Army Nurse Travel

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Hello..will start my army nurse career in July and had some questions

I got a sense of the army scheduling but wanted to know

Are days off really days off? are we allowed to travel or is there a mile restriction?

Does or vacation time start as soon as we report to active duty?

How often are we required to change our station?

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.
hello..will start my army nurse career in july and had some questions

i got a sense of the army scheduling but wanted to know

are days off really days off? once you get to your command after oblc, yes your days off are your days off. just like mine is today.

are we allowed to travel or is there a mile restriction? most have a restriction of 250-300 miles as the crow flies for a 2 days off & 600 miles for 4 days off.

does or vacation time start as soon as we report to active duty? yes you start earning your 2.5 days of leave a month as soon as you report to active duty.

how often are we required to change our station?

generally it is every 3 years, you can request a pcs move after 2 years and also can request to stay at the base you are at after 3 years.
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Specializes in Primary Care, FNP, AGACNP, Palliative Care.

I have another question to add to this post if you don't mind me hijacking your post. If you are going into the Nurse Residency Program as a Direct Commission are you allowed to take vacation? I have heard that we aren't allowed to take vacation in the Nurse Residency or Nurse Transition Program. Is this true?

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Thank you jeckrn for your answers...will try the long distance relationship and wanted to know if I was confined to my state...I'm not sure how long the residency program is..I hope we get to use the time off we build up..august to December is a good amount of time...I was hoping to take a vacation around December

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Specializes in Primary Care, FNP, AGACNP, Palliative Care.
Thank you jeckrn for your answers...will try the long distance relationship and wanted to know if I was confined to my state...I'm not sure how long the residency program is..I hope we get to use the time off we build up..august to December is a good amount of time...I was hoping to take a vacation around December

I need to attend a wedding in September 2011 and would like to take 2 weeks vacation to enjoy family at the same time. I hope taking a vacation is that much of a hassle because it would suck to have to stay in NC for a year of the residency program. I'm a city girl from NYC and would love to fly home on my 3 or 4 days off. I hope it's possible.

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.
I have another question to add to this post if you don't mind me hijacking your post. If you are going into the Nurse Residency Program as a Direct Commission are you allowed to take vacation? I have heard that we aren't allowed to take vacation in the Nurse Residency or Nurse Transition Program. Is this true?

Depends on your command, I do not see you not being able to take leave during your 1st year, but then again I was a direct commission with 10+ years as a RN and did not go thru the NTP.

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Taking leave in the Transition Program is highly discouraged and ultimately up to your command. At Hood we were not allowed to take any leave during the program except for emergency leave. The reasoning is because you ahve to meet a certian number of clinical hours to graduate the program. So I've been at Hood since September and I'm taking leave for the first time this month. I finished the Transition Program last month. :)

I would try to talk to your supervisor once you get to your duty station and they will decide if they'll let you or not.

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Does the time we earn go to waste or carry over until the next year since we cant take leave during the program? How long is the new nurse program anyway?

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

The military is not like the civilian world where vacation is use it or lose it. You earn 2.5 days of leave a month and are able to carry upto 60 days of leave on the books. In some cases in can be more, but generally you have to be deployed and have not been able to use leave for that reason. Sorry do not know how long the nursing program is.

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Specializes in Primary Care, FNP, AGACNP, Palliative Care.
Taking leave in the Transition Program is highly discouraged and ultimately up to your command. At Hood we were not allowed to take any leave during the program except for emergency leave. The reasoning is because you ahve to meet a certian number of clinical hours to graduate the program. So I've been at Hood since September and I'm taking leave for the first time this month. I finished the Transition Program last month. :)

I would try to talk to your supervisor once you get to your duty station and they will decide if they'll let you or not.

How long was your nurse residency program? I will be at Ft. Bragg after BOLC in October and would like to take 2 weeks off the following September of the next year for a family wedding. Almost a whole year after being at Ft. Bragg from what you are saying if the nurse residency program is longer than a year I may not be able to attend? Also, are we allowed any days for holidays such as thanksgiving and Christmas or are we working those days?

Thanks to whomever answers.

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Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.
How long was your nurse residency program? I will be at Ft. Bragg after BOLC in October and would like to take 2 weeks off the following September of the next year for a family wedding. Almost a whole year after being at Ft. Bragg from what you are saying if the nurse residency program is longer than a year I may not be able to attend? Also, are we allowed any days for holidays such as thanksgiving and Christmas or are we working those days?

Thanks to whomever answers.

From what I understand from nurses I know who went thru these you will be working like you would anywhere else. This means that you will work some holidays & weekends and have some off.

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The transition program is between 24 and 26 weeks long. I came in last July for OBLC, got to Hood in September and finished the program in April, so about 6 months long. Holidays it just depends, you work your preceptor's schedule. So if they're working so are you. However, a good Head nurse will give you holiday time so if you work Christmas they'll give you an 8 hr day off the next pay period. They recognize that civilians get paid extra for holidays but we don't so we get comp time, but this is totally up to your command. We got it for every holiday but Easter so far.

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