Navy Questions

spydercadet · Feb 10, 2007

hi,

sorry about saying "rotc is the only way to go" i didn't mean it literally. i meant it more along the financial vein and the options it can offer a person who is already planning on having a military career. i was just thinking for someone starting out it, rotc can really hold a lot of opportunity and helps ease financial burdens and worries. so, for the person looking into this route, just make sure you talk to a recruiter and get as much information as you can.

good luck = )

NPAlby · Feb 15, 2007

I am currently in the process of applying for NCP...all paper work is done and went through MEPS. But he (recuiter) never really told me about OIS. I checked it out on the internet and to tell you the truth it seems pretty intense! Little worried.... i'm not going to lie, i am a softy and if someone yells at me for abosolutely no reason, yes i prob will cry! Are they as vicious as they are in achually bootcamp???? I can run, and looked at time requirements for the running and they seem really tough!!! Do you really have to run 3.5 miles in 27min??

Hi! I was active duty Navy for 4yrs as an enlisted when I was 18 and a big time softy. I'm 4-11, 100lbs and the baby of the family if that gives you a better picture. Yeah they yell at you in bootcamp but just remember it's part of the training and don't take it too personal. I'm 30 and a civilian nurse and still a big softy and still hate to be yelled at. I think when you're in training mode it's a bit different and you're brain accepts it better when you're not the only one getting yelled at. After a while it's just kind of funny how mad the instructors get at you and you take in stride. Believe me if I could do it at 18 with absolutely no life experience you can do it! Good luck!

holanurse · Feb 25, 2007

hello, i have a couple questions:

- do navy nurses stick with one specialty (er, or, psych, etc...), and continue in that specialty, or are they switched around to different areas depending on the needs of the navy.

- are there navy nurse corps officers on the ground in the streets of bagdad patroling with the infantry (and getting shot at), or are they in field hospitals in the green zone etc... ?

thank,

- Andrew

DanznRN, RN · Feb 25, 2007

Andrew-

Although Navy nurses can get a subspecialty code in one area or another, they do get shifted around from time to time. I have a subspecialty code as an ER/ Trauma Nurse (1945R), but I ended up getting sent to an ICU for 2 years once. They do generally try to keep you in the same general area, for me it's critical care.

Nurses on patrol, although I don't have first hand experience yet, the answer is going to be no. Nurses are still limited to what we can do in the field. Mecial support like that is left up to the corpsmen, now we do get pretty close though. Most nurses will be in fleet hospitals, about 20 miles behind the front lines. However, we do have what are called STPs or Shock Trauma Platoons. These are about 5 miles behind the front line and there is a nurse there, it can get hot and heavy there though.

LCDR(s) Dan

holanurse · Feb 25, 2007

LCDR(s) Dan,

i really appreciate your response! thanks a lot...

the recruiter i spoke with said my first duty station would be at either san diego or portsmouth. i assume that would be for about a year or so. and then maybe i relocate, not sure... at what point can a nurse be given a duty station overseas? after 1 year? 2 years? etc..?

i am most interested in psychiatric/mental health. would i have any say in determing my subspecialty code?

another random navy question: i hear the enlisted sailor bunks on a ship are referred to as 'coffins' because they are so small and cramped. are officer quarters on a ship any better?

thanks again,

Andrew

DanznRN, RN · Feb 28, 2007

Andrew-

Any assignment you get in the Navy is for 3 years, including your first one. There are some places that you go for 2 years if you have no family, they're overseas. And we have one place that is only 1 year, but it's like Alcatraz in the middle of no where off Japan. As for getting into mental health, as soon as you get there let the Director of Nurses know and it will probably happen, not a huge draw for most nurses. Lastly, no officer's do not have the same quarters. Generally, you have a stat room that is about the size of a regular bedroom, you share that with another officer. My uncle was a chaplain and shared his room with the fuels officer, their room was about 15 x 15 with a bunk bed setup and 2 seperate closets and desks. Not the Taj Mahal by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely not the "coffin" setup.

LCDR(s) Dan

navynurse06 · Mar 1, 2007

As LCDR Dan stated not many nurses that I have meet (including myself) are not interested in Mental Health. With all the people coming back from Iraq and other places a large % of those have some sort of mental trauma from that, which means the need for more mental health nurses. And the need is just going to increase. Also, several mental health nurses from NMCSD have been sent to Cuba on deployment for the prisoners down there. So that would be an interesting deployment opportunity as well.

ENS PM