Military wife? And CNM? Is it possible???

klone, MSN, RN · Sep 12, 2016

Why do you think it wouldn't be possible?

Trauma Columnist · Sep 12, 2016

It is very difficult to go to school if your husband gets moved (PCS'd) often. I would either try to get done now or wait till he is settled at his first permanent base and get moving on it immediately after the move.

It is hard to transfer credits.

klone, MSN, RN · Sep 13, 2016

It is very difficult to go to school if your husband gets moved (PCS'd) often. I would either try to get done now or wait till he is settled at his first permanent base and get moving on it immediately after the move.
It is hard to transfer credits.

True, but there are good online programs from which to choose. You just have to be able to stay put for 6 months while you do your clinical rotation.

BrandiN · Sep 18, 2016

I was concerned more about working in a practice and getting to know

my patients and then having to move, and try to find another job.

BrandiN · Sep 18, 2016

i am currently getting my prerequisite classes out of the way and then applying to school where we get stationed

Trauma Columnist · Sep 21, 2016

Hi again - are you a nurse now? I did my nursing degree while hubs was active duty (he served 23 years). It was daunting - we moved every 2 years for a period of 12 years. Nowadays with the budget cuts this is unusual - hopefully you will get a stateside base where you can go to school and get everything completed at one time. I strongly urge you to scope our all the nursing schools once those orders are in hand.

When we moved from Las Vegas to Indianapolis the wait list for the ADN program (I was already an LPN) was long so since I had no idea how long we would be there, I chose the more expensive option of a private school with no wait list. In the end it paid off because I was able to work as an RN much sooner and pay back my loans much quicker.

rac1, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2016

I was concerned more about working in a practice and getting to know
my patients and then having to move, and try to find another job.

Hi. My husband is active duty army and has been in for nearly 14 years. I studied for quite some time to be a homebirth midwife (no haters/dates please!), which was difficult because depending on where we moved, there was not always midwives nearby to finish my training. After a long struggle with that, I quit, and started taking classes that would serve me well if I ever decided to go back to school. We have 5 children, so they took up a lot of my time and I "gave up" my own career choice for a while. Our youngest is now school aged, and I was able to apply to a nursing program at our new duty station (that we know we will be at for at least 4 years) and I got right in. I had all my prereq's done and qualified for a dual ADN/BSN program. It worked out like magic, honestly.

Anyway, even when you are done with your schooling and you get a job - the great thing about military installations is that all the women are having babies! Every place I have been stationed there have been CNM's, and all of the ones I met were always civilian. So wherever your hubster goes - you are likely to be able to get a job. Obviously this is a generalization. You may have to stay on for a few months to finish client care (if you choose to) at some point, but this is the nature of the beast (of being a military wife) - and it happens.

I can't tel you how many times in the past 14 years I have received a letter in the mail that says "your care provider has changed because of a military PCS, your new provider is....." It happens all.the.time. Until he is out of the military - this is just the way it will be - for you as a wife, and for your clients. Not the best continuity of care in the military system, but that's how it is. You can still do this!