possible NC)

Should I go for Gateway CC accelerated 16 month ADN in AZ, tuition being 130 a credit for me WEU but I would have to find a place to rent on my own during school.

I could really use some feedback as I just missed the deadline when we moved to NC and we will be moving a few months after August (unless we get stationed in NC again) and I just want to get STARTED O.o

I am looking into all the areas we could go to and the admission process and am going to start applying to each place with the exception of ones that require a CNA

All feedback is welcome! Thanks

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Specializes in NICU.

Option 4: Move back with your family, get your degree, and then move to wherever your boyfriend is stationed. Yes, that means being apart for the next two years.

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Going back to my family is not an option for me, we have been apart before, he has deployed several times and has been gone more than often than we have been together. The issue is making a choice from the above options, I am still torn between WGU or waiting until we move

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Do you two have plans to get married? Because if you don't, then I wouldn't hinge my plans on a boyfriend in the military who could potentially get stationed any where in the world. Sure, you can voluntarily move close to him in the States, but if he was shipped overseas, what would you do? Do you think he'd still pay your bills when he's not there? I'd highly recommend making yourself self-sufficient and not rely on him to pay your bills. The military will only assist if you're married, not live-in significant other. If you've been apart more than you've been together, finish the 16 month ADN in AZ and don't rely on being able to find clinical sites through WGU just to follow your BF to a new military base. 16 months is not that long in the grand scheme of things.

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I currently attend Gateway CC here in AZ. If it's an option for you, I would contact one of the advisors here and see about getting put in the pool. Sometimes the wait can be a year or more, so getting in the wait pool sooner rather than later can benefit you. You would be placed eventually, but the sooner you apply, the sooner you'll be placed. Good luck!

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no one wants to think this way when they are in a relationship but the plain fact is that until you are married you are both free entities. He can move without you and your bills are your own. Making your plans contingent on where he is stationed, not where we are stationed, is risky at best. A military wife can expect certain protections, a military girlfriend not so much.

Make the best plans you can and if your boyfriend is in the mix great and if he isn't do what needs to be done to become self-sufficient. It will serve you both best in the end.

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.

From the WGU website in regards to their prelicensure BSN program:

[h=4]"This program is available only for students in California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Utah."[/h]Your best bet is to wait or do the AZ ABSN. Personally, I'd do the ABSN in AZ. You'll probably be done with it before you even get admitted to a different program after your move...

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From the WGU website in regards to their prelicensure BSN program:

"This program is available only for students in California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Utah."

Your best bet is to wait or do the AZ ABSN. Personally, I'd do the ABSN in AZ. You'll probably be done with it before you even get admitted to a different program after your move...

It's not an ABSN she'd be getting, just an ADN in AZ.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
From the WGU website in regards to their prelicensure BSN program:

"This program is available only for students in California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and Utah."

Your best bet is to wait or do the AZ ABSN. Personally, I'd do the ABSN in AZ. You'll probably be done with it before you even get admitted to a different program after your move...

Students in other states can apply and qualify for enrollment- but they must travel 4-6 times/year to the clinical site for a period of up to three weeks.(I used to be a Clinical Instructor in this program in Indiana and had students from as far away as Nashville,TN and Pittsburgh in my group.)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

My boyfriend is also in the military. I would never hinge my plans on what the military might do for him. For example, when he reenlisted he was told he would PCS to a base very close to where I live in October of 2015. Instead, he got screwed around, was deployed when he shouldn't have been, his paperwork was lost, and as of this writing he is STILL stationed across the country from me and won't be moving for another 2 months after having to sign a six month extension to his contract in order to get approved to move. If I had been waiting to start my program until after he'd moved here, I would have wasted the last 18 months when I could have been making significant headway on my ASN.

I suggest getting yourself into a stable living environment not dictated by the whims of the United States Bureaucracy - I mean, the military - either by planning to stay where you currently are regardless of where your bf goes, or moving home to your family, grit your teeth, and get through your degree. I get how much long distance absolutely sucks, doubly so when a deployment gets thrown into the mix - but if nursing is what you want to do, you need to eliminate the uncertainty that the military adds to your life, especially since you aren't married to your partner.

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Thanks for all the feedback, I found a LPN program that only takes a year that I think I have a good chance of getting into in August so I think I will do that and bridge over. I can pay my own bills just fine, he just did it after we moved to NC until I could find a stable job as part of me sacrificing my stability (own business, steady income) I had back home. Again thank you all for your advice!

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