Army medic and nursing

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Dec 18, 2017

I didn't see a question in there at all. What information are you hoping to gain by posting on this site? Are you trying to get opinions on your game plan?

To clarify: you're going to go tens of thousands into debt with school to become an RN and then work for 1-2 years making $50-60K per year. Then, you're going to then enlist as an E-4 in the Army making about half that. All the while, you'll have to obey orders from higher-ranking NCO medics and officer RNs who may know less than you? To me, that would be miserable.

If you want to be a medic, why are you doing nursing school at all? EMT-Paramedic would be a lot more applicable and useful to you as a medic in my opinion. It would also be a lot quicker and cheaper.

If you want to do more of the combat medicine the enlisted medics do, then why not be a civilian nurse and enlist as a medic in the reserves? I'd highly recommend the Air National Guard as a para-rescueman (PJ). PJs are arguably the most respected, best-trained, and most decorated medical personnel in any branch.

Your average enlisted medic/corpsman in the Navy, AF, and Army can have widely differing experiences. Some are basically glorified CNAs working in stateside base hospital. Others get really good combat medical experience. There aren't really any guarantees. I'd caution you against thinking you're going to be able to re-enact the movie Hacksaw ridge by enlisting.

At a minimum, I'd ask you to please find some currently serving enlisted medics and ask them about their experiences. I work with them every day. Many of them don't feel that they are doing what they thought they signed-up for. Others like it. Just know what you're getting into before you sign-up.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Dec 18, 2017

Sorry, I re-read your post and saw that you are looking at the reserves already. Still, make sure you know what you are getting into. If you are fit enough, I still highly recommend PJ.

Editorial Team / Moderator · Dec 18, 2017

I am married to a former combat medic. His first duty station was in Labor & Delivery. You don't always get what you think you are getting! I was active duty Army (Nurse Corps) for 4.5 years, and medics really had a wide variety of assignments, few of them like the advertisements.

They will not automatically ask you to join the Nurse Corps with a BSN. There are actually BSN-prepared RNs who are serving as enlisted members who cannot get selected for the Nurse Corps. Commissions are difficult to obtain.

Please read jfratian's initial response carefully as he had some good insight. Best of luck!

zombie · Jan 1, 2018

99% of your job as a Medic will not be what you think it will be, its not that sexy. I am not sure about reserves, but active duty to become an Officer you must have your 4 year degree. Nurse Corps Officers are at minimum have a BSN. Do not come in enlisted with your 4 year degree as a nurse and become a medic you will be disappointed to think that you will do any nursing. You may in fact be driving a forklift in a warehouse in garrison at at CSH, or taking vitals a medic in a clinic etc.

If you want to be a nurse in the army get your BSN and Direct Commission. Or, if you just want to join the army now without your BSN, you can enlist work as a medic or whatever and apply to the army enlisted commissioning program, which will send you to school and get your BSN and then commission you as a 2LT Nurse corps officer. That is a long path.

nurse.san · Jan 21, 2018

Hi, I am a medic in the Army Reserves AND a RN. Read all the above posts, they've all said some very true things. I would highly recommend you going straight officer and commissioning as a nurse, if that's ultimately your goal.

There are currently many RNs in my who are still enlisted and stuck in their enlisted roles. Its not what you think it'll be like. Don't believe everything that a recruiter tells you, actually talk to enlisted RNs wanting to enlist into the Nurse Corps and they'll tell you differently. Also, a regular recruiter is different than an AMEDD recruiter (for Nurse Corps), so the regular recruiter will not really know how medical officers work.

Because of the difficulty transitioning from enlisted to officer once you're in, I am finishing out my contract, taking a 1 month break in service, then commissioning as an officer into the Air Force Nurse Corps. It's not impossible, just HIGHLY difficult, especially as a reservist since mostly enlisted to officer slots are offered to active duty soldiers.