Re: Navy Nurse Questions
First of all, I want to thank everyone who participated in this thread. It has been extremely informative and has definitely let me know that I'm making a sane and rational decision.
I've kind of chuckled over some of the comments about how hard the med/surg floor is or how pay isn't commensurate, etc., etc. I work at a major inner city county hospital on the pediatric floor. It's a really tough gig and we run our arses off all night. (Yup, I'm a night shifter.) In addition, although the pay is pretty good, there are no guarantees for
anything. For example, we're supposed to get 3 weeks paid time off every year. Well, that's all fine and well, but if you get cancelled for a shift and want your paycheck not to lose an entire shift's worth of pay, you have to use your PTO. In addition, as a night shifter, by using PTO I'm getting paid straight time, not shift differential, so it's a $3/hour pay cut. This summer has already been tough and I am already
out of PTO. That means the next time I get cancelled (and I
will get cancelled if census doesn't go up) I'm out an entire shift's pay. As I am the sole breadwinner for an 8 person family (yup, my husband is a SAHD and we have
six beautiful children) this is a pretty horrifying turn of events. In fact, I have a job interview this afternoon to pick up extra hours opening cases for a pediatric home health agency.
I finish my RN to BSN program next summer. I'm already studying for my GRE. Does anyone know if for the DUINS program I need to take any of the specialty GRE exams? Would any of them be helpful in distinguishing myself from "the crowd" so to speak, even if not required? Also, do I need to take the ASVAB again (yup, at 18 I almost went enlisted in the Army. I have no clue what I was thinking! Much better to go in at 36 as a nurse and an officer in the Navy!!)... When I took it at 18 I got a perfect score in all areas... will they still use that information or will the two intervening decades (I feel so old! LOL) require me to prove myself again??
Oh, and here's a really big question... what about medical waivers? I have hypothyroidism and ADHD (yes, I am living proof that God has a sense of humor!
). I take Armour thyroid and Adderall. I've been on them for years and have no issues in terms of it affecting my job performance or my health. In fact, I graduated from an accelerated ADN program while working full time plus and caring for a then-disabled husband (thank heavens for some wonderful surgeons who put him back together) and six kids... and had the third highest GPA in the class and was awarded the Nursing Chair of Excellence Award, which is the highest award my school handed out. I want to make sure that my medications don't become a sticking point. (They were a no-go for the Army 18 years ago as an enlisted soldier. Obviously, being an officer in the Navy will be different, but I don't want to get my hopes up if I don't have a shot at this.)
I would very much like to be stationed at Bethesda for my first rotation. I will have over a year of Peds experience at the time I graduate with my BSN and that will include being cross trained in PICU/NICU and Peds ED. I will also come in with BLS/PALS/NRP/ACLS and my certifications in both pediatrics and Peds ED. I have prior experience as a tech in SICU, CVICU, L&D, postpartum and newborn nursery. I'm also a certified breastfeeding counselor. A major goal for my family would be to be stationed in Italy for any length of time... my husband is Sicilian and very much wants to have the children experience what Italy has to offer. Also, I have family in Poland and friends throughout Europe and it would be very nice to be able to visit them on my time off.
I agree with what was said previously... if you have never been outside of the United States it is hard to understand why anyone would be so passionate about the amazing country we live in. I've traveled a great deal... I even got to go through Checkpoint Charlie as a child before they tore down the Berlin Wall. (Not a military brat, but my mother's family is Polish Gypsy and it shows... she can't handle not traveling, and I reaped the benefits of that!) I got to visit East Germany (at the time), Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia (at the time) during the time that Communism still had a stronghold over the area. I got to go to southern Poland and meet my cousins (the non gypsy side of the family) who still live in the little farmhouse my great grandmother was born in.
I'm very proud to be a U.S. citizen and would love the opportunity to serve my country in this way. In addition, I see it as a chance to better provide for my family (sorry, but by the time you add BAH to the salary, even an O1 makes more than I do, plus a guaranteed salary), serve my country, and with the humanitarian emphasis of the Navy Nursing Corp, serve the world. I don't have any rose-colored glasses here... but after 7 years experience in civilian hospitals I can tell you, it's not sunshine and roses over here, either!
I put in a request on the Navy website to be contacted by a recruiter. Thanks again for all the info here and Dan, I particularly hope you're not on deployment right now and I get to hear from you!
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