Considering military nursing

[Simritd]

Hi, i'm going to be starting nursing school this fall as my second bachelors and in the past week have really become interested in being a nurse in either our army, air force and navy. I have researched basic information about it but wanted to hear personal stories from people who have done it before

Why did you choose either the army, airforce or navy?

Did they look for you to have prior nursing experience?

How much time did they require you to serve?

How did the loan repayment benefit work?

How does the salary compare to a civilian nursing salary?

What is the process of applying?

How does deployment work for your branch? ( 3 month deployment, 6 month deployment, etc?)

Were opportunities to advance education possible, and how did they work?

Do you have an recommendations of what I should look for when I consider a branch

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I suggest browsing the forum — these topics are covered often.

Keep your grades very, very high. Your GPA matters to the military. Military nursing is very competitive at the moment as the services are in a time of drawdown. If you are able to do ROTC, that might help you secure a commission. The Army isn't even accepting new grads at the moment, nurses must have two years of experience, and specialty certification or experience is desired.

I suggest contacting a recruiter closer to graduation, but you might have to be persistent — they may not be interested in you until you have your BSN/RN. Just make sure your school is properly accredited as well. Best of luck!