Canadian Military RN info??

vena cava · Apr 29, 2010

i failed the aptitude test for ROTP. I think I'm going to join the cf once I have my degree. good luck to you!

Fiona59 · Apr 29, 2010

My son looked into this and all he really told me was that for every year of uni they paid for, he owed them two years service.

I imagine that your basic training is done during the summers and they will find you something to do with the Field Ambulance units.

Canadians don't say "on post". It's usually "on base" or even "in camp". I've seen nurses in cadpad up when in Garrison. When they are in the local hospitals, it's scrubs. There have been a few military RN and LPNs in my local hospitals over the years and you wouldn't know it unless they told you.

MPKH, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2010

My bf's doing ROTP for pharmacy, so I can tell you a bit of the ROTP is like.

They will pay for your tuition and books. You get paid by them..I think its around 1000 something per month while you are in school. First summer you are accepted you do basic military training (boot camp, if you will). Second summer you will either do second language training or on the job training.

AirforceRN, RN · Apr 30, 2010

The summer schedule seems to change every year. When I started my first summer was about 3 months of basic training. My second summer was about 6 weeks of basic with 6 weeks of second language training. My third summer was on the job training (they sent me to Yellowknife and Whitehorse for that) and my fourth summer was studying for the CRNE and getting posted.

For info on Basic take a look at their website (Canadian Forces Recruiting - Recrutement Forces Canadiennes) as it has videos (Canadian Forces Recruiting - Recrutement Forces Canadiennes) etc on what you can expect. In a nut shell it is long days and short nights. Lots of polishing, lots of pushups, lots of classwork, lots of marching and quite a bit of yelling thrown in for fun. Its not for everybody but it serves a purpose. Paying for school and training is a significant investment by the military. They want to make sure you are what they are looking for. If the website doesn't have the answers to your questions you can always go back to the recruiting centre and ask them again.

Once you are done school and pass the CRNE you are placed into a consolidation program to further develop and hone your skills. The time frame for this changes annually but the whole process usually takes about a year or so. Expect preceptored time on medicine, surgery and emergency. During this time you will be in a civilian hospital and will be wearing scrubs (probably military issue ones...they aren't that bad). You will also be sent to Borden Ontario for roughly three months to complete the Basic Nursing Officer Course (BNOC) and the Basic Field Health Services Course (BFHSC). Here you will learn about the medical structure in the military as well as how to provide care in a less than ideal environment. TNCC and ACLS are also thrown in. During this time you will be wearing combats.

I hope this helps a bit. I know there are probably tonnes of other questions...feel free to PM or ask them here and I'll see what I can do. I haven't met any other Nursing Officers with the CF here but we are a pretty small community and you get to know (or hear) everyone pretty quickly.

kbg1 · May 2, 2010

hi

our daughter is accepted to the dalhousie nursing program in halifax ns.

she is off to see the recruiter tomorrow.

one thing we cannot understand from the caf website is when basic training is done.

it seem to be the first summer before start of 1st year classes,but where she works is frequented by military personnel,they say basic is the first summer after she graduates.

does anyone know for certain?

i think it would be pretty harsh for a skinny 18year who has never been away from home before.

is there any difference in nursing between the af/navy and army(beyond the obvious ships for the navy)

Fiona59 · May 2, 2010

The Canadian Forces is different from the US. Medical personnel from what the husband has told me either work in the base medical centre, field amb. units or are assigned to units/regiments.

Basic training is a reality call for any 18yo. But if you take the recruiters offer you have to serve. My 18yo flourished and grew up during basic.

vena cava · May 3, 2010

this is a message my friend wrote to me who is currently in ROTP for nursing. she will be leaving next week for basic. hope this clears up some things

"Awh, that stinks! Yeah, the aptitude test is pretty hard-- and really odd in the sense that it's hard to study for... I hope you do better next time, though!

No, I haven't done basic yet, that'll be this summer for me! 15 weeks, but I don't know my course dates yet. But that's just because my ULO (University Liason Officer) is slow with paperwork... The people out east already have their course dates..

Yeah, so it's BMOQ this summer, and then next summer I'll have 7 or 8 weeks at BNOC -- a more specialized training for nurses in Gagetown. After that, it's all on-the-job training (OJT). Nursing is probably the best OJT because it's one of the only ones that actually involves practice for your job - most other trades are just pushing pencils/photocopy person...

Actually, nursing is really cool in the sense that it's a "Purple Trade", meaning that you're not specific to Land, Air, or Water. You get an opportunity to be in all of them! So basically when you choose your element, you're just choosing what uniform you want to wear. Hint- Navy Nurses have the cutest outfits, haha. It sounds shallow, but the joke is that in nursing it comes down to whether you look better in black, blue, or green, haha.

So after schooling and training, you will be working sometimes in base hospitals, but there's a wide range of other things that you can get into! Those include going overseas to base hospitals; being part of Air Vac medical teams, where your job is basically just to pick up injured soldiers by plane and keep them in a stable condition identical to when you picked them up, and transport them to the hospital in Germany or back to Canada; another job could be on the big U.S.S. Comfort ship, where you dock on other overseas countries that need medical assistance! You can also sign up to be a part of the Disaster Area Relief Team (DART), where you cycle through being on a week's notice, 24 hours notice, 12 hours notice, or 6 hours notice to fly out and assist countries under immediate distress (such as Haiti). With DART, as I hear it, you could be a part of for 6 years and not be flown out (because it has to fall under very specific conditions), or you could be deployed just a few weeks into signing up for it!

A lot of what you do will be voluntary, but there is also times when you'll get delegated to go overseas or to other stations, and I believe there is a certain amount of overseas duties that you have to do, depending on your contract length. "

AirforceRN, RN · May 3, 2010

KBJ1,

There is no hard and fast rule as to when basic is completed. I did mine the summer after my first year, some people do it before first year, others after second year. It depends more on when you joined then anything else. If you join the military before first year university you will more than likely be on basic the following summer.

As was stated by Vena Cava, nursing is considered "purple" which means we work for all elements. I'm Airforce (surprise surprise) but am working at a Navy base. It really is only the uniform that makes the difference. One can not always choose their elements however. There is a quota every year and once one is full, that element closes. If you are looking for work on ships you are out of luck...nurses are not employed aboard ships in the CF. We do have rotations lasting a couple of months with the USS Comfort or Mercy though if you get the opportunity.

kbg1 · May 6, 2010

hi

she was to late to apply for this year.recruiter did not seem to eager to tell her much at this time due to things might change in a year.

will have one year of university under her belt and will reapply next january.

just got all her papers from dal last evening and is getting more excited by the moment.

thanks for all the info.

jeff

baesangw · Oct 5, 2011

I have applied for ROTP this year and Ill be going into nursing degree program in January. They told me they would support my education starting from beginning of Sept so..I was thinking if I should get a summer job just in case I dont get accepted. Also after my nursing degree I would really love to continue my studies into operational nursing and something like that which would be 2 more years of studying...Would I have to serve Canadian Force first and go into my studies again or is there something like I can study more and serve Canadian Forces with much more depth knowledge in health-care?

AirforceRN, RN · Oct 8, 2011

Hi! When I was in your position I worked up until the week I actually signed the papers and was enrolled in the CF. Timings change frequently and until you have signed on the dotted line don't count anything for certain.

As for further studies...the CF offers specialties in OR, Critical Care and Mental Health nursing as well as the option of remaining a general duty nurse. Specialty training beyond that is possible but may (likely) be on your own dime and on your own time. There will be a point later in your career where you consider getting a masters and the CF will help you in that endevour if you are selected for that route.

I hope this helps, if you have more questions feel free to ask or pm me and I'll do my best to answer. The Internet connection in my current location is...sketchy at best so please be patient if it takes a few days to answer you.

Cheers,