[Acey]

Hello Everyone,

PEDS RN here thinking about joining the military. Questions are:

1. How is military nursing different?
2. Which branch (Army, Navy, Air Force) is good for nurses/medical professionals?
3. How long is the processing time from turning in your application to starting basic training?

All inputs are welcome!

Thanks!

[cnelson2]

Hello Acey,

It took me roughly 4 months to complete all the paperwork and physical exam. I filled out the Army Nurse application while awaiting the physical. I'll be attending the August 2008 OBLC (Officer Basic Leadership Course-not basic training) and this is 7 months after the initial contact with the Army Healthcare recruiter. I had a prolonged sign-up time because I had to wait for my waivers to be signed off. With no waivers, it would have been 3 months less time for me to start OBLC.
The Army Nurse Corp Human Resources said they will be starting a new RN residency program for new nurses this August where the new nurse will experience several units at the hospital over a period of one year for better preparation. After that one year, the nurse will either go to a new hospital or stay at the residency hospital for the remainder of her/his commitment. I'm not sure if a choice is given for the new hospital if a new duty station is ordered.
As far as how different military nursing is from civilian nursing, I can't answer that...yet. However, I've heard from several Air Force nurses in my old chemistry class who worked at David Grant Hospital at Travis AFB, that they had good experiences working as a team with other staff members at Travis and they preferred it over civilian nursing. They (4) were all taking the class as a prerequisite for the nurse anesthesia program.

CNelson