Civilian ER Nurse wanted to join Navy Nurse Corp with Marine Officer husband

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Hello all-

I have a few questions. As of right now, I have my BSN degree and I am working in an ER. I graduated in May with a 3.5 GPA. I'm fulfilling a contract with a local hospital who paid for the majority of my nursing school in order that I would work for them for the two years they paid for my nursing school. My goal, as of right now, is to join the Navy. I have a few obstacles in my way.

1) If I leave the hospital I am currently working for, I will have to pay back the scholarship. I know the Navy says they can pay back loans, but is the Navy capable of paying back this type of loan?

2) How long does the process take to join and get the go ahead to do ODS? And can anyone give me an idea of what ODS is like? My husband went through OCS with the Marines, and I am a little scared after hearing what he went through. I just envision someone screaming in my face 24/7.

3)My husband is an Officer in the Marines. What are the chances that he and I will be stationed together or near each other? I know the Marines are part of the Navy, so that might make it a little easier, due to a Navy hospital being on every Marine Corps base.

4) I know I have not had a full year in the ER, but I assuming by the time I get all the paper work done, I will have reached a full year mark. Would it be possible to go into my specialty area after one year of experience in the civilian sector? Med/surg isn't where my passion lies.

Any help someone could give me would be greatly appreciated!

darracott6

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Hi! I will try to answer a few questions based off what I have learned.

First Navy ODS isn't like OCS at all. ODS is for commissioned officers, you aren't going to lose your commission and you won't flunk out unless you do something really really dumb.

Not sure what the loan repayment stipulations are. But I would contact a nurse recruiter. They are the ones who will have the info on that. I know that they have to truly be loans though, and only for school. Like I know that if you took out a private loan and used it for school, they won't repay that, because it wasn't a student loan. I would also contact the hospital you work for and see if the payback is graduated. I worked at a hospital where if you broke your contract after a year, you paid back 50% and if you broke it at a year and a half you paid like 20%, and so on. Maybe they'd also be willing to work with you since you are going into the armed forces. You never know. The worst they'd say is no, and you pay it back. There is also the opportunity to get an assession bonus, and you could use part of your bonus to pay the hospital back. Lots of options, and don't know which works best for you, but there you go.

Since the Marines don't hire nurses, at least not into the nursing field, you should have no problem with being stationed by your husband. The Marines use the Navy medical system, so it works out great there. THere was a medical service corps officer in my company who's husband was a marine, and she wasn't too concerned with placements. The Navy will always work with both you and the Marines with your husband to get you guys stationed together or as close together as possible. But know that you both made/make individual commitments to serve, and while they make every attempt to station you together there is always the chance (although small from what Ive heard) that you get stationed apart. But I don't think it happens much at all. But you have to know that it's a possibility

As far as working in the ER, well, it is always the needs of the Navy. The navy will sometimes take your experience when they need it, but they also want really well rounded nurses, who can manage anything out in the field. My roommate in ODS is an ER nurse, and had her certification, and they placed her in mother baby when she got to her station. I have 3 years experience in L&D and am going to be working in cardiac telemetry. The military is a great way to practice nursing if you want to have a very varied experience in the nursing profession. Once you move on in your career and start aquiring more knowledge, experience and possibly a master's degree, you might be able to stay in one area of nursing, but know that you have to be really flexible in the military. I really wanted that and wanted to know some med/surg stuff (although it really isn't my cup of tea either), and want to be able to work in the ICU and maybe the ER and keep up my L&D skills, so I came in knowing that I was willing to work wherever. That's the one bit of advice that I've been given, and it's to be flexible and bloom where you are planted. If that means cardiac telemetry for me, I'll do so. If you join and don't get to be in the ER, but went to med/surg, you would have to just put a smile on and make the most of the experience. Luckily, they seem to be pretty good about phasing people to desired areas once they put some time in. My duty station right now is Bethesda, and they want the nurses to work on two different units over their 3 year tour. So the plan is to work tele for the next 18 months, and then hopefully transition to ICU. So there is definitely flexibility, you just don't always get what you want. So if you can go in with an open mind, then it would definitely be a good option for you.

Good luck and let me know if I can answer any more questions! Sorry for rambling on a little bit!

ENS JORdan

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In regards to joint military... The military is pretty good about trying. However sometimes one has to be more flexible to conquer this. Who will be the primary in terms of career? If the place your husband has to go to doesn't have a hospital would probably mean - no ER. Would you be willing to try working in a clinic or something other than ER? Not all bases have hospitals and not all hospitals have all specialties.

Hope this helps,

Pam

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Specializes in Neuro, Surgical, Trauma and ICU..

Qualifying Loans

The loan must be entered into before going joining the military. The following loans qualify for the College Loan Repayment Program:

  • Auxiliary Loan Assistance for Students (ALAS)
  • Stafford Student Loan, formerly know as the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL)
  • Parents Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS). Must be incurred for the use of the individual contracting for the program (not others such as relatives)
  • Consolidated Loan Program. Only covers the member's education expenses
  • Federally Insured Student Loans (FISL)
  • Perkins Loan, formerly known as the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL)
  • Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS)

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ok, i hope this is the right place for all of these questions...

I have become increasingly interested in joing the navy (or maybe some other armed forces) as a nurse.

I am currently in the process of applying to several nursing schools and hoping to get into a program for the fall of 2009...

ive read that the navy will pay for school once accepted, and then you serve for 2-4 years after you graduate...

has anyone done any of this and what are the first steps to take?

The part that i am afraid of is the physical aspect of it all, i am in pretty good shape but have NEVER had any kind of military experience at all, but i think it would be great to help out our country AS A NURSE...once i am done with school. What are the physical requirements as a female, and what are the steps? any help would or advise would be great. THANK YOU!

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Specializes in Peds.

Regarding the Navy paying for school check out: https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/nursingoption.cfm

As far as the physical aspect of it take a look at:http://www.navy-prt.com/femalestandard.html

That website lists the physical standards for females based on age. Most females I've worked with aim for a good medium in each of the sections: pushups, situps, and run or swim time. The bike/elliptical are options available, but highly unlikely through a NROTC program.

I did the Nurse option program and it definitely set me apart amongst my peers, in a good way, opposed the ODS option. If you have any more questions let me know.

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my school does not offer NROTC, but thank you for the info...

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lmb 13,

Hey there, once you are a junior in Nursing School, contact a nursing recruiter (The navy ones are very difficult to find) I had to call the Enlisted Recruiter for the navy and have them give me a contact number for the Nurse Recruiter for the Navy. Anyway ask about the NCP-(Nurse Candidate Program) , if you participate you don't qualify for bonuses or student loan repayment, however they will give you $5,000 dollars upfront-28 percent taxes and then another $5,000, six months after that, and pay you a $1,000 stipend each month until you graduate, make sure you keep your grades up, the program requires at least a 3.0...not really sure about all the little details, I'm currently in the process for this particular program, I know you owe the Navy 5 years active duty service after that.

For other people who are currently officers in the Navy, I was filling out the application for the NCP program, and the very last page I'm stuck on is In 400 words or less, please tell us why you want to join the Navy. I'm 100 percent sure I want to join the navy, but does anybody know what type of answer they are looking for here? I don't have alot of leadership experience, so again that kind of puts me in a bind. Any help appreciated....

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Huggy - the military is a great place to DEVELOP leadership skills and GAIN leadership experience - I really can't think of a better place for it.

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