pursuing a nursing career in the US Military...

montsamana · Jan 13, 2014

Almost forgot,

Ill take insight from anybody , but any WOMEN out there that want to help a girl out with this decision please feel free!!

Dranger · Jan 13, 2014

OK take a deep breath...here's a reality check. You won't be getting in next year and probably not the year after. The enlisted to officer BSN program has been cut in many branches or highly reduced and you cannot simply enlist and become an RN (LPN yes RN no). You have to A. Already have a BSN. B. Do ROTC at a 4 year college (scholarships are being slashed right now) or C. Do a enlisted to officer/nurse program which requires 2-3 years of AD first usually and is currently suspended for most branches that I know of. I will extrapolate below.

Go to the military section and read the threads. Without RN experience (2 year min) right now you have almost 0 chance to get in let alone go active duty. In 2008 you would be a shoe in but not now. FY boards (how you get into the military via a accessions board) are mostly over for direct commissioned officers and last time I checked the Army accepted 10 nurses....yes I said 10, across the whole nation and all had experience. AF and Navy are also cutting down heavily. As a new nurse even if you did get in you would do about 2 years of med-surg before you could specialize, no way around that. The reason why the numbers are so low is because the wars are winding down, we have enough nurses already and ROTC creates a constant funnel for more

Unless you did ROTC in college or have a ton of specialized experience or education it probably won't happen soon. Even with the reserves...

My advice: Take the civvy job get a few years exp and hope the military is in need of RNs because right now they have too many.

I am a military RN by the way so I am not blowing smoke at you...

DO NOT DO THE CORPSMAN ROUTE, it is not a back door to getting a commission as an officer and you will be miserable

RHill9919 · Jan 13, 2014

^ agree. My husband is a corpsman and well as most of his friends who thought they were going to join the navy to go to school. They all work crazy hours and deploy constantly, never having any time for school. Every time my husband tries to take a class, he has to drop it because he goes on deployment or on an underway. No exaggeration. I was considering a career as a military nurse for a long time. It's just not what it use to be. Sorry to be discouraging, but I have to agree with the above. Take the civi job and get some experience because in my opinion, if you join the military and you aren't a nurse yet, you might not ever get there. or at least, it will take a very long time. Also, many of my Navy nurse friends were lied to by their recruiters. It's all the luck of the draw.

RunBabyRN · Jan 14, 2014

I agree about the civilian job. Take it.

I am a former corpsman (Navy), and looked at doing the commissioning program that was offered at the time. I was in a clinic (which sounds like it would bore the hell out of you). You only have so much say over what you're doing or where you're going.

Since I have never been a military officer, I can only speak so much to the experience, but I know that a lot has changed for my friends, both enlisted and officer, who are still in. You'd have more control over what you're doing and where you go as a civilian (as opposed to being government property).

You also, as was started before, can't just go in and "be" a nurse, you have to already have a BSN. I'm not sure what kind of officer you could even be with a bachelor's in health sciences (what does that enable you to do in the civilian world?).

Editorial Team / Moderator · Jan 14, 2014

I am looking to complete my BSN while in the military (ACTIVE not reserve) and if I have to work as a medic or corpsman first that is fine!

While it sounds nice, this is an unrealistic goal. The Army is not going to pay you to earn your BSN and then commission you at this point in the current force climate. The Army has far too many nurses, and there may even be early separation boards in our future. There are already early separation boards in the works for officers on the conventional side of the house, too. If you've spent hours reading the threads here, you have probably seen that the Navy has no need for nurses right now, either.

I wouldn't go the enlisted route if your goal is military nursing. I can also tell you from working with many, many medics that you don't even always get to do anything hands-on as a medic, depending on where you're assigned. Many medics end up working in the motor pool. Not what they signed up for, certainly. And you'd have to attend BSN classes at the convenience of your unit, not when you want to. Once you enlist, you're government property 24x7 and the needs of your unit and the Army as a whole come first.

You're young, you have ample time to reach the goal of military nursing. Go back to school, get your BSN, get some experience, and then call some healthcare recruiters. If you really want to do it, being comfortable in your ER won't make a difference. I'm speaking from experience. I took a pay cut and left my very familiar ER to commission into the Army Nurse Corps in 2011. And I'm a woman, too. lol. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but this is the reality right now. Good luck!

Dranger · Jan 14, 2014

Your JAG friend didn't explain the officer process well.

Even with your BS in Health Sciences, you don't just waltz in as an officer. If you signed up on the day of graduation in May you would still be enlisted with the rank of E-4/SPC in the Army and I believe E-3 in Navy/AF. Many enlisted soldiers have degrees but you have to complete a commissioning program to become an officer. Examples are OCS, ROTC and the service academies like West Point, Annapolis etc. All of theses programs are competitive and getting into active is even harder.

The exception comes with medical, law and clergy (also some rare cases for engineers, logistics and med service in the reserves) who can DIRECT COMMISSION as an officer when they sign up but without a BSN and experience that won't happen.

elmonorojo · Jan 15, 2014

I am going to have to add to what the others have been saying in the sense of being negative - I really wouldn't recommend active duty Navy Nursing to most people. I have been in for over 4 years now and it has been majorly disappointing. I can go into specifics if you want, just PM me.

On a more positive note though, have you considered the reserves, either before or after school? That way you can have some degree of control over your life, but still fulfill the desire to serve your country.