Expert: Violet Argo RN - 5/23/2007

Question
I am in the navy, and my wife is pursuing a nursing career.  She is doing very well, and has taken all of her prerequisites at gateway community college WI and has maintained an almost perfect gpa. She is at the point where all she has left is her immunizations and cna before she takes clinicals.  She registered for the gateway nursing program two years ago so she is just about guaranteed acceptance into clinicals.  Our dilemma is that since I am transferred every 3 to 4 years to different locations, we will be apart for over 2 years if she registers for clinicals at her current jr college.  If she comes with me, she will have to get her name on another waiting list somewhere else, and by the time she is accepted, will be running out of time again before I have to transfer.  We have just about come to the conclusion that she and my son will have to stay in Wisconsin while she finishes clinicals and that we will just have to pay the price of being separated for over 2 years. We are not looking forward to this however, as I have already been deployed several and have spent well over 2 years without them already. Any suggestions?  Do nursing programs make exceptions for military families? Are there any schools that work clinicals through military base hospitals and accept military family spouses more quickly. Thank You.  

Answer
you certainly seem to have your priorities in order. You also seem to know all the right questions to ask, however I need for you and your wife to ask those questions to someone on post, and I am sorry I am not sure who you should ask. She should also ask at her school. She will never regret having a nursing career, and it is worth pursuing diligently even if it means another separation, but make that your last resort after pursuing all options. Thank you for serving our nation, and good luck with this issue.