Considering joining ARMY Reserves as BSN RN after 17 yrs in clinical setting

[newk-5schoolrn]

Hi there,

I am considering joining the ARMY Reserves as a BSN RN with 17 years of clinical experience, which includes NICU, ten years in nursing administration, PACU, school nursing, ER (limited), and hospice. I am looking for any advice, tips, questions I should ask the medical recruiter. I have searched and searched the internet and can't really seem to find any real people stories about being a nurse in the reserves and what it's like. I would like to know what the timeline is like from the moment you meet the recruiter and they give you the huge packet of papers to fill out until you find out if you are accepted or not and then how long until you get commissioned and have to report for officer training? The recruiter I spoke to said there were possibly three positions open for me but I may qualify to go in at a higher ranking due to my expansive experience, is there anywhere online that I can actually see what positions are open/available in the locations he spoke of? Also, can anyone tell me when you go to officer training do you do daily PT? Thank you so much.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I can't speak to the Reserves side of the house, but I can tell you that at the Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC), we did daily PT. Reservists eventually go to part of BOLC. If you are not a runner or can't do the required number of sit-ups and push-ups, start now! Good luck!

[newk-5schoolrn]

How do I find out what the required number of sit-ups/push-ups are...and the run is a two mile run? Thanks Lunah, and I love reading your posts, I wish I could find some reserve nurses that blogged as good as you! When you were at BOLC, did you actually stay in a hotel for your sleeping quarters or on a base?