Advice about Active Army Nursing

[kristinalynn97, BSN, RN]

Hey everyone. I'm currently a BSN student about to be in my last semester of nursing school (hallelujah) at the University of Toledo. I have been considering going into the active sector of the Army for some time now, and have been in contact with an AMEDD recruiter for the past month or so. Since I am a new nurse, I will be going in as a 66H (medsurg), which is absolutely fine with me because I would love to get some time management skills and experience before proceeding into critical care. I was told by the AMEDD recruiter that after signing on and finishing a "Basic" type course for healthcare at Fort Sill and BOLC at Fort Sam Houston, I will need one year of experience on the floor, and during that time I can put in a request to go into critical care school through the Generic Course Guarantee Selection Program (GCSP). Eventually my intentions are to work in an ICU for some time, an ER for some time, then down the road get my CRNA degree (far in the future though). I'm only 22 years old, so fresh out of college with absolutely no experience besides clincials and my job in an ICU as a nurse aid. As long as I get experience, honestly I will be happy with wherever the wind may take me! I'm along for the ride and hoping to learn all I can since I practically know only basics and that's about it. Does anyone have experience with this or have any tips, things I should know, do's and don'ts? Thanks for all of the help! Any advice is appreciated!

[Rhody16x, BSN]

I would keep in contact with the AMEDD recruiter as they will know a little more in regards to getting into active duty. Traditionally the Army hasn’t picked up fresh new grads the last couple of years. If you do get picked up you would go to DCC at Fort Sill and BOLC at Fort Sam. From there you would be stationed at one of the larger hospitals (MEDCENs) and complete a roughly 6 month new grad residency (CNTP). You would then work as a Med-Surg nurse for 2-3 years before applying for the critical care course/ER course. Another option is finishing up school and landing an ICU job on the civilian side, working for 2 years, then direct comissioning as a ICU Nurse (66S). 66S’s are currently at a critical low so chances of you being picked up are failrly high. My last word of advice is to keep a pulse on the whole DHA takeover and how it’s impacting military medicine. It has only been a few months and I’m already seeing massive staffing changes at my hospital. Military nursing is going to be extremely different in the next couple of years. Good luck with your journey, and congrats on finishing up school!!

[SoldierMurse, DNP, CRNA]

I echo what Rhody16x says, I don't think the Army is accepting brand new nurses right now with no experience. If you want to be an ICU nurse in the Army I would recommend trying to get an ICU job out of school and get the required experience to commission as a 66S. With DHA and deployability, the Army is putting much more emphasis on jobs that are needed downrange, i.e, Critical Care, ER, and Anesthesia. Those three are all critical needs right now. It would be harder to direct commission as a Med/Surge nurse even with experience as they are not as needed downrange. Also at least from my experience, you rarely jump back between ED and ICU, it's usually one or the other. There may be some cross over here and there, but usually, you only work and stay in one area.

Since you mentioned CRNA as an end goal, you could also consider commissioning directly into the Army Anesthesia program. (USAGPAN). It requires at least 1 year of critical care experience and some additional requirements. Here is the link if you want info: https://www.baylor.edu/nursing/armydnp/, It would get you to your end goal quicker, good luck.

[kristinalynn97, BSN, RN]

Thanks everyone for the information! I was also considering doing the 2 years civilian ICU then direct commissioning so I would immediately be a Critical Care nurse right away. I'm going to keep in contact with the recruiter and talk to him about that option as well since from what you both said, more than likely if I even wanted to go in immediately they probably would not pick me up. I'll keep up to date with DHA as well, I appreciate that since honestly I didn't even know that was going on. Thank you!

[Spring624]

I don't know if it's the same for active as reserve but to commission as a 66S (critical care nurse) having your CCRN was required in addition to the experience when I went before the board.