Originally Posted by sebioac
USNRN309-
Thanks for your input. How long have you been a Navy nurse? How was it during your first few years? Where you stationed where you wanted to be? I'll be visiting a Navy hospital next month and hopefully then I will be able to gather more information from new nurses. Although, I'm pretty much sure that I'm going to join the Navy.
Here is a brief description of the 16-weeks internship from the Navy Medical Center in San Diego's website.
"The Nurse Intern Program (NIP) is intended to orient new nurse graduates and registered nurses with minimal clinical experience to the profession of nursing and military medicine. The program consists of attending classroom lectures, participating in weekly group seminars, and providing patient care on the units with a preceptor."
I have been on active duty for over two years. I was not stationed at my first choice for duty stations, and I was not put into an area that I particularly wanted to work in. During week 5 of my new graduate orientation, I went to war. I got the "hurry up" kind of training.
The new nurse internships and whatnot vary from each hospital. For the Navy, the best places for a new grad are one of the "big three." San Diego, Portsmouth, VA, or Bethesda. Since those medical centers have more capabilities for training the new grad. Although, with the proper preceptors, a new grad can flourish anywhere.
I chose the Navy for the duty stations. Absolutely why I chose that particular branch. The duty stations are basically (for medicine anyway) all near water. They have many duty stations in Italy, Spain, Japan, just to name a few. And, speaking with friends in the Air Force promotions seem to come a little faster (although I'm sure that statement will get some Air Force nurses to weigh in).
Visit the bases, but take what you hear with a grain of salt. The nursing shortage is everywhere, military medicine is no exception. If service is what you want to pursue, don't let one or two disgruntled officers turn you off to it. Find forums like this, and keep asking these questions until you are satisfied with what you hear. I spent many months doing these types of searches before I even called the recruiter. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself. If you need any other info, please, send me an email. I'm happy to share stories.
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