wife worried, hope I can help her

AjaxAndronicus · Aug 11, 2012

Hi all, my wife is applying for the Army Nurse Corps (active duty). Her board is November 5, 2012. Her BSN reflects about 1 week before that board. She already has RN experience, is med/surg certified, and is also in a mangerial position at work. The recruiter told her that they will send a letter of "Anticipated Completion" from the school for the CV review. and for the board packet we will send a letter of "Completion". This due to it not reflecting on transcripts until middle of december. The recruiter tells her it isnt a problem at all "we will just send it up and see what happens". Myself being prior service, I know recruiters can get a little lazy or preoccupied with other things, and not do the most they can for each recruit. What I am worried about is her applying, and be turned down for this reason, and then be unable to apply for some time, I do not even know the time between boards that you are allowed to reapply.
To summarize she will have a BSN late October, for the Nov 5, board. Said degree will not show though, until December. Has anyone here ran into this, or have any advice on the situation.

Nursespouse,

I am going AD this fall as well, my packet is turned in and the board meets sometime late October/early November. What I have been told is AD needs 2years exp. I don't know if it counts as a adn vs BSN. I do know that for AD you need a BSN. However since she's certified and has exp and is just waiting for transcripts there might be some kind of waiver. Good luck and I hope your wife gets a commission!

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2012

When I applied for the ANC I still had 6 months to go before graduation and the board meet 4 months before. I had no issue and was picked up. Your wifes experience will make her compative for the board. Most ADN experience will count for experience. There are some areas of nursing which will not count towards constructive credit; I am not sure but I believe LTC is one. Not sure if LTC and the other areas will count as the needed 2 years experience for commission. This is something your wife should ask if she is working LTC, homehealth etc., but by her being certified in med/surg I assume she is working in med/surg which does count.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2012

Nursespouse,
I am going AD this fall as well, my packet is turned in and the board meets sometime late October/early November. What I have been told is AD needs 2years exp. I don't know if it counts as a adn vs BSN. I do know that for AD you need a BSN. However since she's certified and has exp and is just waiting for transcripts there might be some kind of waiver. Good luck and I hope your wife gets a commission!

Not sure by your post, are you going to the board this fall or have you already been picked up and going to OBLC in the fall?

AjaxAndronicus · Aug 12, 2012

Hi Jeckrn,

I have not yet been commissioned, my packet has been submitted for FY2013 and for verification of CV and background check. I have heard that the FY2013 board meets starting in Oct. I'm hoping if everything is good to go, I hope commission late OCT/ Early NOV and go to BOLC sometime in Winter/ Spring of 2013.

nursespouse · Aug 12, 2012

When I applied for the ANC I still had 6 months to go before graduation and the board meet 4 months before. I had no issue and was picked up. Your wifes experience will make her compative for the board. Most ADN experience will count for experience. There are some areas of nursing which will not count towards constructive credit; I am not sure but I believe LTC is one. Not sure if LTC and the other areas will count as the needed 2 years experience for commission. This is something your wife should ask if she is working LTC, homehealth etc., but by her being certified in med/surg I assume she is working in med/surg which does count.

she has 4 years experience, and is indeed on a med/surge unit right now. I am intrigued by your response. Were you in school/ROTC when you applied or were you a working nurse while getting your BSN? My wifes school is writing a letter of completion for the board review, and a letter of aniticpated completion for the cv review. Did your school do the same? She has done the initial background check had her physical at meps, is completeing the security check background application for turn in. So we hope all will be well and they will review her at the board. The recruiter said that since she has never had below a 3.9 GPA and has never quit a class or anything, that the letter of aniticipated completion should be good enough. I sure do hope so.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2012

I was a working RN when I completed my BSN and the school wrote a letter of stating when I was to graduate. Being that she is certified and a great GPA she should be very compative. When she comes in she should be a 1LT or a senior 2LT and be promoted to 1LT quickly.

nursespouse · Aug 14, 2012

jeckrn,

That is awesome to hear. A couple more questions, did you go active duty, or reserve? If AD did you get a duty station from your wishlist? What year did you apply to the board and do you remember how many were picked up? This really takes a load off for my wife, as we didnt know if the "letter of completion" was something made up by the recruiter or something that had actually worked, and in your case it worked awesomely. She is so counting on this, it is something she has wanted to do since I left the Army. I am sure you know the feeling she describes in her chest right now. She describes it as an excitement/nervousness/anxiousness. I told her just imagine the weeks just after the board meets and how nervous she will be before finding out if she is indeed picked up. Well thanks alot for your reply it has helped alot.

jeckrn, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2012

jeckrn,
That is awesome to hear. A couple more questions, did you go active duty, or reserve? I did both.
If AD did you get a duty station from your wishlist? I did not have a wishlist, I spoke with my AO (assignment officer) and came up with a duty station.
What year did you apply to the board and do you remember how many were picked up? I applied for reserves back in 2003 and active in 2009. I do not know how many nurse were picked up in '02 but there was a 1,000 each for reserves and active in '09.
This really takes a load off for my wife, as we didnt know if the "letter of completion" was something made up by the recruiter or something that had actually worked, and in your case it worked awesomely.
She is not alone with RN's who are completing their Bachelors so this is a common thing.
She is so counting on this, it is something she has wanted to do since I left the Army. I am sure you know the feeling she describes in her chest right now. She describes it as an excitement/nervousness/anxiousness. I told her just imagine the weeks just after the board meets and how nervous she will be before finding out if she is indeed picked up. Well thanks alot for your reply it has helped alot. I know the feeling, and back when I came in it was not as compative so can only imagine how she feels.