Military Nursing Questions Answered

[navyman7]

Hello. I have seen many questions posted about the recruiting, the military, and future military experiences, I wanted to start a Q & A forum where you can ask questions related to the military from someone who is in the military.

- I am NOT a recruiter. I am fellow nurse who wants to inform others so they will be more informed than I was when I joined.

- I have been in the U.S. Navy for almost 3 years now. I have worked in the ICU for the same amount of time. I have also deployed as a Navy Nurse overseas. I am currently pursuing a masters in anesthesia degree.

- I will do my best to answer all questions. I will not lie to you about the military. If the subject is sensitive and possible jeopordize my career I will not answer you publicly about the issue but in a private email response.

Thanks and good luck.

[navyman7]

yours truly jmc: Why does the recruiter want you to call the Chief and the CDR? Are they for phone interviews? I would give them a day or two, and call mid morning or mid afternoon. Most people have been caught up with their daily to do's by then.

Regarding your cell phone, the recruiter who spoke to you was he a health care recruiter? If not then the recruiter may be forwarding your info to a health care recruiter. If this is also the case, then the purpose of calling the HMC and CDR may to give you an opportunity to ask health care people questions directly.

Sorry this isn't more helpful, we need more info to really help out. When you get more clarity regarding all this, then come back here for more questions. We may be of more help then. Good Luck.

[Med Surg RN, BSN, RN]

hi Navyman7, thanks for starting this thread! I've been following it and its been really interesting to read. I've never considered joining the navy before but its becoming more of a possibility (definitely reqs more research). I wanted to ask-- is it difficult for navy nurses to get civilian jobs after they leave the navy? I would think that it would make one more competitive, but I have no experience in the area. If you did post this elsewhere, please just link me! Thanks again for all your help.

[navyman7]

missacheung: I have known many navy nurses who have left the navy and have found jobs right away. However these are some stellar nurses. I am sure that the lazy nurses will have a hard time finding work, they can only fool someone for so long. Plus their evaluations will follow them where ever they go. So far from what I have seen there doesn't seem to be a problem for most good nurses finding work. It just depends on the kind of job they are looking for.

With that said, the military nurse has an advantage when it comes to finding work in the civilian world. Most civilians have no idea what kind of nursing care we actually do. Most think that all we deal with are combat injuries, traumatic brain injuries, etc. We do have that, but it's not are bread and butter. We have similar patient loads as many hospitals throughout the country. Use that to your advantage if you can. Hope this helps a little.

[danigirlRN]

Hi navyman7,

I've been reading your thread and found it very interesting and informative. I've been a nurse for about 2.5 years and I'm considering joining the Navy. I have a year experience in med-tele, a year in adult neuro-surgical ICU, and I currently work in a pediatric trauma-surgical ICU which is where I stay until I graduate or decide to join. I am currently going through a FNP master's program. However, I realized working with the pediatric population is my passion and I hope to do so in the NP role. I know the Navy has a pediatric specialty. My questions is how likely is it that I would get an APN position in pediatrics? Would I be better off changing my degree to a PNP or would the FNP qualify as it does in the civilian world? Also, would it be better to finish my degree before joining? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of joining and going where I want with my career. Any suggestions?

[navyman7]

danigirl, First of all I would say finish your degree first so that the Navy won't become a hinderance to you while you finish school. Secondly I wish I was more learned in the ways of APN but I am not, except for CRNA. I know the Navy utilizes some FNP's but I am not sure in what kind of setting they normally are in. I have seen some NP's work with the various teams that work in the ICU but they don't generally do too much in the unit. As for PNP I have no idea. Your best bet would be to work with a health care recruiter when you are finished with school and see if he can get you in contact with a PNP if the Navy has any. I wouldn't do any kind of paper until you speak to one first otherwise you could end up getting a bad deal. I wish I knew more regarding NP's in general but I am limited in this area, sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck.

[Med Surg RN, BSN, RN]

Hi navyman7, thanks for your prompt and informative response. It was very helpful! I'll keep it in mind as I figure out what I want to do in regards to my career and the navy.

[Dassit82]

Navyman7: I've JUST finished reading this thread in its entirety: took me all day at the office - so much for work, haha. Thank you so much for posting this topic - it has answered several questions I've had, even though I have spoken with a recruiter many times. The first time I spoke with a recruiter was in the Spring of 2012. I was in the middle of applying to Accelerated nursing programs. The recruiter gave me a lot of valuable information regarding the NCP, but said to get back in touch with her once I get an acceptance letter from the school I want to attend. I got an acceptance letter from Drexel (11-month Acclerated BSN program) in August 2012. It is now December and I'm waiting to hear back from UPenn (18-month Accelerated BSN program), which will be the first week of February. I will make my immediate decision at that point of which school's program I want to go with. At that point, I will contact the recruiter to start the application process. My program will start in either April or June 2013 and I will be have obtained my BSN by March or December 2014. How will the application process for the Navy Nurse Candidate Program be ready by the time I start one of these programs? There is a $1,000 monthly stipend for the time I'm in school and a $5,000 disbursement at the beginning and then again 6-months later. From the looks of it, the application process won't be done until I'm well near the end of my schooling and then it will make the disbursements and stipends obsolete! Does this mean I would have to go the DA route? I guess I could ask my recruiter this same question, which I will, but I'm posing this question to all of you since you're not holding back any secrets and you've been through it all!I'm really excited about this route. I live in NJ and would not mind being shipped off to even San Diego, but I understand the Navy wants to send money - Bethesda is 2 hours away from me and Norfolk is 5 AND I have a ton of family there, so that would be cool. Finally, what would you say would be the major things that a recruiter leaves out when speaking with an interested potential candidate?

[navyman7]

Dassit 82:

I appreciate that you read this thread in it's entirety. I hope it helped.

In short I would say, Yes the DA route would probably be the best financial option. You would lose a lot of money if you went with the NCP route and would incur a lot more time on your contract. As for your duty station, tell the recruiter where you want to go. Yes the Navy wants to save money but they need nurses at every hospital not just the east coast. Go for San Diego if you want it.

Regarding what the recruiter leaves out...They leave out all the little details that makes the Navy great or horrible.

I will try and be objective as I list the many things that people have issues with.

Cons:

-Working long hours with out any kind of compensation, payback, or overtime. Working call without any kind of compensation or consideration to the hours you've just worked.

-Endless hours/days of pointless training that has no bearing on your job, again on your days off most of the time (General Military Training-GMT's, NKO "training", Deplolyment Training, etc).

-Sometimes no say as to where you work.

-Deployments

-Moving every few years, very few exceptions to this. Sometimes to underdesirable locations.

-Very difficult taking vacation

-Having to work under nurses in supervisory positions who haven't worked at the bedside in years. Also having to do what they say despite their inexperience in a certain area. (I know this happens in the civilian world too, but at least you can work with HR/Unions if someone isn't safe or if they are clueless. Not the case in the military, you do what they say or its insubordination.)

-The more experieced you become and more senior in rank you become the farther away from the bedside that you become, very little exceptions to this.

-Working in your uniform at the bedside, not all work in their uniforms but many do (the exceptions are; ED, OR, ICU)

-The military health care system (for you). Having to go to appointments in uniform. Having to go to the hospital sickcall if you are sick. Can't just call in and say that you are sick.

-Can be hard on families, family relationships.

-opportunity for more school with a variable payback length and possible increase in deployments.

Pros:

-getting to serve your country and those who help keep us safe

-job security , health benefits, steady paycheck, decent retirement at 20yrs.

-meeting new people from all over the world, making great friends

-deployments, unique job training and experiences

-opportunity for leadership roles, but you move away from the bedside

-frequent moves, living in good/bad places

-decent pay as a bedside nurse

-opportunity for more school with a variable payback length and possible increase in deployments.

I am sure that many people have many more good/bad experiences than this but this is what I could come up with on short notice. Hope this helps.

[PCroizier]

I've been following this thread for awhile now and wanted to say thanks navyman.

Your last post shocked me a little.

Working bedside in your uniform!? I thought maybe insignia scrubs or something, but in uniform seems a little uncomfortable,especially your shoes!

Also your comment about insubordination from superior nurses was a little concerning. If one were to consult the MD would that be insubordination?

[DSchulte99]

I work in my NWUs and khakis on fridays on a medsurg floor. It's not terrible. We are getting NWU scurb tops but still have to wear our boots. Also our LnD has their own scrubs.

[Dassit82]

Thanks again, Navyman. That was very helpful to see the list of the pros and cons. I'm surprised by some of the cons as I didn't know about the uniform to work situation. Also, the calling in sick doesn't sound like fun - though I only called out of work once in the past 3 years and it was because I wasn't coming in to do Accounting while Hurrican Sandy was raging outside!I actually spoke to my recruiter last night. It looks like I missed the cutoff for the NCP anyway. She told me that if i'm still interested after graduation next March, then to look into the AD route. Thanks again for your mentoring. We are all very appreciative of the information and it's really helping me make a better decision about this. I'm still very interested.

[Dassit82]

She told me that if i'm still interested after graduation next March, then to look into the AD route.

Sorry - DA route. I'm still learning all of the terminology!