Air Force or Navy nursing?

[tara36278]

Hi! I've been a nurse for almost two years now and I'm interested in the military. I have my BSN and have always thought I would love the military lifestyle. I would love to travel and I feel like I would learn a lot. I am also interested in going back for my Nurse Practitioner and I think that they would pay for it.

I'm currently working in Mother/ Baby and Women's surgeries. I would like to continue in that direction throughout my career but I also have a year of Neuro/ Med/surg experience. I've spoken to an Air Force recruiter and I'm working on meeting the physical requirements but I'm not sure if I would have better opportunities in the Navy. I also think they might have better base locations. I really have no idea though! Does anybody have any input or suggestions?

[HusbandofNewGradRN]

One thing you didn't mention was having a family or not. If you do I would strongly discourage you from joining the military. Being in the military makes it very rough on the family life. You could be report for duty and be sent thousands of miles away without even having the chance to say goodbye to your family first. With that said if you don't have a family right now I would say go for it, you have nothing to lose and just might get the chance to travel the world. I might not go to the Navy as you risk being stationed on a sub or a ship for long periods of time. The Air Force has bases all over an in general is the closest thing to a civilian life.

As a person who served in the Marines I say good luck !

[tara36278]

Thanks! No family right now, just me. How long does the Navy station officers on ships or subs? Are the bases in the Air Force in good locations? Do you know which branch I would get to travel more in? Thanks for the answers!

[HusbandofNewGradRN]

Deployments on ships and subs widely vary. When you deploy on a sub you can spend long periods of time beneath the water and with ships you do make port calls here and there but in either situation you will be away from your home base 6-9 months on the average. It all really depends on what kind of unit your attached to and where they are based out of though. That is why, if it were me, I would look towards the Air Force as you will generally always be land based and actual deployments from your home base wherever it may be are not all that common. Don't forget the Army either if your thinking of joining the military.

Who knows you may be one of the few who never leaves the 50 states and might end up with PCS at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Having a BSN and experience you would be in high demand and may be able to negotiate a choice of duty station. That is the type of carrot along with bonuses that they offer when it's time for re-enlistment. In any event I wish you luck if you do follow thru and decide to join.