AECP to BOLC : How long did it take you to get a seat?

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  1. How long did you wait to go to BOLC after finishing AECP and getting your RN?

    • 0
      0-2 months
    • 1
      3-4 months
    • 0
      5-6 months
    • 1
      >6 months

2 members have participated

A question for AECP graduates on your experience:

How long did it take you from graduation to take the NCLEX, and after passing the NCLEX, how long did it take you to get a seat at BOLC?

I'm graduating in December, and am newly depressed to hear that it may be 8 months or so until I can get to BOLC and FINALLY Commission! I am tired of being a broke divorced E4 with 2 kids! I was told of a person who graduated Dec. 2011, and was supposed to go the July 5, 2013 class, but has now been pushed back to August! I do not want to sit around being useless, not working as an RN to get more skills, and not being paid!

This is utterly depressing! I want to cry, after 6 years of hard work I will have to waste more months living paycheck to paycheck and not being an RN!

In the past they used to let graduates go to their new duty station, and if no seats were available at BOLC, simply Commission there, start working as an

RN and then go to BOLC when a seat came open.

But they are going to stop doing that. I don't know why, because it seems a waste to pay a newly licensed RN to sit around some reserve or guard unit as an enlisted, just wasting their time waiting to start working!

This is just insane, I can't take being broke much longer. I can't even get that USAA career starter loan because I cannot tell them what date I will Commission. On days like this I hate the Army.

I thought htey were short on Nurses and needed nurses, yet they will let a qualified EN sit around wasting time and money because they are backlogged at BOLC? It's just dumb and poor logistics. I guess I could get a job on weekends as an RN while I wait for my BOLC seat...

Any advice out there?

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

I don't have any advice, except to say that you should continue to pester people to get to BOLC sooner. I'm sorry you have to wait. :( Definitely look for some interim employment. You've done 6 years of hard work already ... you can do these last few months!! Hang in there, and keep us posted.

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Lunah, thanks for the advice, I will make it my duty to become a pest, lol. I wish I could work, but then I realized 1) I'm a FL resident (no state income tax) stationed in NC, so if I work even one shift here, my military income would be subject to NC state income tax too and I'd lose hundreds if not thousands. Would I be able to make enough working only weekends (Ill be assigned to a reserve/guard unit so presumably I'll be there during the weekdays) to make up for that loss? I'm an E4 who pays child support to my E7 ex, I can't afford to lose a lot. 2) I use the weekends for visitation with my kids 3) Nobody wants to hire a new RN. *sigh* I will try to be patient but I was going to sue for custody of my kids back when I got promoted, I can't afford to do it as an E4.

BTW I enjoy reading your posts, they are humorous and informative. :)

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Specializes in Plastic Surgery / ENT / Head & Neck Surgery.

If you are really just looking to make a paycheck and fill the void in your bank account then keep a wide, wide line of fire. Don't listen to that "they don't hire new grads" crap, ********. If that was the case then NO ONE would have a job. You may not get your ideal job, but you will get a job. I would look into every LTC or nursing home you can find, guarantee you will find a job. You also seem to be caught up on things you have no control over, quit that. A good piece of advice I learned when I began racing Ironman was to control your "box". The "box" is things you have control over such as your health, your income, your overall state of being. Things outside the "box" like the weather, other people and the future are things beyond your control so don't put too much invested worry into them.

Even if you are faced with a time period of >6mo before you can commission, so what. Do not look at this as a bad thing, accept the challenge and soldier on. See how much money you can save in those 6mo. Live lean, use coupons, find every "free" thing you can possibly do in your area. Quit buying coffee, quit drinking beer, walk places or ride a bike instead of drive, etc etc etc. Turn the negative into a positive and you will learn much more from the experience than you ever knew. If life was easy everyone would be doing it...

Best of luck.

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"If you are really just looking to make a paycheck and fill the void in your bank account then keep a wide, wide line of fire."

I specifically want to be an Army nurse. I've been to Iraq and other places and I would like to try a humanitarian misison such as the USNS COmfort & Mercy ships. My family is military and I liked working as an LPN at a military facility. I'm not in it for the paycheck, but divorce from my cheating ex put me deep in a hole, & I have child support to pay since I could not be in as a single parent and I am on my own no help or support system, no sibling, cousins, etc. and a father at deaths door from losing a leg in Nam and getting Hep C tainted blood transfusion + ESRD, COPD, DM II, HTN.etc. So yeah, I am forced to worry about supporting my kids, please do not interpret that as greed. survival yes, greed no. I refuse to declare bankruptcy. According to the handbook, my program (AECP) strictly prohibits outside employment. I will be forced to sit there with my E4 paycheck unti I can get to BOLC. I am a FL resident, so even if I could, the minute I earn any money here in NC, ALL of my income, will be subject to their taxes. I would lose hundreds in taxes. I even called and asked for special permisison to work on weekends (I'm an LPN) but they say no way. But mostly I want to start doing what I have spent the last 6+ years enduring things for, to get that RN.

"You also seem to be caught up on things you have no control over, quit that. A good piece of advice I learned when I began racing Ironman was to control your "box". The "box" is things you have control over such as your health, your income, your overall state of being. Things outside the "box" like the weather, other people and the future are things beyond your control so don't put too much invested worry into them."

You're so right, I am frustrated over my lack of control over the situation and need to stop stressing, haha. I will try to muster up even more patience. Racing Ironman, pretty impressive! :) Nursing Diagnosis: Powerlessness

"Even if you are faced with a time period of >6mo before you can commission, so what. Do not look at this as a bad thing, accept the challenge and soldier on. See how much money you can save in those 6mo. Live lean, use coupons, find every "free" thing you can possibly do in your area. Quit buying coffee, quit drinking beer, walk places or ride a bike instead of drive, etc etc etc. Turn the negative into a positive and you will learn much more from the experience than you ever knew. If life was easy everyone would be doing it..."

Good advice there too. I don't drink coffee or beer or smoke. My income after bills and child support leaves me with $98 a week for food and gas, and I use a lot of gas for weekend visitation with my kids. I haven't had cable TV since 2009, drive an old truck that's about to hit $100K. I park blocks away & ride my bike to school to avoid the $180 a year parking sticker fee. I buy used books, uniforms, and hardly any personal clothes save undies and such. No fancy haircuts or mani/pedis, shopping with the girls. I don't have much of a social life,my classmates are younger, mommy & daddy pay for their BMW.s & Spring Break vacations. Coupons, rainchecks, I do it, I check my receipts, & say something if the sale price doesn't ring up, the guy at Food Lion probably hates me by now lol. Donate plasma for money, yes. Believe me, I can pinch a penny till Lincoln begs for mercy haha. I don't have much else I can cut back on or sell, & I've been living frugally for quite a few years so it has gotten tedious. I guess the thought of having to live this way an unknown number of months more...well, It's hard to plan anything when you don't know when or where you'll be going. It would also be nice to have my dad give me the Oath of Commisisson before he passes, which may be soon. My only question unanswered is the original. I am just curious as to the average length of wait time. I'm a wee bit OCD I like to plan things out. But I will try to be more patient.

"Best of luck."

Thanks! Have a good weekend.

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Specializes in Plastic Surgery / ENT / Head & Neck Surgery.

Sounds like you have your bases covered the best you can then. If I were you I would find out who is responsible for getting the OBLC slots and be relentless about getting one. For many people the time spent waiting has more to do with planning around their lives as opposed to getting the earliest slot, all things considered. It will most likely be a few months before you can get a slot as they do fill fast, but stay persistent and keep at it. You seem to have a good amount of drive so use they and do what you can to survive until then. I hope your father can be there to swear you in, I thank him and your family for their service. Again, best of luck and by this time next year your worries should be a thing of the past :-)

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