A Day in The Life of a Naval Operating Room/ Circulating RN

[SurgRN86]

Hi, I am interested in Joining the US Navy as an RN. I have experience as a circulating RN and would like to know what a day in the life of a Navy Nurse in the OR looks like. Anything you can tell me about the Navy, as an officer, and in this position will be greatly appreciated. What are the shifts like and how often are you on call? Are there many differences from civilian operating room environments? what would orientation consist of? Positives and negatives from your perspective. Is there still a sign on bonus? Do you get this bonus whenever you re-enlist, do you sign up for 4 year increments? How likely is it to depoly as a circulating nurse, and anything you can tell me about what deploying would be like as a surgical nurse, or if you have any personal stories would be great. How likely is it to be accepted for the DUINS education program? Im sure this is pretty competative program. Thank you so much for your time and any information you can provide me.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Moved to the Government and Military forum

Welcome and hopefully you will find some answers here

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I'm AF but, since no one answered, I will. First of all, nurses commission not enlist. Your work schedule, on call schedule, and work environment varies widely depending on where you are stationed. As an OR nurse, you might work a day surgery center or a major hospital OR. Since no one can predict where you'll be stationed, no one can accurately predict the aforementioned variables. You have to be flexible. You generally rotate schedules (day/night/weekend) since everybody gets paid the same (based on rank and time served) salary.

OR, ER, and ICU nurses (along with flight nurses) are some of the most deployable. Not many people are deploying right now, but that could change.

The bonuses are always in flux. In the Air Force, we still offer the board certification retention bonus with payouts of up to 20K per year for a 4 year commitment. There was a 1x 20K sign-on bonus for 4 year commitment...not sure if that still exists. Most branches are moving away from all of those, therefore that could change.

The positives are: higher pay (after about 4-6 years in) that a typical staff nurse, better retirement benefits, better training opprotunities

The negatives: poor lateral movement flexibility, poor work area flexibility, typically work more hours per week (additional duties= 20-30% more), lack of personal freedom.