College grad/ military medic/corpsman going into nursing

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Hey everyone! I have a Bachelor of Science in Health Science, have 6 years of clinical health care experience, 3 years of healthcare management experience and 3 years of general management experience. My undergraduate GPA is 3.0 and my upper level GPA is 3.2. I am taking a bulk of my science requirements and it seems that I might end up with a 3.8 GPA in my science component. I plan on taking both the TEAS V and the PAX RN and applying to SUNY Downstate and SUNY Stony Brook (New York) for their accelerated BSNs and Montgomery in Maryland & Miami-Dade College in Florida for their specialized medic/corpsman to RN programs.

Any advice from anyone that has attended these programs?

Accelerated BSN or corpsman to RN?

Any advice to increase my chances?

Any other school or program options available that are reasonably priced?

Thanks everyone!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE!!

There are many vet-friendly programs that will result in your BSN. A BSN is required to practice in hospitals today, even with your stellar background and experience. Take a look at this site Helping Veterans Become Nurses Several schools have received Federal funding to develop programs for vets.

Best of luck to you!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

Former HM here as well. :)

Do you have the right kind of experience to go HM to RN? I am not particularly familiar with this path, as my experience was outpatient, but contact the state board and research your options.

You may need to take some courses to boost your GPA, because both traditional and accelerated BSN programs are very competitive. I don't know the average GPA for those accepted back east, but here in CA, you usually need at least a 3.7 to really be considered for a program. Make sure you study for the TEAS and nail it.

Good luck!

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Thanks Run ! I worked on a Medsurg floor for 3 years in the San Diego VA. After my first year I was doing everything the R.N.s did with the exception of pic paths and administering narcs, which were out of my scope of practice. After my three years there I worked as a field medic. As a field medic I saw patients in the morning, did physicals, gave shots, recommended medications, then the MD will do a more detailed assessment if needed or just sign off on it. Then there is the whole battlefield aspect of it, that I am not going to get into right now. lol

As for my GPA, I am currently taking courses and I am pretty confident about my science gpa, also hopefully my military experience will help me out :)

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE!!

Agree. Thank you TheYetzer, both for your active duty service as well as serving the veterans after discharge, as they are too often forgotten.

Former HM here as well.

Thanks Doc.

Semper fi!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
Thanks Run ! I worked on a Medsurg floor for 3 years in the San Diego VA. After my first year I was doing everything the R.N.s did with the exception of pic paths and administering narcs, which were out of my scope of practice. After my three years there I worked as a field medic. As a field medic I saw patients in the morning, did physicals, gave shots, recommended medications, then the MD will do a more detailed assessment if needed or just sign off on it. Then there is the whole battlefield aspect of it, that I am not going to get into right now. lol

As for my GPA, I am currently taking courses and I am pretty confident about my science gpa, also hopefully my military experience will help me out :)

I just thought of this- research schools that have guaranteed admission for veterans. That helped me get into my program, as my GPA was below the accepted average. My HM experience at least helped me to skip having to get my CNA cert, and I'm sure it helped my essay, but the guaranteed admission was KEY. You may want to consider some traditional BSN programs, and some of them are now 2 years, including the one I'm about to graduate from.

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Guaranteed Admission? Any that you recommend? I'm pretty open to whatever options that are available!

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Agree. Thank you TheYetzer, both for your active duty service as well as serving the veterans after discharge, as they are too often forgotten.

Thanks Doc.

Semper fi!

You too! When did you end your enlistment?

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You too! When did you end your enlistment?

Retired in 1996.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
Guaranteed Admission? Any that you recommend? I'm pretty open to whatever options that are available!

In CA, Sonoma State, CSU Long Beach, and I hear CSU East Bay are among the schools offering this. I am sure there are more if you contact schools. None of them had them on their websites, but I found out through the schools directly. I don't know of any outside of CA, but certainly CA isn't the only place with this available! :)

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.
Retired in 1996.

Semper fi!

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I was looking at a few schools in Cali, but the out of state tuition is pretty steep. There are a few programs that I have looked at that offer vets in-state tuition but no guaranteed admission options as of yet. And the search is on! I will look at the schools you mentioned, I don't think I have looked into those yet. Thanks again! :)

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