Army National Guard Nurses

[leahisabella]

Hello!

I've searched around this site quite a bit but haven't found exactly the answers I'm looking for. I'm wondering if anyone can give me their experience of being a nurse in the National Guard. I'm a junior nursing student and have also been been in ROTC my entire college career. I'll be a junior this year. I took a 4 year scholarship, which was a dedicated National Guard scholarship. I'm currently already in the Guard at a med unit, and have gotten a lot of good exposure (one AT and a JRTC rotation), but I'm still pretty clueless as to what nurses in the Guard typically do. We have one nurse in my unit, and it seems that most of the time he is just another body. I understand that it depends on the unit, but is this typical? Most information I've found or received on Army nursing is typically geared toward AD. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I have a coworker that does Air National Guard. She is charge of continuing education and certifications for her medical squadron, which supports a fighter wing. She also handles vaccine records and general medical deployment readiness for the wing. She is also in charge of all the enlisted medical technicians that operate a small lab, flight physicals, and vaccine clinic.

Yes, it does very greatly based on unit. At larger treatment centers, you work in a military hospital doing bedside care for patients.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

It all depends on the slot that is being occupied. If it is a primary nursing position, you will probably be doing nursing. But a nurse can hold a MSC position, which is healthcare admin, and might not have a typical nurse focused mission. If you want to do nursing care, find a clinic or other medical unit that actually sees patients. In the Air National Guard you would regularly deploy bringing home the wounded warriors, and train for same when not deployed.