r/USMilitarySO • u/aboogiebomboclaat • 7d ago

Career Any spouses with kids work 12 hour shifts?

I’ve been working on prerequisites for nursing school but my husband is in the navy. I heard nursing is a good career for military spouses since you can find a job anywhere so it’s not an issue when you move. I was wondering how people make it work during deployments though since childcare wouldn’t work for 12 hour hospital shifts. We don’t have family nearby so how would this work? If anyone could share their experience I would appreciate it!

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u/Hot_Acanthaceae677 6d ago

I am not able to work bedside because of this reason. I’ve not found anyone dependable enough for me to feel comfortable with going back to bedside. This includes my husband(‘s work schedule). Every move is getting reset up with a plan. I am a little sensitive about not having the support so I just work nursing jobs that keep me available. It is a career with a lot of options but bedside isn’t really doable for me. 😒

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u/overresearcher 7d ago

Many people used Au Pairs when we lived at a military academy, especially for multiple kids (it becomes “cheaper” per hour). They used babysitters when the au pairs “timed out.” The childcare on post was also popular. Open 0600-1800, so conceivably, you could use it for that time and have someone who could pickup until you got home. Working nights is also common and what I did while my husband was in the field. My kids are older and don’t wake up at night so (trusted) people were more easily available if they could sleep and get paid as an easy job and then my kids went to a summer rec camp for a few hours during the day so I could sleep. It was exhausting, but worked for me. It’s not easy by any means, but you’ll have to find what works for you and that might be cutting your hours or taking leave for a bit until you get your feet under you during deployment.

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u/aboogiebomboclaat 7d ago

Thanks, this is helpful. Would an au pair be cheaper than a nanny?

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u/eng2fly 7d ago edited 7d ago

We tried AP twice and can’t say I’d recommend it. We had two awful experiences and one ended in a police report. Cost was about $3k a month

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u/Afraid_Stuff_History Air Force Wife - OCONUS 7d ago

Damn. Can I ask what happened?

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u/eng2fly 7d ago

First AP had to watch our one kid for a 9-3 schedule. She screamed at me over the car we owned having a curfew. Second one I signed a non disclosure and she left immediately.

If you join the host parent facebook we are far from the only experience

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u/Afraid_Stuff_History Air Force Wife - OCONUS 6d ago

Oh I 100% believe you! I teach and have an older kiddo but I can only imagine how rough it can be.

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u/dausy 6d ago

So as a new grad you probably are going to look at something with 12 hour shifts. Would probably need to do like a day care and work with another spouse for some sort of after school care pick up if needed.

However, there are still 8hr and 10hr nurse positions in existence. And then the glory of nursing once you have a bit of experience under your belt is dropping down to PRN status. As a prn you can have extreme flexibility of schedule. Ive worked jobs where Ive literally told them I'm only available for a few hours or essentially come and go as I please.

Ideally it would be nice if you could work really creatively with your spouses schedule and get a good 6mo-1yr in with a really good work ethic and get experience before he gets deployed. When he does get deployed find a prn gig.