Military orders to Okinawa Japan

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Hi,

My husband is in the Marine Corps and we are currently stationed in California, with possible orders to Okinawa, Japan for 3 years, beginning next year. I am currently working on my last prereq and wanted to find out if there were any nursing programs available for English speakers in Okinawa. My own search has resulted in no available programs, so Im checking with you all to find out if you have any information.

Thank you.

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My suggestion would be to go through the military to find out. The base over there is quite large. I have a cousin in the Air Force that is stationed over there right now. There should be some support for helping military spouses find jobs. Go through there and I bet they can help guide you. Sorry I can't be of any specific help.

On a positive note the weather there is supposed to be amazing! Similar to Hawaii is what I hear.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care.
Hi,

My husband is in the Marine Corps and we are currently stationed in California, with possible orders to Okinawa, Japan for 3 years, beginning next year. I am currently working on my last prereq and wanted to find out if there were any nursing programs available for English speakers in Okinawa. My own search has resulted in no available programs, so Im checking with you all to find out if you have any information.

Thank you.

Hi. We also got orders to Oki for next year and I am currently in my 2nd semester of Nursing school here in AZ. I was told by the Education officer/counselor on base in Oki that there are no Nursing programs over there. But I guess you already got a similar answer. :) I don't know if it is possible to enroll in a school off base either unless one is fluent in Japanese. We decided to stay until I graduate while hubby goes to Oki w/out us...then we join him after I graduate. It's tough going through the program, much less going through it without the hubby for support. Firgured it will be worth it the end.

I know it is disappointing to finish all the pre-reqs and not to have the chance to get onto the program because of the situation. You could wait until you guys get back to the states after your tour but in the meantime, enroll in online classes over there to keep busy? Or maybe volunteer at the Naval hospital to get some skills in prep for Nursing school? Whichever choice you eventually decide to go with, I hope it works out. Our life as a military spouse sucks sometimes.:bluecry1:

Good luck and I hope you don't give up your desire to go to Nursing school. :)

Lulu

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We are also moving to Japan 5 months from now, and I just finished my LPN program and about to take my board exam, I wanted to go towards my RN but I think it's impossible to do it in Japan. As I was reading all the posts, there's no way I can work as an LPN there, I am upset, but i think family comes first...Can I take my pre-reqs online though?

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There are College Courses on base. you can cont. your prereq's.

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Specializes in CEN, SCRN.

I know I'm combining answers to multiple posts in one post. I realized that after the fact so sorry about that.

I used to be based in Yokosuka, and have friends that used to be and currently are in Okinawa. I lived in Japan for 4 and a half years and my wife is Japanese..... so here's what I know.

On base, there are classes but they are all usually liberal arts type stuff and general ed classes. Very rarely are there any science oriented classes, and if there are, they are all very basic and come without lab portions. Do not expect to get Chem, Micro or A&P unless you can find them online from somewhere like St. Petersburg college.

There are no nursing classes on base, nor will you be able to find an online LPN to RN transition program that will work. There is excelsior, but you would have to travel back to CONUS (continental US as the lingo goes) for your clinicals and practical exams. It would be fiscally impossible unless money is no object since flights are currently running about $1400 round trip for one person.

Off base you will not be able to go to a Japanese nursing school. All forms of professional education are strictly regulated by the Japanese government. You would need to be fluent JLPT level 1 which is a level of native speaking. This level is difficult to attain even after spending 10 years studying the language. More important than that is that you would need to be a natural born Japanese citizen to attend. Also, Japanese nursing schools are typically 4 year programs and most likely your husband is getting 3 year orders. Even if they were to waive all of these requirements, the US SOFA (status of forces agreement) would most likely prohibit you from being a full time student off base as you are in the country strictly as a guest of the United States Government.

As for working at the base hospital as an LPN, you wouldn't be able to do so since the Department of the Navy (not sure about the Air Force hospital in Kadena) only hires civilian RNs with a BSN as the minimal training. You could possibly petition the CO of the hospital to hire you as an RN, but to work as an LPN, you would have to accept a med tech job (which might be available if there are lots of Corpsmen from the hosptial being deployed to Afghanistan) or something clerical.

The only reason I know about the hospital stuff is that I was an ER Corpsman at Yokosuka and plan on going back as a civilian nurse once I finish my BSN (or MSN depending on time) and I've researched the crap out of this.

Good luck with the move and I promise that you'll love Okinawa. Just make sure you don't call the locals Japanese..... they tend to not like it when you do. ;)

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I am a CNA in Tenn, and will be joining my husband in Oki this Dec. I too, was looking fwd to furthering my educational goals as a nurse while we are stationed there the next few years. I looked @ UMUC courses, emailed the Naval Hospital in regards to jobs, and also the Red Cross. And, w/all the posts I've viewed online, I might have to take up a different educational goal while we are stationed there, and then once we come back state side, further pursue my nursing goals. Please keep any updated info on here, while I keep my fingers crossed for a loop hole! Thanks for the great info as well!

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Just an idea to concider (though i dont know how fesable it is), but it sounds like you were looking at an RN program......associates or diploma program. I'm not sure how much more is involved in a BSN program, but if nursing is really what you want to do, maybe you could look into what classes you could complete online towards a BSN program while you are there. Obviously nursing and sciences with labs you can not really take online, so you will have a lot to do when you would come back, but you might be able to get a good portion of other classes out of the way so that when you come back you might only have 4 or 5 semesters and be looking at a BSN instead of being 3 or 4 semesters out of an ADN or Diploma program. I could be wrong but maybe look into BSN programs and discuss things with a school that you might attend when you come back (if you know where you would be) Just a thought......like i said, it may not be something that could be worked out at all, its not something i have looked into

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