Army Nurse Corps and Medication?

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Sep 2, 2014

Are you currently diagnosed with depression? The military does not take in applicants who are currently diagnosed with/being treated for depression. I believe there's a certain amount of time you'd need to be off the Paxil and diagnosed as symptom-free before you'd be considered, and even then, you probably wouldn't be competitive with your medical history.

Current mood disorders including, but not limited to, major depression (296.2–3), bipolar (296.4–7), affective
psychoses (296.8–9), depressive not otherwise specified (311), do not meet the standard.

(1) History of mood disorders requiring outpatient care for longer than 6 months by a physician or other mental health professional (V65.40), or inpatient treatment in a hospital or residential facility does not meet the standard.
(2) History of symptoms consistent with a mood disorder of a repeated nature that impairs school, social, or work efficiency does not meet the standard.

However, if you're taking Paxil for anxiety, then you are permanently DQ'd from military service. Even a history of anxiety is a disqualifier.

Current or history of anxiety disorders (anxiety (300.01) or panic (300.2)), agoraphobia (300.21), social phobia
(300.23), simple phobias (300.29), obsessive-compulsive (300.3), other acute reactions to stress (308), and posttraumatic stress disorder (309.81) do not meet the standard.

To top it all off, at this time, the Army is not accepting new grads. Your best bet is to seek employment on the civilian side.

alyssrr · Sep 3, 2014

Thank You SoldierNurse22 for your response. I think the info you provided was very helpful. I have been wanting to discontinue the Paxil and have been talking to my doctor about it because we feel as though I do not need to be on it. For now, I will continue seeking employment at local hospitals and after I gain about a year and a half of experience begin talking to recruiters...do you have any advice for this? Should I wait that long to begin the process ? Any other words of advice are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2014

Certainly speak with your doctor. While you're in the office, start gathering your medical records that pertain specifically to your treatment with Paxil now as those will be documents that the medical board will probably want to review.

Your plan to start working and speak with recruiters when you have the experience is a good one. I believe it's currently 2 years of experience needed in order to apply. The packet you must submit is a big one, and the process is long, so be patient.

When you start up a conversation with recruiters, make sure they're AMEDD recruiters. Your average recruiter doesn't deal with medical officers, and there's a different process for us to commission than there is for your average recruit to enlist.

http://www.goarmy.com/locate-a-recruiter.html

The link above is the one you'll want to use. Select "Medical (AMEDD)" in the dropdown box and that should bring up what you'll need once you're ready to start the conversation.

If you can, try to get hired into a specialty. I know that's a tall order, especially for a new grad, but the Army is pretty full of 66H (med-surg nurses) and looking to cut them in the coming years. If you can't get hired into a specialty, then go for inpatient hospital experience of some sort.

As a side note, what are your reasons for wanting to join? I ask because you're looking to join at a very competitive time in our history. Do you have a husband or kids? If you are in fact accepted and you want to stay in, you will have to put a great deal of your time and effort into your job. Army nurses are routinely assigned extra duties, but in order to avoid the cuts, you'll need to go above and beyond. Really consider if this is something you're willing to sacrifice. If you have any questions or don't feel comfortable discussing this issue on a public forum, feel free to PM me.

alyssrr · Sep 3, 2014

Thanks again for your detailed response. I am definitely interested in ER or Critical Care, which are the jobs that I have currently applied for, civilian side. I am hopeful because I do have previous healthcare experience at the actual hospitals for which I applied. However, it's currently a waiting game because the DOS has not processed my info yet, for me to receive ATT.

To answer your questions, I am single, no kids, I'm going to be 23 this year, and I have always had a huge passion for the Army in particular. Partly, because of my father, and mostly because I want to serve our country and provide the highest quality nursing care to our soldiers/veterans and their families. There are also other factors, such as the amount of experience to be gained as an Army Nurse, the fast-pace, adrenaline thing, it is just really cool and interesting to me, not to mention traveling to different parts of the world!

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2014

That's great that you have experience and potentially a foot in the door to a specialty job. That will make you stand out amongst other applicants who haven't had the experience yet.

Sounds like you are in the ideal social position to join the military. Life in the service has the potential to really strain marriages and families.

Experience gained--eh, it's going to be hit or miss nowadays. Deployments are dwindling and the ones remaining are fairly competitive as deployments make promotions easier. If you're counting on experience there, you'll likely end up needing to wait for another war before you see it. Over here stateside, there aren't a whole lot of Army facilities that treat big traumas. I believe Fort Sam (TX), Fort Lewis (WA) and Walter Reed-Bethesda (MD) will still see big stuff, but more so Fort Sam as they have the burn center. And as you're not going to be a new nurse coming in, you may not go to a big MEDCEN (medical center). You may end up at a MEDDAC (smaller military treatment facility, or MTF) where you'll probably not see anything close to the acuity you'd see as a med-surg nurse on the civilian side.

I started out at Walter-Reed Bethesda in oncology, but I am now at a MEDDAC. I have worked both outpatient and inpatient at the MEDDAC, and it's nothing to write home about. It gives you a firsthand view of how our government wastes money shamelessly, however, and how if we want to make TRICARE sustainable for the troops of the future, we're going to have to downsize our hospitals and stop admitting people for stupid stuff that is treatable in an outpatient setting.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Sep 4, 2014

I'd like to echo that. Military healthcare is generally a step-down from a civilian hospital unless you're deployed. Nobody is being deployed right now.

Think about it. Anyone who can pass a PT test is going to be healthy-er. The only place where you see really sick patients are locations where you treat a lot of veterans or civilians...which is not many of them. The benefit to me is actually in the extra duties; a lot of these would be handled by a supervisor in a civilian hospital. Infection control, chart audits, demand capacity, teaching classes...are all things that help your resume for applying for grad school or manager-level positions (whether you stay in the military for your whole career or not).

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2014

The benefit to me is actually in the extra duties; a lot of these would be handled by a supervisor in a civilian hospital. Infection control, chart audits, demand capacity, teaching classes...are all things that help your resume for applying for grad school or manager-level positions (whether you stay in the military for your whole career or not).

Some of those extra duties can be beneficial. Others...not so much. Getting tasked to plan the dining in or holiday ball aren't exactly nursing-related duties. While there's an argument for developing leadership in such a role, there's also the time demand that one has to balance when considering military service. Those additional duties can add up to a lot of overtime and really cramp one's plans to enjoy all that scenery while they travel...

Dranger · Sep 4, 2014

Eh I will also echo that military acuity is a step down from the civilian side unless you are in combat. I have worked at major MEDCENs such as Lewis, Sam Houston etc and while they are level I\II hospitals technically because of the specialists they provide their acuity doesn't touch the civilian facilities just down the road from them.

Military hospital patients are usually young and healthy or retirees. Sure retirees can be sick but I'd say after 20 years of military service most are in far better shape than VA patients or the general civilian population. Obviously this is just my anecdotal evidence but the military ICUs I have seen function more like PCUs or step downs the majority of the time.

Addition duties are hit and miss depending on what it is. As the above poster said planning dining ins and holiday balls are busy work with little value but helping run a range or formulate OPORDS/battle planning for actual training events is more beneficial. Unfortunately with military nursing these opportunities are rare.

As for depression meds I believe you have to be off them at least a year before they will consider you, but that might be old info.