military CRNA considering move (Knoxville, Clarksville: sales, good schools, income)

[militarycrna]

Hello all,
I am a military Nurse anesthetist (CRNA) looking at retiring in a couple of years and need to look for a place to settle down. Currently our research and experience is leading us to choose between Charlotte NC, Greenville SC, Nashville or Knoxville TN (perhaps Clarksville) and Louisville or Lexington KY. We are pretty open minded at this time and want some advice on any military tax advantages, location of commissaries/exchanges/medical facilities, etc. My wife and I have one, 1 year old son and are very interested in a family oriented town with good schools, possibly private christian schools. We are hoping for a city that has a good downtown or similar area with lots of trees, shops and cafe's to waste an afternoon in. I am a Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and wonder what the practice environment is like in these areas. We are conservative (real suprise) and look for people with similar values. Any suggestions?

[alleycat]

One question first: What about commute time? What do you consider acceptable . . . 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour?

[militarycrna]

I would want 30 minutes or less commute time.

[alleycat]

There's a large PX at Ft. Campbell in Clarksville, of course. I don't know of one here in Nashville. There's also a large hospital on base, plus Memorial Hospital in Clarksville (they're currently building a new replacement hospital). It's about a one hour drive from Nashville to Clarksville. A lot of people who work at Ft. Campbell live in Tennessee (no income tax), but shop in Kentucky (lower sales tax).

Nashville has a lot of hospitals, including a VA one. Plus I think Vanderbilt takes care of some of the VA needs. There's also a lot of private Christian schools here; you can find non-demoninational ones and ones of just about every demonination.

Here's some possibilities in the greater Nashville area: Franklin (nice downtown); it's close enough to the commute time you were looking for, I think--perhaps just a little longer during rush hour. The Vanderbilt/21st Avenue/Hillsboro Village area of Nashville isn't a downtown, but it would serve the same purpose for you, so you could look around that area or one of the neighboring areas such as Green Hills or Sylvan Park.

There are other possibilities, of course. I assume you're just trying to get a general idea for now.

[militarycrna]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

[alleycat]

By the way, there's such a demand for nurses in the Nashville area that someone can ususally arrange a schedule to fit their needs, and the salary is pretty good from what I hear.

My mother was a nurse. She worked the craziest schedule I've ever seen; at one point in her schedule she worked 13 days straight (I tried to not go near her at the end of that time period, she could get a bit . . . "testy" ;-)

[jghall333]

Hello
I am a recruiter with the Berner Group, and we have a great opportunity for a CRNA in South Carolina. Please contact me if you are interested.
jghall333