[victorsuchil]

I am a 68W/ combat medic serving out my 15 months in Iraq, I was offered to reenlist for the 68WM6 program in FT Sam Houston, TX. Does N E 1 know if the program transfers to civilian side, and if it does, how do I get my RN from there?

[teiladay]

Excellent question! I'm glad you're posting the question here vs. asking an enlisted military recruiter. If you do speak to a recruiter, ask to speak to an OFFICER who is an RN who acts as a liaison with the recruiting office (often this will be an O4 or higher); this is the next best thing to reading the actual DOD Regulations (which I can't encourage you enough to do).

To answer your question: Basically, the enlisted nursing job will only give you an advantage of sorts for an LPN program. It does not just "transfer over" to the civilian sector. I DO NOT advise you to take the 68W job, unless you just have no other options. * Look at the OFFICER programs! Both the Army and the Navy offer a decent bonus (around $10k + $1,000 monthly) for you to work on a BSN.

The bottom line is if you're really wanting to get into nursing on a level beyond LPN, in the military... then RN as an officer is the only way to go (note: unless you're dealing with the Reserves, you must have a BSN (or above) to be commissioned as an RN).

Read this REG: DOD INSTRUCTION NUMBER 6000.13 June 30, 1997
(if you can find a later version, please let me know!) The information in this DoD INSTRUCTION seems up to date as I've corresponded with Naval and Army Medical Recruiting over specifics as recent as the beginning of this year (Jan 2008).

Keep in mind that the military operates in a "bubble". Pilots in the Army (without civilian flight experience) just can't go out and fly civilian aircraft without gaining the appropriate check outs, flight reviews, etc. *In the military you can often do what your civilian counterparts cannot. In the Army, you can take a 40hr Combat Lifesaving Course and be giving yourself, or another soldier an IV by the end of the week. Medics have performed light surgeries, etc.. it's a whole different world in the military as we both know.


I highly encourage you to get out and go to college and come back in as an Officer. Staying enlisted is a huge financial rip off.

Good luck whatever your decision!

[teiladay]

If you're talking about this program:

"The mission of the United States Army Practical Nurse Course is to educate and prepare highly trained battlefield medics, Sergeant and below, whose primary MOS is 91W or 91WY2. The 91WM6 (Practical Nurse) coupled with Health Care Specialist (91W) training, possess the skill set to provide first line trauma care far forward on the battlefield, perform as members of Forward Surgical Teams, and function in expanded and support roles in Combat Support Hospitals and fixed medical facilities. The 300-M6 Course is approved by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas and upon successful completion, soldiers qualify to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN). The soldier must obtain and maintain licensure as a Vocational Nurse/Practical Nurse for award of the ASI M6."

* The Army has shuffled MOS designations over the last few years so you might have been offered a true LPN track by the Army.. if you take/pass the NCLEX-PN, then you're a PN no matter what, and I suppose you'd have to apply for a license in whatever state you wish to work in once leaving the Army.

Practical Nurse to Registered Nurse would typically (depends on school you attend) require you to take the typical prerequisites: Anat/phys I & II (with labs), microbiology with lab, sociology, chemistry with lab, statistics, etc.. some schools offer advance standing if you're an LPN/LVN.. Check the websites of various schools for their requirements/prerequisites. That's about the meat and potatoes of it

Keep safe over there and I hope the Lord keeps you all well.

Kindest

Teila K. Day
(Army Veteran)

[psalm]

Sounds like great advice above. If I was 30 years younger I would go for the BSN and be an officer. Whatever you do, THANK YOU for your service!

psalm
U.S. Army WAC veteran, 91B20

[hybridboy78]

Wow! That is all I can say about the officer that was on this page trying to recruit you to the ANC (Army Nurse Corps.) That is awesome!

Okay, now you asked a question about M6's........it would probably be better to get the "skinny" from a M6 but hey that is just me? I would rather have a duck tell me what it is like to be a duck then a dog tell me if you catch my drift?

The RN that replied to you only told you their version of what possibilities lie open to you with having this career field, M6 (which they didn’t know too much to be honest with you.)

You will have a greater understanding of a lot more things that deal with the body after graduating the M6 course and I suggest you do it to further your education.

The license you obtain if you pass the NCLEX will be valid in Texas (civilian) initially and everywhere in the Army (don’t you love how that works?) Then, you can use your DA 1059 to gain access to any LPN job in any state as you just have to submit your paperwork and pay their fee to have the new license. That paperwork (DA 1059) shows that you completed an accredited nursing program because that is what it is. The thing about ANC’s is they don’t recognize that we (M6’s) have a license and they treat you like you are still an idiot medic that doesn’t know anything.

Trust me brother, I have been where you have been and it was a hard transition to know someone had Cellulitis and how to deal with it, not be able to because the doctor didn't put his two cents in and write it down in a chart and officially diagnosed it. It’s funny that when someone isn’t breathing, doesn’t have a pulse and has been that way for over 15 minutes and not submerged in icy water, it takes a doctor to pronounce them dead before they are.

C’mon………you got to love that common sense goes out the window when it comes to a credentialed person and their ego and the how much we as society let them get away with that.

RN’s act that way too as I guess they forget that a nurse is a nurse; it is the level of responsibility and what your scope is that changes. There are no special Tomatoes they are just as red or green as the next one. That is the civilian aspect that has rolled into our job (which sucks) because of having the licensure the Army will provide you with.

If you decide to re-enlist or extend your contract to obtain this ASI you will be in AIT again for 52 weeks. This course is not too difficult especially if you have some medical background and you are doing your job as “doc” over there.

You just have to dump the mental aspect of deciding things on your own. This is what that means, "nurse's can think and they are very smart but you cannot do anything, regardless if you are an RN or LPN (LVN) or not, without a doctor telling you to do it besides Nurse Generated Orders and Care Plans. This will be a severe step back if you are currently a "line doc" out there in the dirt at first but then you will find that you are expanding your knowledge base and you will understand things much quicker than a noob to the field.

Remember that you can transfer your license wherever you want granted you have your paperwork still (1059). My wife is in the Reserves and this is how I know because she is a M6 too and has licensure in Michigan and Texas, all on the Army's Dime.

Also, if you take the training you receive at M6 School and transfer it over a lot of colleges (assuming you can get in as the RN courses are booked all over for a while) you will be able to receive an ADN which is a two year degree but who cares?

It is still an RN and you still get paid for it regardless. When you get to a MEDCEN; go talk to these civilians that work in the hospital as GS-10’s (or whatever they call them now with the new NSPS system), just for having their ADN. You will be surprised I will tell you that and they are government employees.

Doing your education on your time on active duty while on the Army’s Dime is just being smart. DO IT!

This is what my wife and I are currently doing and when we are done the Army doesn't need to know we are RN's because quite frankly, they just don't.

If you want to be an officer and you want the Army to pay for your BSN there are many routes available but to be frank with you why not just do M6, finish that up, serve as a nurse for a while so you see if you even like it or not and then apply for the AMEDD Commissioning Program and let them pay for your college too so you get the BSN and the Commission and the headache of being a private again. Basically when you are a lieutenant that is what you are and they treat you that way. The choice is yours.

Do something though, because 68W is not going to get you paid when you get out and I know you know that. If you have any specific questions about the course email me. I will tell you everything to expect and all that. As for the prerequisites, don't worry about that.

Just apply because you don't need those just be prepared to get the army cram session teaching. There are many things the Army will pay for you just need to talk to the right people that will give you an unbiased perspective on it.

I am all for you to become an officer as you would make more money and it would be better for you (life wise and retirement wise if you were thinking that way) but to be honest politics suck and that is what you become as a senior non com too, so if you like that, do it. I prefer being with my Joes but that is me.

Take it easy,

-An Active Duty NCO M6