Want to work at WHMC/BAMC in San Antonio

[1GOODNURSE2]

I am a RN with my ADN degree and I will be moving to San Antonio, TX next April and I would like to work Labor and Deliver at Wilford Hall/BAMC at Lackland. I graduated from nursing school May 2007 and received my nursing license in September 2007. I'm a military veteran and also an Air Force wife. Can someone please provide me with information as to if Wilford Hall will hire civilian nurses. Also, the online nursing skills experience I've had are the experiences I had during nursing school clinicals and that wasn't very much. I would very much like to work at Wilford Hall/BAMC but my concern is that I don't have very many clinical skills and would like to know if they would/could provide me with possibly something like an internship first to allow me to get up to speed to where I need to be. I don't want to be thrown on a L & D floor and be expected to know everything at first. Please provide me with any and all information at their hiring practices, hours, L & D floor, salary, contact information, etc. Please provide me with any information on their training practices and how civilian nurses are treated. Also, what type of attire are civilian nurses required to wear? Are the shifts 12 hrs or what. I look forward to your responses about Wilford Hall/BAMC. Thanks!!

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

You may get a better response if your thread is moved to the Military Nursing Forum.

Best,

Diane

[puggy232]

Your best bet is to look and apply through www.usajobs.com, being a veteran and married to active duty you probably qualify for a five point reference-goodluck, I had my LPN school there at BAMC 14 years at the old hospital-loved it, loved the town, riverwalk etc-nice winters very mild.

[jnrsmommy]

The usajobs.com website will be a great resource to use, that's what I went through when I got hired. Also, keep in mind that WHMC/BAMC are incorporated under one heading now San Antonio Medical Command (believe that's the right name). Not too sure of the time frame, but Wilford Hall is going to be changing to just outpatient clinics, and BAMC will have all inpatient. These facilities are on opposite sides of town, so definitely keep that in mind, especially w/ the price of gas now.

Oh, and a good portion of the workforce in these facilities are civillians, as there is so much turnover w/ the military being deployed, going to the field, etc. I also know there are a couple of staffing agencies that exclusively only staff at these places, and some of them do offer long-term contracts, and sometimes the pay and benefits is better than what Uncle Sam offers.

[1GOODNURSE2]

Thank you so much for the information on the consolidation of WHMC and BAMC and the location of each. I will be sure to check out the usajobs.com website. Now that I know BAMC and WHMC are on different sides of town that really helps me out a lot. I guess I'll really need to take that into consideration when we do our seach for homes. Also, any addition information you can provide about staffing agencies that exclusively staff at the new San Antonio Military Medical Center would be great. Would an agency hire me knowing that I haven't had much practice of my clinical skills except for what I received in nursing school? Please keep the responses coming. I really appreciate it. Thanks!!