Airforce VS Navy Nursing

[Dyson]

I have one year left in my BSN program and will be 30 in less than a month. I currently work in a large academic medical school's Trauma Surgical Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, the VA in the ER as a VALOR intern and as an EMT on a 911 service. I plan to go on to school and get a DNP.

Should I join right out of school next year or gain experience at either the ER or ICU?

From experience, would you recommend the Airforce of the Navy? Thank you in advance for any advice! 

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

"I want to get a DNP" is a pretty broad goal.  Depending on what you want to do...NP, CNM, CNS, CRNA, management, research...would change my advice.  

If not already in ROTC, I always recommend 1 year of civilian RN experience in the specialty of your choice prior to joining any military branch.  Otherwise you're at the mercy of the whims of the military.  New grads in the military do minimum 2 years of med-surg 90% of the time (sometimes they allow OB, OR, or PACU for new grads).  

Navy has a swiss army knife mentality to nursing.  They like moving nurses around to do many different specialties during a career.  The Air Force loves specialization: they have formal schools that can be as long as 6 months for ICU, ER, OR etc (Navy mostly dose on the job training).  It is common for AF nurses to only do one or two specialties in a career before eventually getting forced into management.  The vast majority of flight nursing and air evac is in the Air Force.  The hospital ships do humanitarian missions and are all Navy personnel.

Both branches deploy nurses routinely.  I see very little difference there.

[Dyson]

I am interested in either CRNA or Adult-Gerontology Acute Care. I am not currently in ROTC. Thank you for the information!

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

So I assume that means NP adult-gerontology?  Seems like you would want to do ICU in either case.  I think your best bet is to start in a civilian ICU for a year...start applying about 6 months into working at your first job (app takes 6 months).  Then do 2 years of ICU at your first base (the minimum to apply to go back to school).  Then apply to the CRNA/NP/CNS program all 3 branches offer.   

[jobellestarr]

Have you thought about Commission Corps? It’s the uniformed branch of the US Public Health Service. Another great career. I retired from Indian Health Service and we had a lot of Corp as staff. 

[Dyson]

Thank you Jobellestarr, I had not thought of that but I will definitely look into it!

[Matt C]

I'm in a similar situation. I am finishing my BSN and could go into the Navy tomorrow but instead am holding out for the Air Force. There is nothing wrong with the Navy. I was in the Army years ago (enlisted, non medical) and regretted not joining the AF. 

I like the culture of the Air Force as I worked with many Airmen over the years and found that their leadership had a focus on building up their people. Not saying the Navy does not do this, but the AF made a point to focus on it. 

I also found some videos on Youtube and basically the sentiment across the board was that a lot of Navy people resent the Air Force because they have a better quality of life overall. 

 

[Dyson]

I talked to an Air Force Reserves Health Professions recruiter, and they told me they do not need RNs now. The recruiter said to reach back after I have had about eight months of experience on the floor as a nu. They might need individuals then, and it takes a little while to get on. The recruiter mentioned that you needed one year of experience and that there were no NP positions in the Air Force Reserves. 

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

Yes, to my knowledge the AF reserves only hires RNs with at least 1 year experience (so yes you can apply at end of your first year).  There are NP and CRNA positions in the Air National Guard under the '46Y' job code based on my search last week in the Air Force portal's 'reserve vacancy finder.'  Keep in mind that recruiters are regional.  If you are willing to travel to drill each month, you may have more options.  Each base has different positions available.