Military nursing at 38

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Hi, i am 38 female and am seriously thinking about joining the military to get training as a ER nurse (have been a clinical nurse for almost 5 years- never worked in the hospital) The area that I live in is super limited in jobs for nurses with no prior hospital experience and I would really like to expand my knowledge and skills. Anyone has feedback on joining service at a later age and chances being placed in the hospital. I spoke to a recruiter for the Airforce and Navy but having extra feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

You're not too old - I commissioned at 38 into the Army Nurse Corps - but not having hospital experience is going to put you in a weird position. Not sure if they would consider you experienced or not, but not likely. You will also have difficulty becoming an ER nurse immediately - I came in as an experienced ER nurse, but as you might expect, it is a desired specialty and competitive. In the Army, you have to be selected to go to the ER course, and that is often after you spend your first duty station time as med/surg. But if you don't ask, the answer is always no! :) Good luck.

My recruiter told me that he didn't join the Navy Nurse Corps until he was 39. Was making a point that since I'm only 27 and don't have my BSN yet, I still have plenty of time...

Specializes in Cardiac ICU; CV Nursing; Medical Surg; Psychiatric.
You're not too old - I commissioned at 38 into the Army Nurse Corps - but not having hospital experience is going to put you in a weird position. Not sure if they would consider you experienced or not, but not likely. You will also have difficulty becoming an ER nurse immediately - I came in as an experienced ER nurse, but as you might expect, it is a desired specialty and competitive. In the Army, you have to be selected to go to the ER course, and that is often after you spend your first duty station time as med/surg. But if you don't ask, the answer is always no! :) Good luck.

Pixie, sorry in advance and I don't want to hijack this thread. Another question related to older age getting into the military is about being overweight? I also recently obtained my BSN, and have considered military nursing. Yet, I'm on the chubby side. Does your BMI have to be normal to join? Thanks in advance. Hope this is not hijacking, but it all goes together such as getting older and possibly being overweight to join up.

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Pixie, sorry in advance and I don't want to hijack this thread. Another question related to older age getting into the military is about being overweight? I also recently obtained my BSN, and have considered military nursing. Yet, I'm on the chubby side. Does your BMI have to be normal to join? Thanks in advance. Hope this is not hijacking, but it all goes together such as getting older and possibly being overweight to join up.

It's a valid question! Where the Army is concerned, you need to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) before you can leave officer basic (initial training). That includes the two-mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, and weight. For the weight, if you are over the allowable amount of pounds, you can still pass a tape test to make it through. For women, they measure neck, waist, and hips. For guys I think it's neck and waist. Then there is some kind of magic formula (spreadsheet) that figures out your body fat percentage from those measurements. You can Google "Army tape test" and find all kinds of info.

If you don't pass the APFT at the beginning, you are chaptered out of the Army. There was a nurse from the officer basic class before ours who was a holdover during our class to try to remediate her for the APFT. At the end, she was 4 sit-ups short and she was chaptered out. While that may sound harsh, the Army needs people who are not "broken" and units were tired of receiving new officers who couldn't pass the APFT. Soldiers really put a lot of stock into someone's PT score. If you can't pass their basic measurement of fitness, you don't get respect and you can't lead like that.

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