First Duty Station? - Page 2

I'm not sure how it is in Pensacola, but just a heads up that new navy nurses at Portsmouth are not allowed to go to ER or any of the ICUs for their first assignment. I have a friend from ODS that had 10 years as an ICU nurse with full certifications that had his orders written for critical care and that's it. I'm working in the PCU, progressive care unit which the order is: ICU/Stepdown, PCU, Med-Surg. I floated to stepdown this week which was awesome. Keep you head up and know that you can get to critical care it just might take a year first. Again, things may be different in Pensacola. Good luck! Go Navy!

Hi Sw88tpea,

I am doing ODS in Sept and reporting to Portsmouth in October. I am a new graduate so I would expect not to get in the ED or ICU, but I am hoping within 1-2 years I can get into an ICU. I've worked in a big city hospital on a Step-down Telemetry floor as a Tech working primarily with oncology patients with heart conditions, some GI, some pulmonary, surgical and psych. Would it be of benefit to tell someone that? It's been a great learning experience, but I am excited to see what navy medicine is all about!

I went down twice to Portsmouth since I received my orders to NMCP. The area seems nice, but a whole lot different than what I am used to in Philadelphia. I noticed traffic sucks on the downtown tunnel so I am getting the hint that I should live in Portsmouth at least for the 1st year so I am not late for work. I am thinking about getting an apartment at the myrtles. I would really like a roommate since I am new to the area and to bank a little extra on the BAH, but I absolutely don't know anyone! My recruiter said it is a good possibility of meeting someone in ODS, but I don't know if I should rely on that. Do you have any recommendations?

Also, do you like the hospital? Do you have any recommendations on how to be successful? What is the 3-month internship like?